Martha, Martha

An outline of my sermon from yesterday...

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“Martha, Martha”
Luke 10:38-42
-Take note of the cultural background of this short story
-We are reminded that Martha had very clear cultural expectations for her
-Martha is trying to serve Jesus and the disciples by providing hospitality
-Jesus doesn’t say that what Martha is doing is wrong or bad, just not what is most important, she is divided

John 13:12-17
-Jesus was clearly on a higher level as the ‘master’ and ‘teacher’
-To refuse to serve others regardless of your position is to put yourself above Jesus
-We manifest God’s grace not only in our lives but in the lives of others when we serve them

Mark 10:42-45
-Jesus Himself came to serve
-The formula for greatness that Jesus commands us to follow is greatness = serving others
-Notice that Jesus ‘gave’ the ‘ransom’, He served mankind through the giving of His life

A couple things to point out about serving:
It is important for us to be aware of people’s needs
-James 2:14-17 talks about “living out your faith, that when you see someone hungry, give them food”
-Serving is “scratching where people itch, scratching where they don’t is an irritation to them”
-We need to go throughout our day with the mindset of a servant, looking for ways to serve others

We need to ask ourselves why we serve
-We need to see people’s inherit worth and treat them accordingly
-We are never serving as a means to gain something but simply out of love for Christ and neighbor
-This is not an example of “playing the game” or “office politics”
-When we are willing to serve others with the love of Christ, people are more likely to trust and follow us

This is the very nature of what it means to be a Christian
-This is ‘who we are’
-The symbol of Christ is not a $, diploma, popularity or whatever…it is the cross
-This is not an option, we don’t have the luxury to choose whether or not to serve others, Christ makes that very clear
-Jesus tells us that to be first, we must be last…may you and I have the humility and courage to be last