Brown's Daily Word 9-28-10

Praise the Lord for this awesome Autumn Day . Praise the Lord for the way He alone decorates His earth with beautiful and brilliant colors. Praise the Lord for His Church which the beautiful Bride of Christ. Somebody has well said that, " Volunteer is the language of the club; servant is the language of the Kingdom". May the Lord of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit propel us to be His servants in His Kingdom. May the Lord grant us His abundant joy as we continue to worship and serve Him, through prayer, and through giving of our time, talent and treasure. Our Lord makes all things beautiful.
On Sunday, July 4, 2010, our dear friend Dave Coles preached a sermon based on Mary and Martha. We are called to remember why we are doing what we are doing. (Luke 10:41-42) In verse 41 Jesus responded to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. (42) But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Jesus responded with great tenderness. Notice first that Jesus did not rebuke her for making preparations for Him and the other guests. He did not reject Martha’s attempt to serve Him. Martha’s problem was not that she was preparing food for her guests to eat; this was necessary. However, she gave too much importance to it. Today we still have to be careful that we do not let the "necessary" things get out of balance and distort our lives.
The core of Martha’s problem was that she tried to impose her value system on Mary. Note that Jesus did not tell Martha to do what Mary was doing. It was Martha’s attitude that needed correction, but Martha’s work was both good and necessary. The reality is that as believers today we need to cultivate both the Martha and the Mary in each of us.
Martha came to Jesus because she wanted Him to lighten load that day. He did what she wanted but not in the way that she had expected. He lightened her load not by having Mary help her, but by giving her a new perspective on her work. When we forget why we are doing what we are doing we can get turned upside down, and we may end up feeling overworked and unappreciated. I heard Dr. Mark Hollingsworth make the statement, “If we forget God while serving God we will probably quit God!” When we keep our attitude right we find that God will enable us to do what “needs” to be done with joy and satisfaction. Unless we take time to spend time with Jesus personally and privately, we will soon end up like Martha - busy but not blessed.
Martha was not wrong nor was Mary. It was a case of where one did well and the other did better. The Christian life is learning to balance duty and devotion. Sitting without serving is powerless. Serving without sitting is directionless. Serving after sitting produces power and balance.
One of the two greatest confessions concerning the person of Jesus Christ was given by Martha and recorded in John 11:27, the other was given by Peter recorded in Matthew 16:16. The setting for Martha’s confession was following the death of her brother Lazarus. Jesus had arrived and was seeking to comfort her and He told her, “I am the resurrection and the life and He who believe in me will never die.” In turn he asked Martha if she believed this. Her response was one of the greatest confessions of all time, for Martha replied, “ Yes Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world.” She evidently had overcome her propensity toward distraction long enough and had sat at the feet of Jesus enough to grow into a woman of profound faith.
We also have more recorded about her sister Mary. We meet Mary two more times, in Scripture, and each time she was at the feet of Jesus. In John chapter twelve in what is one of the most moving pictures of sacrificial worship recorded in scripture we are told, “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany… (2) There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. (3) Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil”
She was severely criticized by at least one apostle and possibly others for her action. Did she quit because of the criticism? No. She was one of the women at the tomb on the morning of the resurrection. When you sit at the feet of Jesus you learn not to quit because of hard feelings. You learn to turn the other cheek and go on. In Matthew 26:13 we find that Jesus had these words of compliment to say concerning this act of Mary, “… wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
These two passages, concerning Martha’s confession and Mary’s worship, give evidence that both these sisters achieved the balance between duty and devotion.
The question remains, “What about us?” Will we just take a moment to reflect? Where is our focus? Have we been giving ourselves to non-essentials – things that are here today but tossed out tomorrow?
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43XXpItGk0
Weekly: Saturday Evening Worship Service
To be held at: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinney Avenue
Endicott, New York

The Worship service is sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY



An evening worship services will be held on Saturday October 2 , 2010 at 6:30 PM. Rev. Terry Steinberg will preaching. Dave Berry and the team will minister in music . Ministry for the youth and children will be provided. We will gather for coffee and fellowship at 6 PM. The public is invited to join us. For information call: (607)-748-6329 or (607)-427-9098.