FRACTURED BY SERVICE

(Luke 10:38-42) January 4, 2015

Intro Joe Theisman was playing quarterback for the Redskins one Monday
night when he was tackled by HOF linebacker, Lawrence Taylor of the New
York Giants. Immediately Taylor motioned that Theisman needed help. And
boy did he! On the replay, his right leg was going one way when the full
weight of LT landed on it and part of it went another way. It was awful.
Theismans leg was fractured, and as it turned out, so was his career.
And so are a lot of Xn lives. Its not our leg thats fractured, but if someone
took the top off of our head today, it would be a tangled mess of fragmented
thoughts going every which way trying to do the right thing in a world that
demands a lot. Our boss expects 50 hours a week minimum. Then we need to
be at our sons game, our daughters dance recital, a PTA meeting and a Bible
study all at the same time. Frazzled, foiled, frenetic, frustrated
FRACTURED. Too many good things spell disaster.
Thats just how Martha felt. But rather than sympathize, Jesus answered:
Check your priorities! In a game between the Cubs and Pirates in 1902 lefthander Jimmy St. Vrain pitched for the Cubs. Good pitcher, lousy hitter. That
day, he struck out his first 2 times, so the 3rd time, the coach had a brainstorm.
He said, Listen, try batting left-handed for a change. Youve got nothing to
lose. So he did, and lightning struck! On the very first pitch, St. Vrain hit
the ball not much, just a slow roller to short. But when Jimmy saw a fair
ball, he was off like a flash. Legs churning and arms pumping, he was going
to beat that throw if it killed him. There was only one problem. He was
running toward third base instead of first. His turnaround confused him and
everyone. Even Honus Wagner didnt know whether to throw to first or third!
The point is activity must be prioritized. For a Xn all effort must spring from a
vital, living relationship with Almighty God. That is the one thing that is
necessary. One thing! That simplifies things, doesnt it? We dont live
frantic lives because there are too many demands; we live frantic lives
because we have not been with God. Weve skipped first base. Is third base
important? You bet it is. But it doesnt mean a thing until youve been to
first! And service for God doesnt mean a thing until weve been with God.
Martha paid dearly when she got priorities backwards.
I.

Problems with Others (Battered Relationships)

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Got relationship problems? Youre not alone. So did Martha. Her busyness
led to battered relationships. V. 40: But Martha was distracted (literally
drawn about in different directions torn apart) with much serving. And she
went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to
serve alone? Tell her then to help me. Martha is ticked. Shes trying to make
a great dinner for Jesus; Marys doing little to help and Jesus doesnt seem to
care. She actually orders Jesus: Fix it!
Was Mary cheating Martha? Jesus doesnt think so. Mary had helped earlier.
V. 40 notes Mary had left Martha, implying Mary had helped Martha
earlier; when things were in order, she checked out to be with Jesus. V. 39
says, And she had a sister called Mary, who [also, left out of ESV] sat at
the Lords feet and listened to his teaching. Mary helped, but also sat. She
wanted to be with Jesus more than serve Him. Marthas all about activity.
She loves Jesus, too. But her love is expressed in doing! But service distracted
her, and killed her relationship with Mary. Killed it with Jesus, too!
Ironic, isnt it?! She fails the very thing she wants to achieve serving Jesus
and then blames Him! V. 40, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left
me to serve alone? Imagine accusing Jesus of not caring! Then she orders
the Lord, Tell her then to help me. Wow! But serving out of duty instead of
love leads to resentment. The principle is: We wont get along with people if
we dont get alone with Him. We will kill relationships and resent the Lord.
During WWII the Japanese got a huge leg up by knocking out the US fleet at
Pearl Harbor. Six months later came the decisive Battle of Midway with the
US still at a huge disadvantage to a great Japanese fleet. But very early in the
battle, U.S. naval fliers destroyed the bridge of the ship of the commanding
admiral. All radio contact was lost between ships. From that moment the
captain of each ship was on his own. In darkness and confusion, Japanese
ships began to fire at one another and the rout was on. Why? All because
communication with the leader was lost.
Similarly right relationships with others comes from being rightly related to
our head? Without that comes sniping, anger that others arent doing as much
as we are, feelings of loneliness and even resentment of God. The only cure is
constant contact with Him! Cant be mad at one youre praying for.
II.

PROBLEMS WITH SELF (Frustration and Anxiety)

Want to be frustrated and anxious? Skip time with Jesus. V. 40 But Martha
was distracted (pulled apart, fractured) with much serving. 41) But the Lord
answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many
things. Marthas having a nervous breakdown serving God. The word
distracts means to draw away or to draw off. Martha was actually
drawn away from Christ by her service for Him. Fractured by service.
The word anxious refers to inner turmoil. Shes just a bundle of nerves
torn apart inside. Paul commands in Phil 4:6 we be anxious for nothing. The
word troubled speaks of outward discontent. It speaks of her busyness.
Moving a couch in, getting the plates set, seasoning the meat again. Martha
was distracted, inwardly and outwardly, conflicted because of her service.
Like at Buckingham Palace where they measure precisely where each place
must be set. Shes a complete wreck, just trying to serve a meal. She was
substituting service for relationship!
But God made us to be with Him before serving. Without that relationship, we
will be the same nervous wreck that Martha was. Leonard Verduin Somewhat
Less Than God tells of a certain kind of African ant. The young are sheltered
and the queen is housed in great tunnels. Workers forage in distant places for
food. If, while they are away their queen is molested, the workers, even
though far away, become nervous and uncoordinated. If she is killed, they
become absolutely frantic and rush in aimless patterns until they die. Some
radar-like device keeps them oriented to the queen while she lives. If shes
cancelled out, all orientation ceases and frenzy ensues.
Thats a Xn operating without a living relationship thru Bible and prayer with
our King. Were made for a relationship with Him. Before He wants our
service, God wants us fixated on Him. Thats our rock! We are living with an
audience of one. Just one! Disorientation, frustration, anxiety show were not
locked in to our Head. We must take Marys part. Get oriented at His feet.
III.

PROBLEMS WITH GOD (Inability to Separate Need from

Necessity leads to wasted effort)

Martha is living a wasted life. V. 41, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the
good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Youve got to get to
first base before you can go home. Mary has chosen the thing thats of lasting
value. Martha, by implication, had chosen what would not last. Martha loved
Jesus just like Mary, but she chose badly how to display her love. The meal
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would soon be over. It was all done in her own strength, her own fleshly
effort. It was wood, hay and stubble that would burn at Judgment. It could
have been more, but she bypassed first base.
Now listen carefully. Here is the heart of the matter. Martha thought the way
to significance was to meet every need. Wouldnt you? She was trying to go
to second, third and home all at the same time because she saw the needs
there. She saw needs and tried to fill them. How can you fault someone
trying so hard to meet every need? But fault her is exactly what Jesus did.
Marthas premise was everything is necessary. Jesus stopped her cold with
His comment: one thing is necessary and that one thing wasnt any of the
things Martha was up to. Dont miss the implication.
There is never any lack of need. It isnt a question of need. One will say we
need a third grade teacher. Another will say, we need a VBS teacher. We
need a short term missionary. We need food for the sick. We need a youth
sponsor. Its not a question of need! The question is what is necessary?
Listen now. Until we sort out the difference between need and necessity, we
are doomed to be eternally frustrated, frenzied, and fractured without any
possibility of producing eternal value. What is necessary is to be with God;
He will let us know in the midst of all that need what to do, when to do it, and
how to do it. He never intended we do it all. Here it is -- Martha confused
need with necessity and became broken and useless.
On the other hand, Jesus said concerning Mary, but one thing is necessary.
Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
Marthas service wonderfully intended but anxiously executed, will not
count. But Marys worship will never be taken away from her. Why?
Because she sat at the Lords feet and listened to his teaching (v. 39).Think
about that. Wouldnt you think Marthas service, earnestly rendered to meet a
need, would get some credit? Have some worth? Wouldnt you think so?
But the opposite is true. Worth is ascribed to doing nothing more than being
with Jesus, worshiping Him. Not a single worldly need is being met and yet
that was the one necessary thing which was eternal! Amazing! Thats first
base, Beloved. You have to get there first. The rest falls into place after that,
but nothing counts until that! Turns out the biggest need of all is OUR need
of Him! The paradox of Martha is that in trying so hard to meet every need,
she actually met no need. She was effort without direction and ambition
without devotion and it will not work! Meantime, Mary found in devotion to
Jesus the one thing necessary to produce eternal results. What a paradox.
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Weve all heard of the fellow who to prove his love for his wife, swam the
deepest river for her. He crossed the widest desert and climbed the highest
mountain. There was nothing he would not do for her. She divorced him
anyway! He was never home! Tragically, thats how many of us are with
Christ. Were never at home for Him. So busy doing for Him that we are
never with Him. That can only lead to a fragmented life of frustration with
others, self and God.
WHY NOT? Now let me pose this question. Why is it that we dont spend
more time with our Lord? Why are there far more Marthas than Marys? Some
will say, Well, Im just not the meditative type. Im a Type A personality
gotta be doing something! Really?! Well it seems clear that Martha is about
as Type A as you can get, and Jesus didnt give her a waiver. Cut her no slack.
More than ever she needed Him.
Many will say is, Im just too busy! I try, but Im too busy. Really? How
much time do you spend watching sports, on hobbies, watching TV? Sure
were busy. But we make time for the things that we really want to do, dont
we? We make time for what we value most! What do you value most?! I
grant you that time is at a premium, but time is not the problem, its the
excuse! Laziness is the problem; time is the excuse.
Warren Wiersbe wrote, If men like Moses, David, and Paul had to get alone
with God in order to get their work done, how much more do we need that
quiet time at the beginning of each day? D. L. Moody said: If you have so
much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, depend upon it,
you have more business on hand than God ever intended you should have.
Third -- We spend little time with God because we have a little concept of
God. Figured Him out years ago. Got His attributes down. Have no true
appreciation for the absolute infinite nature of His creativity, mercy and grace.
God is not in your face. Deut 4:29 reminds us: you will seek the LORD your
God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with
all your soul. You have to want this, Beloved. God doesnt force anyone.
Spurgeon once wrote:
What the hand is to the lute,
What the breath is to the flute,
What is fragrance to the smell,
What the spring is to the well,
What the flower is to the bee,
That is Jesus Christ to me.
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Whats the mother to the child,

What the guide in pathless wild,
What is oil to troubled wave,
What is ransom to the slave,
What is water to the sea,
That is Jesus Christ to me.

Dont you want to know Him like that? Then you must spend time with Him.
Fourth Sometimes we dont seek God because we feel unworthy. So we
set out to earn His favor. But do you know that you cannot ever become more
acceptable to Him than you are right now. Ephesians 1 says that we are
already accepted in the Beloved -- as desired by God as Christ Himself. If
youre a Christian today, you cant get any more accepted, you cant be any
more loved, you cant become any more worthy, and you cant get any more
forgiven. Folks enjoy it! Revel in it! Bask in the love of God.
Fifth we fear intimacy with God. We know our hearts. There is a desire for
good, but mixed with a lot of bitterness, lasciviousness and hypocrisy. We
hate it, but its there and we know it. How can I come to God like that? But
of course, God also knows. Hes always known. He loves us anyway. Mary
wasnt perfect, but that didnt keep her from Jesus. Almighty God, who
knows perfect love within the Trinity, wants to spend time with us even
though He knows every secret of our treacherous heart. PONDER that. He
longs for us to come to Him flaws, imperfections, doubts and all. He loves
us that much.
Conc -- After 30 years of service and having written 1/3 of the NT, Paul found
one thing necessary in his life in Philippians 3:10: That I may know Him.
Dont you already know Him, Paul? Yes, but I long to know more. After
all youve learned and been through theres more, Paul? Infinitely more.
And thats more important than taking the gospel to other places. Ill do that
too. But the one necessary thing is to know Him.
What is it that gives value to life and keeps us from being fractured by
service? Is it wealth? No. Is it education? No. Is it raising a wonderful
family? No. Service to the poor? No. What is it that gives us focus and
purpose and meaning? It is to know Him! What is it that removes frustration
and allows us to face our world without confusion. It is to know Him! Its the
one thing which is necessary. First things first. Miss that and youve missed
all. Its first base. Nothing else counts unless youve been there first.
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In an article entitled Singing in Chains in Christianity Today, February

2008, Mark Buchanan writes, Arthur Burns, Jewish economist of great
influence in Washington during the tenure of several Presidents, was once
asked to pray at a gathering of evangelical politicians. Stunning his hosts,
he prayed thus: Lord, I pray that Jews would come to know Jesus Christ.
And I pray that Buddhists would come to know Jesus Christ. And I pray
that Muslims would come to know Jesus Christ. And then, most stunning
of all: And Lord, I pray that Christians would come to know Jesus
Christ. Buchanan goes on to say, Such a good prayer, Ive started praying
it myself. Lets pray.