Focus
Theological Proposition/Focus: There is no higher, greater, more significant, or better choice than God.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: As we go through life and do lots of good things we must never lose sight of the greatest thing, spending time with Jesus.
Introduction:
Text: Luke 10:38-42, 2 Timothy 4:10
Image: Demas
Have you ever heard of a man named Demas? Demas only shows up three times in the Bible (that is three times more than you or I!)
In Colossians 4:14 we read the name of Demas along with spiritual giants like Luke. His name again shows up with another list of believers in Philemon 24.
Based on these passages it seems reasonable to conclude that Demas was one who stood with Paul in one of his imprisonments.
So, what happened to this man who was counted worthy to be named in both Colossians and Philemon?
In my opinion, 2 Timothy 4:10 is one of the saddest verses in the Bible.
for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
Demas was distracted by the world and forsook Paul.
Now, I cannot tell you exactly how Demas became distracted but I can tell you that plenty of Christian potential has been lost to distraction.
The reality of the world we live in is distraction. None of us here want to be a Demas so what steps can we take in our disciplined life to ensure that we don't become Demas? I venture that nobody sets out to be a Demas. I even venture that practically nobody who is genuine sets out hoping to pursue the world under the guise of Christ. I think that for most people who turn out to be a Demas it is a slow fade.
Need: We need to make sure that we keep our focus on Christ.
Setting the Stage:
I could stand up here and tell you story after story of spiritual leaders who have fallen but instead I want to compare two people who were doing good things, it just turns out one was doing a better thing.
Shortly after Peter made his significant declaration that Jesus was the Messiah Jesus went right back to ministry
He predicted his coming death
He was transfigured before Peter, John, and James.
He sent out seventy-two followers to preach the Kingdom of God.
He performed miracles and taught parables.
In the work of day-to-day ministry Jesus came to the house of Mary and Martha.
Read Luke 10:38-42 with me.
Body
There are many good things that you can do.
The good things we can do could fill a lifetime.
Working a job to provide for your family is a good thing.
Teaching a Sunday School class or small group is a good thing.
Serving in ministry here at the church is a good thing.
Martha did some important good things for Jesus (38)
Context matters, and in Luke 10:5-7 Jesus had told his disciples to go to hospitable houses.
In fact, one theme in Luke 7:36-50 is contrast between the Pharisees who failed in hospitality and the sinful woman who showed great hospitality in anointing Jesus's feet.
Hospitality is important
It is commanded in Romans 12:13 and 1 Peter 4:9
It is a requirement for someone seeking the office of elder in 1 Tim. 3:1-2.
I want you to realize that what Martha was doing was important. We need people to be hospitable! We need people to open their homes!
The problem was that Martha became distracted (40).
I think it is easy to become distracted while doing something good. And I think this is especially true in the work of hospitality.
Image: Our struggles with image in hospitality. When being hospitable it is easy for it to become about the host!
I will tell you, this is a struggle for Emily and I. When we have people over, we want the house to be very clean, we want the food to be perfect, we want there to be extra food, and we want dessert to blow people away. But are those things about Jesus or are they about us. When we are honest with ourselves we realize that we twist hospitality and take this good thing and turn it into our own pride and sin. But isn't that just like sin, it corrupts something good.
Sin can make a good thing into a distraction and when that happens the good thing becomes a problem.
Ultimately what we see is that our focus should not be on good things we need to focus on something more!
Jesus is the one and only one best thing.
I want to take just a short break from the passage that we are in today and instead take you on a short tour of passages that lead up to our main passage. You see, context matters, we tend to thing of passages in isolated pieces but in fact, passages are part of bigger narratives and we need to understand the narrative that Luke has painted so far.
Luke has already shown that Jesus is special (9:18-20, 35; 10:2, 24, 25-37).
Jesus is the anointed one as Peter proclaimed in Luke 9:18-20.
Jesus is the chosen son of God as declared in Luke 9:35.
Jesus is the Lord of the harvest as indicated in Luke 10:2.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's plan as referenced in Luke 10:24.
Jesus is the perfect teacher as demonstrated in Luke 10:25-37.
Jesus is uniquely essential (42).
We have a tendency to do a lot, we will admit that only some of that is necessary, but the reality is that only Jesus is essential!
Think about that for just a minute. Your first and foremost responsibility is Jesus.
The fact that only Jesus is essential is incredibly freeing!
Your job can be replaced.
Someone else can serve.
This doesn't mean I want you to stop serving, but if you come to me and say that you need to take a break from serving in x ministry so that you can take that time with Jesus I am going to say awesome, and then hold you accountable to spending that time with Jesus.
Your kids and family will survive if you choose not to take them to practice because you need that time with Jesus.
Your kids and family will survive without that trip the Raising Caines if it comes at the expense of extra work hours that replace your time with Jesus.
We have built up a church culture that says family first. That culture is not entirely wrong, but just like so many other things we have twisted what is good to make it bad. Yes, your family should be important, almost most important, but Jesus is the essential.
Martha called Jesus Lord, Mary truly treated Jesus as Lord
Mary broke cultural norms in order to focus on Jesus. This is a true form of making Jesus Lord.
Understand just how counter-cultural this would have been. In the ancient world there was a strong division between the roles of women and men even in a household. Men and women did not intermingle except for when a woman was serving a man. In this story we find that Mary is doing everything "right" she has called Jesus Lord and she is serving him as if he was the master. However, it is Mary who truly treats Jesus as Lord. You see truly treating Jesus as Lord requires that we take time, sit with Jesus, and listen to what he has to teach us.
How can I make the best thing my thing?
MTR: Recognize who Jesus actually is.
We must take time to recognize that Jesus is not just a good teacher. Jesus is not just a good man. Jesus is God himself become man sent to live a perfect life, die on the cross paying the penalty for sin, rise again defeating sin and death and coming again to redeem the world. Jesus outranks everything we can imagine. we must recognize Jesus for who he actually is and not just set him up as one more important item in life.
MTR: Recognize that Jesus is essential.
There really is not much in life that is truly essential.
We value a lot of things but the only thing that is truly essential is Jesus.
One of the hardest times in my life was when God asked me "If I take it all away am I still God?"
We learned we would not have children,
the job I had given up so much for fell through,
and my best friend, my dad suddenly died all in a short period of time.
As I began to pick up the pieces of my life I asked why?
God gave me an answer and his answer was really very simple. God said "I am asking you one question. If I take everything you value so highly away from you, am I still your God?"
I thank God He gave me the grace to pass that test.
And so I am telling you here and now, Jesus is the only thing that is essential and guess what,
God has given it back to me! Just like Job, I am blessed in ways that are unimaginable.
I now have several fathers in my life sitting in this room right now.
There are several children here that I love as my own.
And guess what, God gave me a better job than I had imagined.
What did it take? Stripping it all away so that I could see that Jesus is essential.
MTR: Treat Jesus as Lord by simply sitting at His feet to learn from him.
This week, take some time, slow down and just learn from Jesus.
Image: Translating Luke 23:43
I have told many of you that I am slowly working through translating the New Testament for myself. I am nearly done but one of the last three books I have to translate is Luke.
A few weeks ago I was translating Luke 23:43 which you might recognize "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."[1]
What struck me was the word order. You see, in English we use word order to determine subject, direct object etc.
But Greek has a different structure.
In Greek, the ending of a word determines how it functions in a sentence and the order determines emphasis.
A literal translation of Luke 23:43 actually sounds more like Yoda Speak. "Truly, to you, I say, today with me you will be in paradise."
As wonderful as Heaven will be, it won't be wonderful because of what it is, it will be wonderful because of who is there.
Don't be a Demas.
I started today by telling you not to be a Demas. I am convinced that the key is to determine to keep Jesus as the focus.
===One example is by making sure that Jesus is the center of your relationships and since marriage is such a significant relationship for many- ↑ The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 23:43.
