Are You Dead or Alive

The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke chapter 10. Now as they went on their way he entered a village and a woman named Martha received him into her house and she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching but Martha was distracted with much serving and she went and said to him Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone tell her to help me but the Lord answered Martha Martha you're anxious and troubled about many things one thing is needful Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not be taken away from her the gospel of the Lord if someone came up to you and said are you dead or alive you'd shake your head what's wrong with him can't he see I'm breathing I walk I talk I had my breakfast this morning of course I'm alive but as far as God is concerned most people who walk and talk and eat and sleep are essentially dead so Jesus could say the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and those who pay attention shall live Lord I'll follow you but let me first go and bury my father leave the dead to bury their own dead but as for you go and preach the kingdom of God Satan says to Jesus you're going to starve to death if you don't eat pretty soon if you're the Son of God turn these stones into bread Jesus answers it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God according to Jesus you're dead until you hear a word from the mouth of God and hear that word in such a way that it enters you and becomes your life now as they went their way he entered a village and a woman named Martha received him into her house and she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching but Martha was distracted by much serving and she went and said to Jesus Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone time to help me but the Lord answered Martha Martha you're anxious and troubled about many things one thing is an evil Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not be taken away from her here's Martha in the kitchen slaving away to make Jesus a nice lunch Mary she's in the living room sitting at Jesus feet drinking in every word and she doesn't lift a finger to help her sister and what does Martha get for all her effort a rebuke Martha Martha you're anxious and troubled about many things one thing is needful Mary has chosen that good portion which will not be taken from her so Mary gets the gold star for doing nothing Martha gets a rebuke for trying to be a servant for 2,000 years people have been listening to Jesus rebuking Martha for trying to make him a nice lunch it's not right somebody has to stick up for Martha so let's us let's us make it up to her let's give her the gold star somebody has to do this for Martha now one of the reasons we are inclined to stick up for Martha is because we have a lot more Martha in us than Mary I mean we can identify with Martha Martha comes from Lunenburg County she knows how to work she knows how to cook she knows how to get things done she doesn't sit around and dream and waste time so where's Jesus coming from giving the bouquet to Mary instead of Martha he's setting a bad precedent this world already is too full of lazy slobs I mean if we all sat around meditating doing nothing we'd all soon start to death when you think of it it looks like Jesus is playing favorites you know maybe he's flattered by having Mary sit there at his feet in the living room looking up at him with her big blue eyes and maybe Jesus is kind of annoyed with those angry noises coming from the kitchen Martha banging those pots and pans no Jesus is not playing favorites Jesus is putting his finger on something that we've been missing while we chase around trying to get things done and worrying about a thousand things we can't control here's what we haven't figured out yet and Mary has what's going on in the living room that day is a thousand times more important than what's happening in the kitchen God is speaking through his Messiah and when you get a chance to hear God speak you go there you drop what you're doing you forget about lunch and you listen there's more to life than making lunch there's more to life than scraping a pile of money together there's more to life than making love there's more to life than becoming important when we get a chance to hear God speak we got to drop everything and pay attention we don't live by bread alone we live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God when God speaks in heaven a million angels hold their peace and listen when God speaks on earth it's time for us to push aside all the distractions pay attention remember the woman who cried out to Jesus blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked and Jesus answered yea rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it so here's a real picture while Martha is fretting in the kitchen over lunch Mary's in the living room getting connected with God and to be connected with God heart soul strength and mind is the essential need of our lives it's the one thing needful to be connected with God to know God to be alive with his spirit the only way you're ever going to be alive with God's spirit is to hear God speak we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God that's what Mary was doing Martha could have been doing it too Martha could have said to herself Jesus is teaching in the living room and I need to hear what he's saying so I'm going in there and I'm going to listen until he's through and if lunch is late too bad if nobody eats today tough the reason our faith is so dull and dry is because we still haven't understood what comes first we're so busy in the kitchen we're fretting in the kitchen while the bread of heaven is being passed out free of charge in the living room we're still bent out of shape trace chasing after all kinds of distractions worrying over a million things we can't control while life from God life from God is being offered and we're missing him okay you say that's all very well Mary and Martha had a clear choice Jesus was right there they could see him they could touch him they could hear his voice if I could hear his voice like they could I but today there are a thousand voices speaking for Jesus claiming to speak for Jesus who's right and it's true all kinds of religious garbage floating around false prophets hucksters peddling the gospel for money all kinds of conflicting voices and Jesus warned us that it would be so it would be like that but he also promised that his word his words the words he spoke in Martha's living room the words he spoke by the sea of Galilee would echo through this world remain alive on this earth through all generations heaven and earth will pass away my words will not pass away my words those words of Jesus clear simple life-giving you want to hear them you really want to hear them God will get you there and he'll open your ears it's simple as two and two is four whoever is of the truth Jesus said to Pilate whoever is the truth is of the truth here's my voice you have integrity you really want to know you will hear my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life they shall never perish and no one shall smash them out of my head you want to hear that voice you want to hear those words God will see that you do but first you've got to downgrade all the other stuff going on in the kitchen the garage the bedroom the bank and seek first to hear that voice get serious funny thing about God God does not even exist for you until he gets our priority I mean you can be super religious you can be in church seven days a week and get all kinds of awards for being the outstanding Christian of the year but until he's number one for you you don't know you're too busy fretting in the kitchen God becomes real in your life when in order to hear his voice you drop once you get any hint that you're hearing anything from him once you believe that that's where it's there he's speaking you drop everything and you go there and you listen and once you've heard you get off your fanny and do it Mary understood that she got it Martha still haven't figured it out that day so where are we in all this are we really listening for his voice are we walking in his life the big tragedy for religious people like we are is to come to the end of our days and discover since we spent a lifetime fretting in the kitchen while the bread of heaven was being passed out free of charge in the living room let's pray Lord God we pray that you would by your spirit's power create in us a hunger for your truth above all things ears to hear eyes to see and hearts undivided committed serious passionate so that hearing your voice Lord Jesus and walking in the word that you give to us we may learn how to love each other our neighbor and bring life to this troubled sad despairing earth that we may be having heard and coming alive with your word truly broken bread and poured out wine for that world out there we ask your father in Jesus name amen