Gospel Gratitude Part 4

Give Online: Tithes & Offerings

Catch up on our series HERE

Gospel Graditude

(Part 3 – ThanksLiving)

Welcome to Jesus Church here and online

We are on part 4 of our mini-series on gratefulness

• We want to be grateful people
  • We want to remember that God is the one we are grateful to
  • That we need to always be grateful to God over what he provides
• Last week we talked of connecting gifts to a heart of gratitude
  • Because you will never be satisfied by the gift
  • If you aren’t grateful to the giver
• You can be surrounded by a sea of Gods blessings and die of thirst…
  • Because you don’t know how to turn gifts into gratitude
  • You will never truly know how to appreciate the gifts given
  • Unless you first learn how to appreciate the one who gives them

This morning we are gonna be in the book of Luke

Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Statement: Easy to be Mary when you aren’t Martha

1 Pt. 5:7

Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you

[Pray]

I love my kids more than anything

Sometimes I sit and remember days w/o children

• Obsessed with my kids
  • Nothing better than Lyla writing songs and joy for life
  • Going to see movies with Joey and playing catch with the football
    • Absolutely best – 2^nd only to my wife
    • But someday they’ll move out (rejoice)
• For anyone married here with kids… do you remember pre-kids?
  • Every night could be date night
  • Just get in a car unplanned to drive off
    • Getting kids in the car is enough of an outing sometimes
    • Can we go back inside
• Like getting the kids to school on a regular weekday… It’s a process
  • Have you even got up yet…
  • Why don’t you have shoes on… I don’t like socks
    • My socks are bugging my feet
    • Where’s the ipad
    • I’m hungry
    • I need to go to the bathroom
    • I don’t like this outfit (10 going on 20)
      • Stop arguing – Get in the car – Please God help me

And it use to be worse… like going to the mall without children

• Just walk in… no strollers… no whining
  • Not shoving in fruit snacks and juice boxes in pockets
  • Not trying to find shoes that have disappeared
• Then a car stops and puts on his blinker (I must be leaving)
  • NO YOU CAN’T HAVE MY SPOT
  • Move along buddy

Had no idea the liberty & abundance of time you had

• College students are awesome… love it when they are so busy
  • Never have enough time
  • I’m a part time barista
    • Send my ankle biters over for a few hours
    • Make you want to be full time barista

I think Martha gets a bad rap

Globally Mary gets all glory in sermons on Luke 10

• If I’m talkin about Thanksliving – Must be talking about Mary
  • Everyone wants to say
    • Be like Mary
    • Martha has issues
• In church world
  • No compliments start with “You’re such a Martha”
  • That could actually start a fight
    • Your busy
    • Only care about practical
    • Not spiritual at all
  • Huge complement “You’re such a Mary”
    • So focused on Jesus
    • You don’t let things distract you
      • What a Mary you are!
• Not really a fair take on this story
  • Martha needs a comeback
  • Martha has been misrepresented

Maybe Mary gets to sit at feet – b/c Marta pays bills

Luke 10:38

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into HER house

• OH NOW IT MAKES SENSE
  • Mary is a free loader
  • Mary is the roomie
  • Mary doesn’t pay the bills (probably the little sister)
    • Martha was first born
• Martha got stack of bills in the kitchen
  • Martha is balancing the check book
  • Mary’s on the couch watching house hunters

TAG: Easy to be Mary when you’re not Martha

Some of you cringe to hear a sermon on Martha

Think this is a hate on “Doers” sermon

• Great: Be thankful enough to drop all my responsibilities…
  • But I go to work
  • I clean the house
  • I pay the bills
  • I take the kids everywhere
    • Don’t you dare tell me to lay at feet of Jesus
    • Don’t have time to lay at all

Even the names

• Mary means Beloved
  • If you were being type casted
  • You would want role of Mary
    • Mary is poetic, calm, heart role
• Martha means Lady of the house
  • Lady who gets things done
    • Mary – Beloved
    • Martha – Someone needs to do the laundry
      • Martha is practical
      • Mary has her head in the clouds
        • Mary always has a song in her head
        • Bobbing back and forth
• I can make fun of Mary’s because in my marriage
  • I am Mary (weird to say that)
  • I am her

Concern in church community

Mary’s will get an attitude toward Martha’s

• Thinking Martha’s need to spend time with Jesus
  • Truth is: Reason you can sit – Somebody is serving
• Many think Jesus was rebuking Martha
  • That never happens
• Putting name twice – Wasn’t him shaking head
  • Emphasize how he said her name
    • With Empathy, Compassion, Mercy
    • Martha – You are so worried about all this stuff
    • Never rebukes Martha for being a servant
  • Jesus gets it
    • This is your house
    • You have to clean it up
    • Light the scented candle
      • Set the table
      • It’s your place
  • Meanwhile Mary is lounging in the living room
    • Listening to Jesus’ amazing words
• Jesus understood roles and personalities
  • Never says Martha should be more like Mary
  • Mary has chose the best part – To be with me

Scene – Martha exasperated

Running around to get everything done

• In Kitchen Putting Pita & Hummus together
  • Martha loves Jesus
    • Not a love issue
    • It’s a practical issue
  • God is in my house
    • Probably should feed him
    • No one else is gonna do it
  • Martha leaning in the living room
    • She wants to hear too
    • But torn
      • Part of what she feels is noble
      • Not sinning
      • We make her out to be this unengaged, workaholic

Martha says what many of us think

Luke 10:40

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.

• Lord don’t you care
  • More than just right now in this instant… like in general
    • When you fill life with Martha moments
    • Start to wonder
• God, Do you care
  • I’m not in hours of prayer / laying at your feet
  • I’m not on the mission field / helping the homeless
  • I’m not an evangelist
• Am I important to you… is what I do at all significant
  • Am I your concern
  • Am I on your mind
    • I know you like Mary… but what about me

This is how we can get in our relationship with God

• Don’t you care about my bills
  • Don’t you care my kid has a cold
  • Don’t you care my heater just went out
  • Don’t you care I don’t have gas in my car…
• So I have to carry the weight of it all
  • I get stressed… anxious… feel like I’m drowning
  • I can’t go to God
  • He doesn’t really care
• But take a step back… what a bizarre perspective of God
  • I shouldn’t trouble him with in’s and out’s of my life?
  • He doesn’t have time to care
    • As if God is balancing his schedule
    • God never said, “Only so many hours in day”

Here’s what Jesus focuses in on

• Problem wasn’t serving too much… it was worrying too much
  • Worry: To seek or promote one’s own interests or partition off parts of your life
• Other words: to keep it from God
  • Handle it on your own

This is where we become self focused – Not God focused

• When you focus on holding on to your problems
  • Impossible to give anything to God
  • Especially with a thankful or grateful heart
• Martha’s quickly start to think
  • Holy Spirit isn’t going to write a check
  • This is REAL life
  • God takes care of those who take care of themselves
• Want to know what Godly Thanksgiving is… Giving thanks to God
  • It’s worship
    • If you find yourself living worried
    • You can’t live a life of thanksgiving

1 Peter 5:7 – Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares about you.

And we think we’re good with this verse…

• But how we interpret it is… He cares about the really big stuff
  • God I pray for the destiny of my children
  • God I pray for their spouses someday
  • God I pray for the salvation of our country
    • So spiritual, big and massive
• What about… God I pray my son will be a Godly influence at school
  • I pray that I can sleep good tonight
  • I pray that my new dog is house trained soon
• But should we really pray about our parking spots and headaches
  • I mean aren’t there straving kids in Africa
    • So God doesn’t care about my dog… that’s silly
    • Don’t pray about that
• Sometimes its best to sit at a table w/ 5 year old
  • Ask him to pray… honestly its refreshing
  • Because they just talks about what’s on their mind
    • Thank you for my Christmas presents
    • Thank you that I got a cookie after lunch
    • Thank you for minecraft
  • God isn’t up in heaven reprimanding our kids for their prayers
    • Are you serious… I’m trying to maintain the cosmos
    • I’m trying to deal with Russia
      • Stop stressing me out with minecraft

CASTING ALL OF OUR CARES… what part of ALL don’t we understand

• Because it means EVERYTHING YOU care about
  • He wants it all… because he cares about you
  • He wants you to be free… to have peace
  • And you can’t do that when you partition your cares from God
    • When you refuse to give them to God
• Did you know there was a sacrifice of thanksgiving in the OT
  • And it always came with a peace offering

Ps. 100:4

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name

• You can’t live this way if you think God doesn’t have time for you

Phil. 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, WITH THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God.

• Prereq for requesting from God… its THANKSGIVING!!!
  • And you cannot give thanks
  • If your mentality is God doesn’t want to hear it
• No…God wants it all
  • Why: Because he loves you
  • And he cares about the big things… but also the details