Introduction: We are on the journey with Jesus, in the travel narrative of the gospel of Luke. As we journey with Jesus, remember that we are looking for signs of life. We are looking to see where real life is to be found, life that exists within the realm that Jesus calls the kingdom of God. Last week we heard him point out to a religious scholar that this kind of real life comes, not through what we know, but through how we put what we know into practice. Specifically, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus directs us to keep our eyes out for our neighbor, and when we see a need that God has put us in a position to meet, we are to practice mercy. In such a practice, we will not only bring life to others, but we will experience it ourselves. We will, to return to the scholar’s original question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, begin to draw on this inheritance. The future, as it has been put, begins to break into the present.

 

Now, we didn’t talk about this last week, but let’s ask briefly before we move on today, Why will we find life as we practice mercy? The answer is simple. We will find life in showing mercy because mercy is at the heart of who God, the giver of life, is. In his parable, Jesus tells us that when the Samaritan saw the mugged man, “he took pity on him” (10:33, NIV), or “had compassion” (ESV). It is worth noting that a little earlier, when Jesus comes across a widow and her dead son, “his heart went out to her” (Lk. 7:13). It’s this same word that Jesus uses to describe the response of the Samaritan to the mugged man. Then, when Jesus later tells the parable of the prodigal son, what prompts the Father to run out an embrace his son is that he “was filled with compassion” (Lk. 15:20). So notice that in both our heavenly Father, and in his Son Jesus, compassion, showing mercy, is a significant part of their heart. If we have been created in the image of God, then it will be that as we live out that image, as we live out the character of God, that we will experience real life.

 

Now, that’s the simple part. The hard part is this: How can we develop, how can we train our hearts so that we have the heart of Jesus? In the next stop of his journey, at the home of a woman named Martha, Jesus gives us a really big hint. We can only develop the heart of Jesus if we spend time at his feet. To put it another way, if we’re not connected to his feet, we cannot hope to have his heart. So let’s head into this home and see what Jesus has for us there.

 

 I. Sisterly Friction

            A. At the end of chapter 9 we read that Jesus was not always sure where he was going to lay his head. But it is clear that at least on this night, Jesus would be well cared for. He had been received in a home owned by a woman named Martha. Martha had a sister named Mary, who was also there. As the account reveals, a bit of sibling friction erupted when Martha, who was busy with all the preparations that were involved with having a guest, noticed that her sister was not helping but sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to what he had to say. Now, don’t get the picture that to sit at someone’s feet means that you assume a devoted dog-like, adoring posture. Nor is it like someone anxiously waiting for an autograph of a famous athlete or rock star. Rather, to sit at someone’s feet in the ancient world meant that you were their student – their disciple. It was a submissive posture indicating that you wanted to learn from them and to live as they lived.

 

B. In the midst of all this, Martha, as Jesus puts it, was “upset about many things.” One of the things that got Martha so upset sort of lies beneath the text, on a cultural level. It’s that Mary was behaving as if she were a man. To sit at the feet of a teacher was a decidedly male role in her day. Who did Mary think she was? She had crossed a very important invisible, social boundary within the house and needed to be back in the kitchen. Fully expecting Jesus to take her side, Martha must have been quite shocked to hear Jesus lovingly respond that, in sitting at his feet, Mary had chosen the better place. Jesus, we continue to see, breaks social boundaries wherever he goes.

 

            C. But Martha was also “distracted.” It’s not that what Martha was doing was bad. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we have just heard Jesus teach that service, mercy, caring for others is what we’re to be about. It’s that to love one’s neighbor well, to serve others with the long-term staying power of Jesus, we must allow Jesus to first serve us. In that sense, it’s helpful to remember that the Christian life is about receiving. Gary Thomas, in his wonderful little book, Seeking the Face of God, puts it this way (p. 6):

 

Our potential and activity are entirely dependent on God’s prior work in our lives. If we set out to be achievers, rather than receivers, we have not begun to follow God. Achievers call attention only to themselves, whereas receivers lead others to appreciate the Giver.  

 

Martha at least bordered on being an achiever. It was all about her: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” If ever there were a more self-centered sentence, I’m not sure what it would be! Jesus was pleased that Mary had sat. Jesus was inviting Martha to sit as well. Certainly, she had a servant’s heart. But Jesus was inviting her to be served by him before she went out to serve others, or else she would burn out or become misdirected. If we want to have the heart of Jesus, we must stay connected to his feet. Why? What happens there?

 

II. What Will We Find at Jesus’ Feet?

            A. A the feet of Jesus we receive both his love (his delight), and his direction. It is, after all, the way Jesus began and sustained his ministry. Remember what happened at his baptism? As he came up out of the waters, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and the voice of the Father declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). What had Jesus done to earn this amazing gift, and this wonderful declaration of the Father’s love? Nothing! He hadn’t even begun his ministry. It’s a reminder that our relationship with God is not about our performance; it’s simply a relationship in which God, as the prophet Zephaniah puts it, desires to delight in you, quiet you with his love, and rejoice over you with singing. Imagine that! But we’ll miss this love, we’ll never experience the Father’s delight, unless we are willing to stop, cease all other activity, and sit at the his feet, pondering his word and communicating with him through prayer. As our bodies need daily physical nourishment, so we need spiritual sustenance, daily, and even several times a day.

 

            B. Jesus not only received the Father’s love as he sat at his feet, but also his direction. Regularly, we see Jesus withdraw to a solitary place in order to pray. The first time Mark records this, it’s just after several days of revival. Demons have been exorcised and people have been healed. The followers of Jesus, when they find him, want him to stay and keep the ministry going, but Jesus, having received direction from the Father, said, “no, we must move on” (Mk. 1:35-38). Sometimes people say, “I can’t hear God. I don’t know what he wants me to do.” Often it’s not because God has stopped speaking; more likely it’s because we haven’t stilled and quieted our souls deeply enough and often enough so that we can hear what he wants to tell us.

 

If we want to have the heart of Jesus, if we want to love our neighbor like Jesus, if we want to find and experience life, we must stay connected to his feet. It’s where we receive his love and his direction.

 

III. Our Trouble with Sitting

            A. I think that probably, most of us know this. Intuitively, at least, it makes sense. It’s also probably not the first time we’ve heard it, either from me or someone else. But often, we still struggle with taking time to sit. Let me offer a few reasons for why that might be.

 

1. One reason is that we are too ashamed. Like Adam and Eve, we’d prefer to hide from God because we know we’re in sin. If this is the case, remember that God’s mercy is what he loves to show. It’s at the heart of his character. What’s more, he already knows about your sin anyway; you can’t hide it even if you refuse to sit. So why not acknowledge it and let him begin the process of healing you?

 

2. A second reason we may avoid sitting is that we believe we’re too busy. We don’t have time to sit, we reason. “Have you looked at my schedule, Lord?” To which I would only say, to myself as much as anyone else, if Jesus found it necessary to sit, than so must I. If he found it necessary to spiritually refuel, if he found it necessary to soak in the delight of the Father, if he found it necessary to be still so that he could hear what the Father wanted him to do next, than I can do no less.

 

Part of what Martha had to learn was that just because something was good didn’t mean she had to do it, or that she had to do it to the extent that she thought necessary. Reading into the text a bit, perhaps a quick vacuum and a casserole would have sufficed, instead preparing a five course meal and making sure all the woodwork was dusted and Pledged. Some things are good. Some things are better. So some things must wait, be reduced, or not done at all, in favor of the thing that we cannot do without.

 

3. A third reason we may avoid sitting is that we are too controlling. Like Jonah, we may just prefer to go our own way, either continuing to live in sin, or refusing to do what God has called us to do. If you’re convinced that hanging on to such control is really the best course of action, ask yourself, is whatever you’re continuing to do really making you happy? Is continuing in sin really bringing you delight? If we’re honest, I don’t think we can say “yes” to that question. What we can know is that the delight God wants to take in you and wants you to take in him will bring you far more joy than anything else in the world. All he asks is that you sit and give him the chance.

 

If we’re looking for real life, it is found as we take on the heart of Jesus. His promise is that if we stay connected to his feet, our hearts will follow.