Where is Your Attention?

[00:00:00] In the name of Jesus. [00:00:02] Amen. [00:00:07] In the name of Jesus. [00:00:09] One thing is necessary. [00:00:12] Jesus Christ. [00:00:15] We've all come together to look to Jesus together, like the children and I talked about. [00:00:25] We all bring our voices into unison, right? From the various places they've been scattered. Like, we've all. We were all in our homes and, you know, talking with one another and with others. [00:00:39] Our words have been many places this week. But then we come together and unite our words in the same direction, and they're all pointed toward Jesus Christ and receiving from him. [00:00:58] So we all. [00:01:00] We've said things in unison, all of our voices uniting. [00:01:05] Of course, that's the outward expression of our attention. [00:01:10] All of us uniting our attention together and offering it in the proper direction in order to receive from God. So all of you right now, looking this direction and listening, not for me, but for God's word. [00:01:31] That's the purpose of what I'm wearing as well. [00:01:34] It's covering me or most of me. [00:01:38] And that's on purpose. It's like, well, what is there to see here? [00:01:43] Not much, you know, like, don't look at me, the guy or my clothing choice this morning, right? [00:01:50] Look at Jesus. [00:01:52] That's what all this is doing. Or the collar that I wear here, this little bit of white sometimes in a sea of black, right? That's kind of. Maybe the more traditional form of it grabs your attention. [00:02:07] And why? Because that's the one thing necessary, that's my job as a pastor, is to give you one thing. [00:02:14] Jesus Christ. [00:02:16] And so you see that little bit of white there over my voice box, and you remember, oh, yeah, your job's not about you. [00:02:25] It's about Jesus Christ and his Word. [00:02:30] His word, that is a lamp in the darkness and a light to a dark path. [00:02:39] Think about that. Well, the experience of life when the darkness closes in. And maybe it's like mental turmoil, spiritual struggle. [00:02:50] Maybe it's the worries and the cares of life, or maybe the cares and pleasures of life, as Jesus says in the parable of the sower that threatened to choke out faith. [00:03:04] Maybe the cares and pleasures of life are closing in. And you ever find yourself unable to sleep because you're thinking about too many things or unable to think clearly to treat those around you in the proper way because you're anxious and troubled about many things. [00:03:27] So there you are in the darkness. And I don't know if I think about it the way I experience that it is a kind of darkness, like to be anxious and troubled and to have my mind pulled in so many directions. [00:03:49] It does create a sort of mist. You've heard of anger like this. Like there's, like, there's. Like you're seeing through a mist and you can't see clearly. At least in some literature, I think that that kind of imagery is used. [00:04:06] Right? That's what happens. Vision gets clouded, understanding gets confused. And then you say things that you shouldn't have or do things that you shouldn't have. [00:04:20] Jesus says to Martha, Martha, Martha. [00:04:25] It's like he's knocking on her door. [00:04:27] Says it twice, Martha, Martha, give me your attention. [00:04:34] Gather your attention from the places to which it's been scattered. [00:04:39] You're anxious and troubled about many things, but gather your attention together because one thing is necessary and that one thing is standing in front of you. Jesus says to her, right, and that one thing is standing in front of you right now. Right, but not me. That's why I'm covered up. [00:04:58] But Jesus Christ and his Word speaking through me properly, one thing is necessary. Isn't that a relief? [00:05:13] It's just one thing is necessary. [00:05:17] Like, you know, one of my first reactions to that, like, you're anxious and troubled about many things. [00:05:27] Gather up your attention again from the places to which it's been scattered. It's like, well, but I've scattered it there for a reason. You know, I got to figure that out. [00:05:38] This isn't good. I'm afraid of it. And for good reason, that's going to come back to bite me or, you know, thinking like, cares and pleasures of life. It's like, well, but I really want to be investing in this, investing my heart in this. [00:05:58] Right? Well, if we're reluctant to gather our attention back from the places to which we've scattered it, then it's time to repent. [00:06:11] Because Jesus said, there Jesus is. [00:06:14] And he tells Mary, no, the better portion is to be sitting at my feet listening to me. [00:06:24] And that's where we belong. [00:06:26] And so we confess our sins that we've. We've. [00:06:31] Well, that we've feared, loved and trusted. [00:06:35] Something else than God, that we've given our attention, we've given glory to something other than God, and we repent and he forgives us. [00:06:44] God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [00:06:50] And you can think of that unrighteousness as well as wayward attention, our hearts drawn in the wrong directions, our hope built on something else, you know, something shaky. [00:07:05] Our hope built on sinking sand rather than on Jesus Christ. [00:07:13] What a gift that he gathers us back to himself and Gives us rest. [00:07:22] I want to talk about it. Like, rest. So Mary's sitting there listening at Jesus feet. [00:07:29] It's like, ah, well, that sounds great. You know, wouldn't it be nice to just be sitting at Jesus feet and listening and not worrying about all those other things that Martha has to worry about? And maybe rightly so, there are things to be done. It's like she's giving attention to all those things. Why? Because nobody's helping her. [00:07:49] They've got to be done. [00:07:54] Mary's spot is obviously preferable. And that's part of Martha's frustration. Like, well, yeah, I'd love to be sitting at Jesus feet right now, but I can't because I'm serving you, Jesus. No, that's how she talks. [00:08:10] Lord, don't you care? [00:08:12] Aren't you going to do something about it? [00:08:16] Did she ever think you were going to speak to Jesus that way? [00:08:21] Was that her plan? [00:08:24] I've spoken to Jesus that way. I mean, and not with words, really. I don't think I've ever said that to him. Like, you know, but I have. [00:08:33] If I'm like anxious and troubled about many things and not laying them at the feet of Jesus, if I'm not sitting at Jesus feet and instead my attention is carried elsewhere as if I'm going to solve those problems divorced from his word, right? Apart from receiving from him. That's what I'm saying to him. [00:08:53] It's like, nope, I've got these things to worry about. [00:08:57] Jesus. You see how Martha has her eyes down looking at the worldly things that she has to do. And we all have to do. [00:09:08] We all have to get our hands dirty and, and do things. Whether we're being hospitable like Martha was, or doing something else. We've all got things that we need to do on this earth. [00:09:22] And so the message this morning in the gospel reading isn't stop doing things and just be silent and listen for the rest of your life about attention. [00:09:41] Martha too could be paying attention to Jesus as she goes about her tasks. [00:09:47] Instead, her attention is scattered. She's invested her attention in those things. [00:09:53] It's like she's got all these things down here that she needs to be doing, but she's invested her heart in them and her attention. And what happens is that Jesus becomes just another one of those things under her control and she's going to order him around too. [00:10:10] And Mary, well, so she's now put heavenly things under her feet, you could say, including Jesus himself. She's looking down on Jesus, telling him what to do, at least strongly suggesting what he should do and isn't. [00:10:35] But there Mary is. [00:10:37] Mary is in a receptive position. [00:10:40] She's at Jesus feet. [00:10:42] Jesus the man from heaven. God himself come down, Wisdom incarnate has come, and there Mary is in the proper position at his feet, looking up at him, receiving from him. [00:10:59] That is our proper position. [00:11:03] And for that we need to repent. [00:11:07] We've got plenty of scripture to help us do so. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that at the proper time he may exalt you and countless others. [00:11:20] Our proper place is at Jesus feet, listening and receiving. [00:11:26] And there's no way that that doesn't mean doing things right. Like, is it possible that Mary is just gonna like, become inactive because she's at Jesus feet listening like, well, Mary's no good to us anymore. She's just gonna be thinking about what Jesus said and not doing anything. [00:11:46] Like, no, right. It's like, I mean, I suppose you could, you could like read a hundred books on gardening and then never go out and garden. You could, right? [00:12:03] But probably you're going to read 100 books about gardening and you're going to be like, I have got to get a garden going. [00:12:10] I mean, the more you invest your heart into those gardening books, probably the more willing you're going to be to spend money on all the things that will give you the best garden, Right? Like, the more you invest your heart in it, then the more you're going to do. And of course that's just a silly earthly example, but that's how it works. [00:12:35] We sit at Jesus feet and receiving from him, become like him. [00:12:42] Which is exactly God's promise to us that by faith looking to Jesus will be transformed from glory to glory into the same image that he is conforming us to himself. [00:12:59] How? [00:13:00] Not as we busily do all of the things that we think are most necessary on a daily basis, but as we attend to the one thing necessary, as we look to Jesus Christ in faith and receive from him and then let that shape. Your actions don't have to keep from doing anything. [00:13:29] But. [00:13:30] But that's where the power lies. [00:13:33] All of it is in Jesus Christ. [00:13:36] He gives the meaning that informs our life and the power to accomplish it. Thanks be to God, in Jesus name, amen.