In Luke 10:38-42, we have seen the danger of being distracted like Martha, and the priority of listening like Mary.  But how can we apply this to our lives today?  We must make space for God.  We must make time to sit and listen to Jesus.  We need to make space each day to spend time with God.  We need to make space each week to gather with God’s people to spend time together with God.  Let me share three pointers that I am learning when it comes to making space for God:

First, we have to address our busyness, our distractions.  Some things may need to go in order to make space for God each day, and each week.  Each of us needs to evaluate our lives from time to time to see if we have become too busy, to consider ways to simplify, to make sure we are making space for God.

Second, we need to make enough space for God.  Hurry kills relationship; it kills listening.  If you spend five minutes racing through a passage of Scripture and throwing up a quick prayer and wonder why you have a distant relationship with God and get little out of your time with God, then the answer is found one word: hurry.  Let me say it again: hurry kills relationship; it kills listening.  We need to make enough space to spend time to listen to God by meditating on his Word.  To meditate is to ponder, consider, think about.  It means reading and thinking until you get a good idea of what God is saying, and how it relates to you, and how you need to respond.  We need to make enough space to meditate and respond in prayer without constantly checking the clock, without rushing, without hurry.  And we need to make enough space on Sundays that we can meditate along with the pastor during the sermon without constantly checking our watches hoping the pastor will hurry.

Third, we need to protect our space with God.  In our daily time with God, we must not allow intrusions or distractions.  Pick a good time.  Find a quiet place.  Ignore the phone (is the person calling more important than the one you are already talking with?).  Don’t schedule other things during that time.  Yes, I know we must at times, and emergencies do come up, but these should be exceptions rather than the rule.  On Sundays too we need to protect our space with God.  Family and friends get-togethers really can wait until after church (and far enough after that you aren’t rushing – see point 2 above).  Do your best not to have to work.  Don’t allow others things to take priority.  Remember, our first priority is listening to Jesus.   Protect your space.

If we are going to listen to Jesus and not live distracted lives, we must make space for God.  That includes addressing our busyness, making enough space to meditate on God’s Word, and protecting our space.  How foolish for us to let other things take priority over God.  He is the priority.  Father, help us to make space for you….

In Luke 1o:38-42, while Martha is distracted, Jesus says there is only one thing or few things necessary.  Mary has chosen it.  She is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him.  That is the one thing.  Sit and listen.  Stop all of the busyness and listen.  Be still and know that he is God.  Listen to him.  Hear him.  Enjoy time with God.  That is the one thing.  That is the priority.

Part of me rebels.  Sit and listen?  I don’t have time.  I have too much to do.  I can’t just sit and not accomplish anything.  I am so addicted to doing and accomplishing that I am tempted to think sitting and listening is a waste of time.  I need to be doing something! 

Another part of me tries to turn this listening into accomplishing.  I have to read so many verses.  I have to accomplish my devotional plan.  My focus moves from God to another accomplishment.  There is nothing wrong with a plan unless it takes over the focus.

Yet another part of me cries out to sit at his feet and listen like Mary did.  I want to know God like the Psalmist.  I want to thirst for God and find my satisfaction in him (Psalm 63).  I just want to sit and listen. 

Jesus says Mary has chosen the good portion.  That word – portion –  brings us back to Israel entering the Promised Land.  Each tribe was given a portion of the land as an inheritance.  Each tribe, except Levi.  God was Levi’s portion.  The Psalmists take off on this idea, seeking God as their portion.  The Lord is my chosen portion (Psalm 16:5).  God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).  The Lord is my portion (Psalm 119:57).  You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living (Psalm 142:5).  I want Jesus to be my portion.  I want to sit and listen.

Does this mean that we check out of daily life and just sit and listen.  Emphatically no.  It means that listening to Jesus is our first priority.  Why?  Because listening is foundational to the rest of our lives. 

Jesus gives us the perfect pattern.  He often went away to spend time with his Father.  Then he would come back to serve.  Listen, then serve.  Spend time with God to gain wisdom and strength for the day, and then go forth into the day.  Listening is a priority because it helps us live life well for the Lord.

And yet, listening is a priority not just because it helps me live my day better.  Listening is a priority simply because of who I am listening to.  I need to listen to God simply because he is God.  He deserves my attention.  Listening to Jesus is the one thing necessary, the priority, simply because God is the priority.

Father, help us to listen….

Luke 10: 38-42 gives the account of Jesus stopping at Martha and Mary’s home.  Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening.  Meanwhile Martha is distracted in her serving.  It is not the serving which is a problem, but being distracted.  Indeed the text tells us she is not only distracted, but she is distracted by much serving.  Jesus tells her she is anxious and troubled about many things.  Much.  Many.  Busy, busy, busy.  Go, go, go.  Lots to do.   Distracted.

How easily we allow our lives to be filled up with busyness, much, many.  Our lives become frantic, hectic, crazy.  We become impatient, cranky, irritable.  Like Martha we get upset when we see someone just sitting.  All this busyness hurts our relationship with God.  It hurts our relationship with people.  We don’t have time for either.  We are distracted.

I can get so distracted by service, by ministry, that I can fail to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen.  What about you?  What distractes you so much that you fail to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen?  Maybe it is ministry.  Maybe it is work.  Maybe it is family activities.  Maybe it is a hobby.  What distracts you from Jesus?

It struck me this summer that I am addicted to doing.  I can’t stop.  Even when I sit down to relax, I have to be doing something.  Maybe you can relate.  You can’t relax.  You feel guilty when you stop.  So you just keep going, doing, accomplishing.  You, like me, are distracted.

In all this busyness and distraction, Jesus says there is only one thing necessary.  Some manuscripts say few things are necessary.  Either way, one or few is a long way from much and many.  We will look at that one thing (that is over even a few things) in the next post.  But for now, consider if you are caught up in busyness, if you are so distracted that you fail to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen.  Maybe like me you need to learn when to stop, how to say no, how to slow down.  Maybe you need to shed some non-essentials from your life.  We don’t have to live our lives distracted.

The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor.  But who is our neighbor?  This is a question a religious expert asked Jesus in Luke 10, and Jesus responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Most are probably familiar with this story.  A Jewish man is attacked by robbers and left half-dead on the side of the road.  Two religious leaders come along, and both keep right on going.  Finally Jesus introduces the Samaritan.  His Jewish listeners immediately assume he won’t help.  Jews and Samaritans hated each other.  But Jesus has the Samaritan stop, bind up the man’s wounds, bring him to an inn to recover, and pay for all the expenses.  The point is obvious:  Your neighbor includes those who oppose you, who hate you, who you want to hate.  Loving your neighbor means you love even your enemies.  And loving your neighbor means you help him when you see a need you can meet.

But let us go back to Jesus and his listeners.  The atmosphere is electric.  The listeners are bristling.  The Samaritan is the hero?  How dare Jesus make a Samaritan the hero!  Samaritans are half-breeds.  They don’t worship right.  There has been hatred and opposition between the two groups for year, and Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero?  Jesus is clearly not a good politician, because his popularity level drops significantly here. 

Why does Jesus tell the story this way?  He could have made it a Samaritan who is hurt and a Jew who saves the day.  His main point to love your enemies would have remained intact.  And he wouldn’t have offended his listeners.  Why does he make the Samaritan the hero?  Is he trying to get their attention?  Does he want to irritate them?  Let me suggest another possibility.

I think Jesus is trying to remind them that even their enemies are capable of doing good because they are made in the image of God.  We want to villianize our enemies.  We seek to demonize those who oppose us.  If we can paint them as evil, then we can treat them as evil.  But wait, they are still people made in God’s image capable of doing good.

Let’s retell the story for today.  Jesus is invited to a Tea Party.  He goes and begins to tell this story:  A man affliated with the Tea Party is driving down the road in his car emblazoned with Tea Party slogans.  His car stalls, and as he gets out to see what is wrong, he collapses.  A Tea Party leader comes along, sees the man on the side of the road, and zooms right on by.  A Tea Party organizer sees the man and zooms right on by.  Then a Democrat sees the man, stops, calls 911, calls the tow truck, and pays all the car and medical bills.  Imagine the atmosphere at the Tea Party if Jesus told such a story making the opposition the hero.  We want to villianize the opposition.  Jesus reminds us that they are people capable of doing good. 

In Israel today, Jesus would make the Samaritan a Muslim, a Palestinian.  To the Palestinians, Jesus would make an Israeli the hero.  At Terry Jones’ church, the hero would be a Koran-toting Muslim.   To the rioting Muslims, it might be Terry Jones. 

If he came to our churches, the Samaritan might be a gay activist, an abortionist, an atheist, a raunchy rock star, an immoral movie star, a full-of-himself sports star.  Whoever we want to villainize, demonize, treat with hatred and contempt would be the Samaritan when Jesus told the story to us.  We can disagree with people’s character, beliefs, politics, and activities, but they are still people made in the image of God.  They are our neighbors whom God has called us to love.