There are so many great lessons in Luke 10 that we can’t discuss them all! Let’s just list what we learn from each lesson.
From vs 1-7 we learn the pattern for spreading the Gospel: send out several who will seek out a home and work from there. This is how churches are truly meant to be planted. God chooses, not us. We learn that the disciples were forced to be dependent upon others. Perhaps because if they were not, they wouldn’t have connected. People like to be needed. The disciples needed help. Maybe we are too self sufficient when attempting to spread the Gospel. And we learn that the disciples had a “right” to accept the hospitality. That’s good news for those who share the Gospel! We also learn that more workers are needed. There are more people who need Christ than there are people to lead them in. Since that’s the case, why does the church spend most of its time trading those who are already saved back and forth between congregations? Where are all the new believers?
The disciples were overjoyed when they returned successful, but Jesus reminded them not to be happy about the wrong thing. Results of their ministry were not nearly as important as the results of their faith. Their ministry wouldn’t permit them entrance into heaven…but their faith did.
Then there’s the lesson of timing in verse 21-24. Many godly men prayed to see God appear, and I suspect they felt as if God would answer their prayers…but God didn’t answer until long after they had died. God answers..but not always in our time, or when we expect. Here’s a quick personal observation. The church where I serve recently went through a building project. The new building went up in one year, but we were 8 years planning it. I thought it was an 8 or 9 year project until I spoke with one old timer who told me “we have been asking God for a new facility for 40 years” Now consider this: what if God heard the prayer of those faithful folks 40 years ago and decided that He would answer by sending me, and others like me to build. We recognized that our whole endeavor was anointed and timely….there’s no way this could have happened without God planning it in advance. There were simply too many “beneficial coincidences”. The lesson? We pray, and God answers just as He promised. But He answers in His time, not in ours.
As if that weren’t enough lessons…(I’m positive there are many more) we then come to the story of Mary and Martha. I never liked this story…probably because I’m more like Martha than Mary. The obvious lesson here is to stop working and spend time with Jesus. The relationship is more important than the work. In fact, the relationship informs the work…you can’t work effectively without the relationship. But I learned a second lesson from this passage recently. It came from my friend anf co-minister Billy at the Sugar Grove FMC. (you’ll find a link to their page in our “links” section).
Billy observed that Mary is actually the better leader in this passage. She has the right priority, sticks to her purpose even when pressured to change by her sister, and doesn’t respond in anger. Mary models for all of us what is best. To sit at the feet of Jesus and listen intently. She wasn’t listening to get out of working….she was listening so she could become a better disciple. Mary was learning, and leaders are always learning. Martha on the other hand had quit learning. She lost sight of the main objective and began to allow the immediate task to pull her away from the important task. She lost her temper (in a manner of speaking) and tried to “triangulate” Mary by getting Jesus on “her side”. None of what Martha was doing was healthy. I have been fond of saying that “Martha gets a bad rap” …but honestly, she gets the rebuke she needs. We don’t know the rest of the story, but I would like to think that Martha took a deep breath, took off her apron, and sat down beside Mary and listened to Jesus. What about dinner? Who cares? Jesus is speaking. Dinner can wait.
Learning to take off my apron,
PR