Introduction:
Worship can be boring, but when you receive the greatest grace, worship can be the best hour of your week. When we realize the gospel, we realize that we have been given a new identity in Jesus Christ and we are not alone. God is with us and he has called you and I to make a difference, because only by the gospel can life truly change. We don’t need anything else because we have received everything in Christ. Then, why are we living here on the earth? So we can live by only Christ.
In today’s scripture, Jesus is visiting Mary and Martha’s house. If the president came over, we wouldn’t give him takeout, we’d prepare a feast. In that same way, Martha is preparing a feast, but Mary is sitting by Jesus listening to him instead of helping her sister. Martha tells Mary to come help her, but Jesus tells her “few things are needed-or indeed only one.” and that “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
As we live our lives this week, we need to rethink what our lives’ priorities are and replace them with what God says we need.
1. God desires us to fix our eyes on Christ (Covenant)
Most people only look to Jesus twice a year: Easter and Christmas. When do you look to Jesus? As we are on our covenant journey, God tells us to fix our eyes on Christ, who finished everything on the cross, and showed his love for us. As we prepare for Sunday worship, it’s so easy to be swept away by the work we have to do for worship that we lose what’s most important: God’s grace. In the midst of our crazy lives, we must not lose hold of what is most important.
John 3:14-15
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
When the Israelites got bit by a snake, they struggled to try and heal it using their own methods, but they discover they will die no matter how much they struggle, so they turn to God, who gives them the solution: look upon the bronze snake and you will live. That bronze snake symbolizes Jesus Christ, and those who believed and looked were saved.
2. God desires us to receive the greatest grace (Priority)
It’s especially hard in today’s age to make Jesus our number one priority, because there are so many good things we need to give up. How can we make Jesus our number one priority? Worship.
Because of the pandemic, people have come to think that worship is opening up your computer, sitting back and watching a livestream. When we miss one Sunday worship, it doesn’t seem that bad, but multiple weeks without worship pile up and result in our spirits dying. When we prioritize worship, God restores everything, and will provide everything we need. When we prioritize Jesus, he gives us his strength by which we live, so that we live by his strength, not our own.
Matthew 6:33
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you”
3. God desires us to have complete victory and guidance (Word)
When we look to Jesus, he gives us complete victory and guidance through his word. God’s word is not just something for us to memorize or listen to, but the means through which we see the life plan God has prepared for us. We hold onto remedies for illnesses with our lives on the line. In that same way, we need to hold onto God’s word as our cure with our lives on the line. Hold onto the word not as a suggestion, but as our answer.
Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Conclusion:
How can we choose wisely like Mary: look upon only Christ, prioritize receiving grace in worship and be guided by his word.