Key Verse: Luke 10

Ice-breaker:

Q.  What’s something in your house you want to get rid of but can’t? (Please no naming your spouse or children!)

It is a common mistake to misplace our priority. The singularity of the word, priority, is intentional. We have only one priority as Christians, and everything else is tethered to the One.  However, we tend to get out of sorts so easily and become misbalanced.

We need to put God at the center of everything. He should be first in our relationship with Him, our family, our children, our workplace, our communities, and even our hobbies. He must be the center.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

This is an invitation to rest. Rest was part of the Creation Event. God worked for six days, then on the seventh day, God rested. We are made to rest. Rest is a good thing. It is in the top Ten (Exodus 20).

We need to rest in the peace of our Savior. God wants rest for our souls.

We don’t take God up on this offer nearly enough because we are so occupied and tethered to so many responsibilities. We need to cut some tethers off so we are not pulled into a thousand directions.

In the Old Covenant, they worked all week to rest, and in the New Covenant, we first rest in Christ, and then work from that rest.

Q. How does the perspective on rest differ between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? How can we practically apply the concept of resting in Christ and working from that rest?

If the Devil can’t get me to SIN, he will try to keep me BUSY.

We get so busy worrying about what does not matter, that we forget about what does matter.

Luke 10:38-39 ESV

Jesus’s first two years were front-loaded with miracles, and now Jesus knew His time was coming to an end. He comes to a village where he finds a woman named Martha.

Martha invites Jesus home and wants to take care of Him because she knew He had a heavy load. Martha is a Type A personality. These types of people are head of the party planning committee, they are doers, always wanting to volunteer, and they know how to please people.

Martha lives with her sister Mary and brother Lazarus, and they welcome Jesus.

Mary is the contemplative one. She lives in the moment and is absorbing the presence of Jesus. Mary is experience-oriented.

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Bible Study Pro Tip #5:

Play the PART of each CHARACTER in the story.

We are invited to see ourselves in either Martha or Mary. We are either the ‘Do Bees’ or the ‘Be Bees.’

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Martha welcomes Jesus and then she gets busy cooking and baking. For Jesus, Martha is the hero, however, she is the one that needs to be rebuked in this moment.

Q. Which character in the story, Martha or Mary, do you personally relate to more – the one who tends to be task-oriented and proactive (a “Do Bee”), or the one who is more focused on being present and experiencing the moment (a “Be Bee”)? Why do you think you resonate with that particular perspective?

Misplaced priorities are everything that takes our time and does not allow us to give time to the Lord.

Sign Number 1:

have many DISTRACTIONS.

These are things that pull on us constantly, like our phones and watches. Technology has wormed its way into our souls.

Luke 10:40a ESV

Martha was pulled in many directions. Having the ‘Martha Syndrome’ means we are always busying ourselves with Jesus but never listening to what He is saying to us. Martha was measuring her life by what she had done for God, instead of what he has done for her.

It is necessary that we pause with God. This could change our lives. 

Luke 10:40b ESV

The 3 TRAPS of BUSYNESS:

1. The PERFORMANCE trap.

This trap has us thinking that we must do, we must achieve, we must perform or we are not worthy. We feel like a failure.

2. The COMPARISON trap.

This trap has us comparing ourselves to others. God does not need our performance. It Is not what we have done, it is about what He has done for us.

3. The ENTITLEMENT trap.

This trap leads us to feel we deserve better.

Martha is telling God to tell Mary to do something. Jesus is not interested in telling other people what we want him to tell them. We need to stop worrying about everyone else and let God fix us. It is not what they are doing to us, but how we respond to it. 

We are not defined by the words of others, we are defined by the words of our Father.

Q. Can you share instances when you’ve felt caught in any of these traps of busyness? How might recognizing these traps help us refocus on God’s grace and what He has done for us rather than measuring our worth through achievements, comparisons, or entitlement?

Sign Number 2:

I am ANXIOUS and TROUBLED.

One way we bring anxiety to ourselves is by interfering in others’ lives and measuring our lives against how much everyone likes us. 

Anxiety – Apprehension about possible danger or misfortune.

Troubled – emotionally upset.

The Devil wants us awake and troubled our Father wants us to rest.

Martha measured her life against her sister.

Luke 10:41 ESV

Q. In the story, Martha’s anxiety seemed to stem from measuring her life against her sister’s actions.

(Leader, you can choose from either of these questions or use both depending on how the conversation is going):

A. How can we shift our focus from such comparisons and find contentment in our own journey?

B. How might a deeper understanding of our value and identity in Christ help us combat the feelings of being anxious and troubled?

Sign Number 3:

My LIFE is too COMPLICATED.

Luke 10:41 ESV

We are anxious and troubled about many things. Many things pull us in multiple directions. God is just waiting for these things to get out of the way so He can have time with us. 

He is the master. We have One Master and we should be tied only to Him!

Discipleship is a call to SIMPLICITY.

It is not a complicated thing to be a Christian. We are simply broken, messed-up people that God loves.

Luke 10:42 ESV

Mary has made a choice. We have to make that choice. Defining our lives by what Jesus has done for us can never be taken away. We are sinners saved by grace. We are far more worse than we think we are but we are far more loved than we think we are.

God wants to bring us peace. 

Psalm 27:4 ESV; Philippians 3:13 ESV; Mark 10:21 ESV

Christianity is not a program, it is a Person. Jesus wants us to follow Him.

Q. Discipleship is described as a call to simplicity. How can focusing on Jesus as the central figure in our lives help us navigate these complexities and find a sense of peace?

What busy people need to do:

1. STOP PERFORMING.

2. START RECEIVING.

3. REPEAT.

We need to spend time alone with the Lord, open our Bibles, and receive.

1 John 5:11 ESV

Isaiah 26:3 ESV

We need to hear God speak to us.

Q. The text encourages a cycle of stopping performing, starting receiving, and repeating. Can you share an experience when you felt the shift from performance-oriented spirituality to receiving from God? How can this cycle help us maintain a healthier and more fruitful relationship with Him over time?

Sermon Resolve:

Life at the feet of Jesus is NOT a PERFORMANCE, demands zero COMPARISON with others, and leads to GRATEFUL PEACE.

Challenge: Take time to pause. Open your Bible and read. After reading, take a few moments to reflect, and maybe journal your thoughts. Repeat this daily throughout the week.