Striking A Balance
Luke 10
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
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PREMISE: Jesus was the most balanced person that ever lived.
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That might sound obvious but when I presented that thought to my church early on into my ministry there, it was something most hadn’t thought about. You see, at the time our church was about perfectly split between two groups that followed two different ministries. I did’t care to become their arbitrator so I came up with what was then a novel concept:
We serve a balanced Saviour. Therefore, in order to be like Him, we too needed to work on becoming balanced within ourselves personally and as a church: Just like our Saviour would want us to be.
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As I read these the two incidents back-to-back in our passage from Luke, I started wondering what, if anything, was the connection between the two. At first, I couldn’t see anything. But, as I pondered the passage it seemed like, at least to me, two things were being highlighted:
*One was: Too little of a good thing.
*The other was: Too much of a good thing.
Hence my title for this blog: Striking A Balance
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We, God’s people, tend to be a singularly peculiar imbalanced type of folk. Now, before you get mad at me for saying that {which if you do, it might mean you’re really imbalanced ;-) }, think about us. ——
*How many church splits are we aware of?
*How many split Christian marriages are we aware of?
*How many split Christian families are we aware of?
*How many individual Christians are we aware of that don’t talk or fellowship with each other any longer?
*How many doctrinal issues have reeked havoc amongst God’s people: Election/Predestination, for example?
The reason these divergent pathways develop is because we’re always on one side or the other … especially as it relates to:
**Mundane things that don’t really matter in the light of eternity; or,
**Important things that do matter in the light of eternity but which God’s people continue to split over even after centuries of wrangling.
And so …
Our imbalance as God’s people continues on with tentacles that reach into almost every aspect of our life and service for God.
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The issues in our two related stories point out how easy it is to become so rooted in our own ways of thinking and living that we, at times, lose perspective. We look at the world in which we revolve from an inward perspective rather than an outward perspective. Hence: Imbalance.
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The priest and Levite: Too little of a good thing.
Perhaps they had become overburdened and burned out from ministry among God’s people. And just when they aren’t expecting It, someone outside their purview drops into their lives and … it’s very easy to pass him by.
—— I know because that’s what happens to many pastors and missionaries. They work so hard for so long that they get burned out. The result, others end up suffering and paying the price for it, i.e.. the poor man that was robbed. Too little of a good thing. ——
On the other hand, the Samaritan comes along and meets, perhaps for first time, a stranger along the way that needs help. And he’s very eager and willing to help. He does the right thing at the right moment with the right amount of love and care. Just the right amount of a good thing.
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Martha and Mary: Too much of a good thing.
I do wonder if we’re perhaps a little too hard on Martha. It’s easy to see why Mary wanted to park herself at the feet of Jesus and listen rather than work in the kitchen preparing food not just for Jesus but for His entourage as well. (v. 23). Poor Martha really could have used a helping hand in the kitchen.
A lot of work went into preparing the amount of food necessary. It seems only fair that Martha would be a little put out with Mary, doesn’t it?
And yet, Jesus seems to be saying that Martha was involved in Too much of a good thing to the exclusion of the more important thing: Spending time with Him. After all, can’t Jesus feed a ton of people with just a few fish-and-chips? Having enough food at any moment wasn’t really a problem for Him. Maybe Martha had gotten her accent placed upon the wrong syllalable … the wrong emphasis?
Easy to do, is it not?
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Could it be that, for a long time now, we’ve been so imbalanced as the body of Christ that we’ve grown accustomed to it? So much so, that we don’t even recognize it … even when the Saviour endeavors to zero in on our own personal imbalances just like He did with Martha.
You’re balanced??
Ask yourself:
*How’s my marriage doing?
*How are my familial relationships?
*Am I out of sorts with fellow believers I was once close to?
*Have I separated over issues that more so reveal my spiritual pride rather than a sincere heart desire that seeks after Biblical truth?
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Listen: The world around us is out of balance, out of whack.
We are to be the ones that, through the message of Christ living in us, bring stability, balance, and eternal life to those in need. We are to be a model, an example of balance that the lost look to as a beacon of hope for their disheveled lives.
Think: God is not the author of confusion.
All the rest then is of the Devil. Let’s not let him have his way with us so easily any longer.
PREMISE: Jesus was the most balanced person that ever lived.
Amen