Relationship with God

Beginning at the feet of Jesus

“She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” Luke10:39 (NAS)

There are many lessons we can learn from the relationship that Martha and Mary had with Jesus. From the scriptures we are privy to three very significant encounters these two sisters have with Jesus and the ensuing exchanges of dialogue give us great insight into their unique relationships with Him.

We are first introduced to these two women in the gospel of Luke when Martha invites Jesus into their home as He and His disciples happen to passing through their town of Bethany. We learn right away that these two are very different in their motivation and approach in relating to Jesus. (Luke 10:38-42) Martha’s love language is serving and hospitality while Mary’s is sitting and listening. Both approaches have their place. Jesus’ teaching about the virtues of both servanthood and prayer closet disciplines affirm that. But much has been made of Martha’s frustration with Mary’s lack of help and Jesus response to her. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” (vs. 40-41)

There are two very important lessons we can glean from this encounter with Jesus. First and most obvious, there are times when serving Jesus is less important than sitting and listening to Jesus. In fact service that is most pleasing to Jesus must flow out of first sitting and listening to what He would have us do. Many of us like Martha have a tendency to put the proverbial serving cart before the attentive horse. And we must always be mindful that the need does not necessarily constitute the call.

The second lesson here is the point Bible scholars make about Jesus’ liberating women from the traditional roles that restricted them from full participation in spiritual teaching and nurture. Many conjecture that Mary was crashing a men’s only gathering as she sat there at Jesus’ feet and that part of Martha’s frustration was Mary’s non conformity to the requisite role of women being in the kitchen. It is noteworthy that, as was Jesus’ habit, once more He sweeps aside accepted convention in deference to true spirituality.

The next time we find Jesus coming to the home of Martha and Mary, also at their invitation, is under entirely different circumstances. (John 11:1-44)

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The secret to solitude

Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke5:16 (NIV)

This week when I read this verse it literally jumped off the page and filled me with joy. I have read this passage of scripture many, many times before, but for some reason it never registered with me the way it did this time. I came to the realization that Jesus’ consistent habit of seeking solitude actually triumphed over the things in His life militating against it. Developing a life punctuated by solitude and communion with God is a battle that can be won.

We know from the gospel accounts that crowds were constantly besieging Him and His life was at times so frenzied that He and His disciples did not even have time to eat. (Mark 3:20 & 6:31)

Our world today is no different. People, projects and media demands are constantly besieging all of us as parents, spouses, employees, students, home owners etc. The fast food business in our culture is booming because like Jesus and the disciples, we often do not have the luxury of time to sit down and eat a decent meal. Which brings up a point that often intrigues and irritates me at the same time – have you noticed that drive-through customers seem to get faster service than those standing at the counter? I am not going to go down that rabbit trail, not today.

The point I am really making is that carving out time in our busy schedules for intimate communion with God has its ups and downs but it is a winnable battle if, like Jesus, we persist. Of the seven specific accounts in scripture of Jesus seeking solitary time all but two of them were interrupted. Only His all night prayer to choose the twelve and His time with Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration were sacrosanct. (Luke 6:12-13, Mark 9:2)

During His 40 days in the wilderness Jesus was plagued by the Devil. At the outset of His ministry we learn His attempt to steal away in the early morning hours for prayer is spoiled by humans. Simon and the others go looking for Jesus, find Him and immediately put pressure on Him to respond to the multitudes who are also seeking Him. (Mark 1:35-38)

The one time we are told that He wanted to take His disciples apart with Him by boat to a solitary place, the crowds got wind of it and beat them there. (Mark 6:31-33) Later that night after a busy day of teaching, feeding more than 5000 people, and sending His disciples back by boat, He climbed the mountainside to seek some time alone with His Father. But again He is interrupted as He sees in the distance the disciples straining at the oars and decides to go to them. (Mark 6:45-48) Of course, the coup de gras of Jesus’ solitude disturbances was His arrest in theGardenofGethsemane.

It has always amazed me that Jesus did not seem to be discouraged or frustrated by these interruptions. To the contrary His compassion for the disciples, the crowds and even His enemies moved Him to see it as an opportunity to teach them and further His Father’s purposes.

Thinking about Jesus’ dismal batting average when it came to solitude has for years perplexed me. Why couldn’t we have more accounts of His successful, uninterrupted times of solitary prayer? If Jesus’ prayer life was so fraught with distractions, how could I ever hope for anything better?

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Its all about the wind!

News & Reflections, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

This past weekend we did our annual men’s sailing retreat in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior out of Bayfield, Wisconsin. It was a blast. Our two boats loaded with groceries, gear and 13 eager sailors enjoyed a slice of heaven. The weather was amazing with warm sun-kissed days, cool, bug-free nights and most importantly at least one day of steady strong winds. Very gentle breezes on Saturday required motoring but as always the scenery was soul renewing with the lake’s clear blue waters washing ashore on crescent sand beaches and verdant tree lined shores.

We anchored for lunch in Big Bay on the east side of Madeline Island where many of us also enjoyed a refreshing swim from our respective boats. Later in the afternoon we also stopped at Michigan Island. We ferried guys ashore in our dinghies and climbed the 128 steps to the top of the bluff to explore the two lighthouses there. A park service ranger gave us all a tour and another 132 step climb to the top of the highest lighthouse rewarded us with stunning views of many of the islands to the West and the Porcupine Mountains of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the East.

Saturday evening we anchored at Stockton Island in Julian Bay with arguably the most beautiful sand beach in the islands. A number of the guys jumped ship for another heart shocking swim and then all of us ate grilled steaks and fried potatoes to our hearts content. The evening was capped off as we gathered on one of the boats under the light of a full moon for worship, discussion of the Apostle Paul’s sailing adventure in Acts 27 and prayer. It was the perfect end to an awesome day.

The next morning we awoke to an increasing southwest wind blowing across our bow. To a sailor nothing compares to the sound of the wind whistling in the rigging and feel of the wind on your face. The eggs and bacon had not even settled in our stomachs before we were ready to pull up the anchor and hoist the sails. After all, this is what we all had come for, the adventure of being propelled through the water on wind power alone

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Deep calls to deep

Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

Earlier in the summer, my wife and I spent a Sunday afternoon at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. The spring and summer rains feeding Minnehaha Creek have made the falls a roaring attraction this year. The sheer force of voluminous amounts of water ceaselessly cascading into such a picturesque grotto-like setting is indeed breathtaking. From there the swollen creek tumbles and rumbles its way through the remaining several furlong run into the mightyMississippi.

Waterfalls have a way of mesmerizing your soul as they beckon you to come closer and closer. They have a unique allure in nature that tantalize all the senses. Not only are they a beautiful to behold with the eyes and stunning in surround sound to the ears, but they also cannot be fully appreciated until one is close enough to feel their spray in your face and lick their moisture from your lips. And while savoring that, the senses are finally satiated as you breath in deep gulps of their freshness through your nose. Ah…h that is how waterfalls are meant to be experienced!

But waterfalls also can be perilous. Sensory delight can turn into sensory overload if a person ventures beyond the posted warning signs or danger areas. Those signs are there for a reason because someone, sometime, somehow got too close and went from being a visitor by the water to a victim in the water.

The verse quoted above is written by someone who got too close to a waterfall. In fact the waterfall of life was coming at him with such ferocity that it literally swept over him and would have swept him away were not for God’s love for him. (42:8) All of us have from time to time been engulfed at the base of a waterfall where we feel like we are drowning in the pressures and trials of life that are endlessly pouring into our lives.

The writer of Psalm 42 and 43, which together form a sixteen verse prayer, opens his heart to God in a most vulnerable, if not disarming way. He literally pours out his soul as he battles with overwhelming discouragement and seeming estrangement from God. For him, the waterfall of life is unrelenting. This is an easy prayer to identify with because all of us feel that way at times. In fact like this man we can find ourselves even wondering “Where is God?” (42:19)

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When religious zeal leads us astray

Growth & Development, Relationship with God, Uncategorized / Tom Stuart

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 NIV

In my daily reading this morning these simple words of Jesus “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” arrested my attention. They are a direct quote from the Old Testament given in answer to a question posed by the Pharisees who were asking Jesus’ disciples why He was hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus had been invited to a dinner party thrown by Matthew, himself a tax collector, who had recently left his profession to follow Jesus. It must have been quite a gathering, made up primarily of all Matthew’s non-religious friends given with the intent of introducing them to Jesus.

The quote gave me pause because I realized how deceptively easy it is to substitute religion for relationship, ritual for righteousness and profession for practice. In many ways the Pharisees, who were zealous for God and the teachings of the law, are no different than most Christians, myself included, who have a similar zeal to please God and be people of the Book. They got so caught up in their religious practices that they neglected the greater importance of extending God’s mercy to those who needed it. So what will keep us from falling into the same self-centered and self-righteous pit the Pharisees fell into?

Like the Pharisees whom Jesus urged to “go and learn what this means” we need to be diligent to do the same. What does it mean that God desires mercy much more than sacrifice? What does it mean that He has not “come to call the righteous, but sinners”?

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