Listen: Sit

Little bit about Mary. I've got a hot take. My daughter's, dad, that's a hot take. In the gospels, there's only one person who knew that Jesus was about to die because it's Mary. It's Mary of Bethany. Jesus says, she pours the perfume on his feet. Judas loses his mind because he wanted to steal that. But Jesus says, no. She's preparing me for burial. How did Mary know? She sat at his feet. She listened. She submitted to the word. She knew Jesus was about to die. Disciples didn't. We're arguing over who's gonna sit where and who's the greatest. They missed it. Mary, Mary of Bethany, the only one knew who knew Jesus was about to die, she prepared him. [01:05:44] (53 seconds)  #MaryAtHisFeet

So we were designed to work out of rest, not rest from work. Our culture honors productivity, getting stuff done, and showing up early, and staying late, and being the first one in the office. It's what our culture honors. What does Jesus honor? Devotion. He honors devotion. Say yes to the most important things of your life. Our culture, rest looks like we work, really work ourselves to the bone, and then we come home, and we veg for twelve hours, and we watch a whole season of Netflix, and we eat potato chips, drink Mountain Dew, fall asleep on the couch. That's not rest. That's vegging, and it's not biblical. We were designed to work out of rest, So whatever your rest is, you're preparing for what's to come. [00:56:26] (54 seconds)  #DevotionOverHustle

Shut the laptop. Turn the phone off. Throw the phone in the drawer. Leave it in the car. You'll be okay. You'll be okay for a short time, but be present. Sit at the feet of Jesus. Be hospitable and serve, but know when to stop and go and sit. Now why can we sit at the feet of Jesus? Where's the gospel in this passage? Because Jesus has sat at our feet. What does Jesus do right before he goes to the cross? He washes feet. We can sit at his feet because he sat at your feet. He has served you. He has submitted to his father, and in doing so, you and I have been redeemed. He served us. He sat at our feet so you can sit at his feet. That's the gospel. It's not about busyness versus laziness or contemplation versus work. [00:58:08] (67 seconds)  #SitBecauseHeServed

That that was honestly, that was my mom. We had company over. I remember many Thanksgivings, my mom would work for days, days in advance of Thanksgiving. And day of, we would all have a roll, set the table, or we all had a special dish or cut the turkey, and we'd sit down to have Thanksgiving. And there was an empty chair at the table. And, mom, she's still in the kitchen. Now let's be careful. Work is important and needs to be done, But let's not exchange devotion for distraction. My mom passed away twenty five years ago, and, oh, I wish I could have a Thanksgiving with her sitting at the table. [00:44:23] (45 seconds)  #PresenceAtTable

Not wrong to serve. Don't hear the text. All I'm gonna do is sit at the feet. No serve, but know when. Know when to stop and be still, be present. I'm confessing. It's hard for me to sit still. It's difficult for me. It's difficult for some of but that doesn't mean we have an out. It's one of the top 10. It made the top 10 list to stop. There's a day to stop. There's a reason Chick fil A does better sales than all the other fast food joints, and they're only open six days a week. I always find a way to weave Chick fil A into the sermon. [00:53:50] (42 seconds)  #SabbathPause

And what often happens when we begin to serve, maybe you're serving your family, your spouse, your kids, you're coming alongside somebody, you're helping them. Maybe some of you have a parent that's moved into your home, and you're caring for them. You're like, I'm the only one doing this. Look at all that. God, look at all I've done for you. I've done everything you've asked me. Don't you care about me? What happens, what might have begun with, I'm going to serve the glory of God for his honor and for his glory, over time, what ends up happening becomes about my glory. [00:47:15] (38 seconds)  #ServiceNotSelf

I'm preparing for what's to come. Everything's done on Thursday. Even though there's more emails to respond to, more texts, more people to visit, there's more work to do just like in your profession and career. But it's it's saying, I'm stopping today. God, I'm going to trust you with the rest. I'm stopping. I'm done. I'm done. I can't do anymore. I'm going to trust you, God, with the rest. So she sits, she's attentive, and she's present. It's really hard in our culture to be present. In this moment, be present. In the conversations on the patio, be present. Don't be thinking about what you're gonna say in response to what they're saying. Just listen. Your spouse, listen. Be present. [00:57:22] (45 seconds)  #TrustTheRest

So what does she do? What's Mary doing compared to Martha? Martha's anxious, irritable, and resentful. Mary is sitting, sitting. There's a moment we have to stop, and I know it's so hard. It means there's more work to do. There's always more work to do. Whatever your career field is, there's always more work to do. Parents, some of us just need to hear today, your kids don't need dirty things. You've put that on yourself. Through guilt or through expectations of other kids and other families, you've put that on yourself. They don't need that. You know what they need? They need your presence. [00:54:44] (39 seconds)  #PresenceOverPerfection