Luke 10:38-42 Everything Will Be All Right August 20, 2006

Serenity Prayer—Hymnal page 459

You know that I tend to make big plans. I see the whole picture in 3-D full color. My programs and ideas can get complex and elaborate. And sometimes that can be a problem. I remember on occasion seeing some friends at the store and inviting them over with plans to throw some burgers on the grill, open a bag of chips, have some baked beans, and some lemonade. However, by the time I arrive at home, in my mind the burgers have turned into grilled salmon, the chips are now a French vegetable dish. The baked beans have evolved into wild rice with a home made New Orleans sauce. The grill needs repainting and a couple of lawn chairs need to be replaced. The lawn needs mowing and the flowers weeding. Soon I realize that if I just have those four friends over, there will be a few others who will be offended. I invite six more. By Saturday night at six PM , I am worn out, having no fun, and resentful that I have done all this work. The fact is, I have “Martha” written all over my face. It seems that I get together less and less with my friends because it has become such an ordeal. Even worse, it seems that all of life can seem less and less enjoyable because I have made it into a big ordeal. But the fact is, everything is all right and I can enjoy my life.

How about all of us? Do you feel that things are not alright? Do you too often loose your serenity, unable to accept what you cannot change, unable to change what you can, and even unable to know the difference? Too many of us are like Martha. We are so worried about everything that we can no longer enjoy life. Our dinner plans, vacation plans, school plans, career plans, marriage plans have not gone as we had hoped and now we are miserable. It may be small daily events that do not go our way and make us feel we cannot stand it. Or perhaps at an even deeper level, we come to feel that all our life plans must work out just as we want or life is just awful. That was Martha's issue. For her, every detail had to be just right or the evening was terribly ruined. Some of us think that our plans did not work out as we wanted and so our life is ruined. You may think you are living a second rate life, just hanging on, wishing things had been another way. The good news today is that everything is all right and you can still enjoy your life. You can accept the unchangeable, have the courage to change what you can, and you can learn to know the difference. But how can that be when so many things are not as I wanted them to be?

Let's look at God's Word for some answers. Look at our scripture today. Now I have to tell you that in my ministry experience, this is the story that gets the most resistance from many women in the congregation. They always remind me that if Martha had not done the work, there would have been no food to eat for Jesus and the disciples that night. But that is not the point of this story. Martha is not just preparing a little meal for some hungry travelers. She is overly busy. She wants to impress. She has a big plan. She has become so worried about the place sets that she has forgotten her friends and family. Listen; there is nothing wrong with a big plan. In fact, do dream big for your life goals. But, Martha would rather ruin the evening than not work her plan. Jesus tells her, “Martha, you are worried and anxious over so many things.” Friends, I at times have been so set on my plan that I will ruin everything just for the sake of my plan. My plan becomes more important than my family or my friends. And if my plans do not work as I had hoped, then my day or my week or maybe my life is just awful. I find myself angry or depressed at the whole world.

In our scripture, Martha in particular is angry and depressed about her sister Mary. But Jesus says, and this is significant, “Mary has chosen the one thing needed and it will not be taken from her.” Once again, I caution you against seeing Mary as just a lazy sister not helping with dinner. NO, this is much deeper. Mary is okay if dinner is some light snacks or if dinner is a six course meal. Mary is okay however the evening goes. Mary is okay if her plans in life are not just as she wanted them to be. Mary knows that everything is okay and she can enjoy her life. Why? Because she has chosen the one needed thing. She has chosen faith in Jesus Christ.

When our plans fail, when we lose a job, or when a relationship is lost, we may feel that we just cannot stand it. We may feel that we cannot live. But we can. Bad happenings, even very bad happenings, will keep occurring in our lives. But you can stop enraging and depressing yourself about those things which you cannot change. How? By faith. Faith is fully to be convinced in your mind, that in Jesus Christ, you can stand anything that occurs. This week, begin telling yourself and be convinced in your mind that you can accept the things which you cannot change. These events are not horrible or awful. Instead, become convinced in your mind that all these misfortunes are only discomforts and inconveniences on the road to eternal joy in Christ. Does this really work? For centuries, people who strongly believe that they only experience various discomforts, not horrors, and that nothing in life is more than an inconvenience, not terrible or awful, these same people achieve an unusual and elegant serenity. These people grasp how to accept what they cannot change. They no longer waste their time and energy on those matters. Instead, they have great courage to act upon what they can change. Freed from wasting energy elsewhere, they devote great energy to what they can do and thus do great things in life. Many a great leader in history had previously experienced failure in life, but they did not become trapped in that failure. They accepted it, put it behind them, and invested their lives in what they could do. I have personally known people dying of cancer or other illnesses who stopped wasting time and energy on what they could not change, and instead, they courageously invested themselves in activities and relationships that were within their control. They found serenity, lived each day joyfully, accomplished so much with what they had left, all because they understood the difference.

Do you have this one needed thing? Faith in Christ to accept what you cannot change, courage to change what you can, and the wisdom to know the difference? Look at one last word Jesus says here. It is a great promise from Jesus himself. He says, “Mary has chosen the one needed thing and it will not be taken from her.” It will not be taken from her. It will not be taken from you either. If you choose the one needed thing in life, then you can never loose it. No one can take it from you. No disaster can rob you of it. As long as you hold on by faith, your serenity will remain. Amen.