Growth

In case you had not noticed, I have been in a tug-of-war with consistency lately. I have the BEST intentions of posting sermon recaps every week. I attend church service, and the sermon hits home every time. Then I get in my car, make it home, and ignore the pull to recap the sermon for the blog. I spend time with my mom or complete some household project that has been on my to-do list. I get caught up in bingeing ANY TV series that has rave reviews. Or I get busy in the kitchen and meal prep. Basically, I choose ANYTHING except for sitting down and wrestling with the sermon that I heard on that day. But this past Sunday’s sermon stopped me. This past Sunday my pastor challenged us all with one important question: Does your growth match your grace?

Sunday’s sermon comes from two different passages of scripture, Luke 10:38-42 and John 12:1-8. Both passages give us peeks into the lives of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. And examining both passages gives us an opportunity to see growth in the lives of these believers. In Luke, we find Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha is busy preparing food for Jesus and the crowd that follows Him. Oh Martha. I empathize with her so much. Being a good host requires care and preparation. And certainly can lead to a sense of being overwhelmed when there is a house full of guests and no one to help. Martha does not keep her frustration hidden. She takes her concerns straight to Jesus and asks him if he cares that Mary has left her to do all the work alone. And Jesus tells Martha that she is concerned about the wrong thing. He tells her that Mary is where she needs to be.

When we flip over to John 12:1-8, we find Jesus and the disciples back at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Martha is where she was in the first passage. She has prepared a delicious supper and served it. And Mary…well, she is still at the feet of Jesus. So you may wonder, where is the growth and what is the difference? We’ll start with Martha. You remember how Jesus corrected Martha in the first passage? The growth for Martha is that she continues to serve and serve with the right attitude. Clearly, she was frustrated in the first passage. And how easy would it have been for her to decide that her service was not valued. The circumstances around Martha have not changed. Jesus is still visiting and bringing a crowd with Him; however, Martha has accepted her role and continues to serve.

Let’s get back to Mary. We have left her sitting at the feet of Jesus long enough. In the first passage, we learn that Mary is in the right place at the right time. The second passage finds Mary amping things up. While she continues to sit at the feet of Jesus, she takes a costly oil and anoints his feet, and wipes his feet with her hair. The growth for Mary is that she wanted to ensure that Jesus knew how much she loved Him. And her love required an intentional gift and a costly sacrifice. The fragrance of her sacrifice filled the house. The circumstances around Mary have not changed. Jesus is still visiting and bringing a crowd with Him; however, Mary’s level of worship and sacrifice has greatly increased.

Does your growth match your grace? If we got glimpses of two similar situations in two different seasons of your life, would we be able to see the growth? Would you be able to see your own growth? Most importantly, would God be able to see the growth? When I ignore the prompting to do sermon recaps, what does that say about my level of growth? Child, these blogs always hit me the hardest. And even when I’m talking to ya’ll, I am always first talking to myself. I want my growth to match my grace. Circumstances have not changed around here but I want my level of service, worship, and sacrifice to increase. Just think about it. Does your growth match your grace? #wepreach