The Business of Busyness

July 20, 2014 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: Wisdom to Live by

Scripture: Luke 10:38–42

Transcript

The Business of Busyness

Luke 10:38-42
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Pastor Randy Smith



As Christians, we make it our primary ambition to cultivate our relationship with Christ. A great line in a movie I just watched this week entitled "A Matter of Faith" asked the question: "Have we come to know Christ by addition or by submission?" In other words, is Christ tacked on to my life (among many other things), or is He the center of my life (first place in everything), the love of my life, the guiding principle in all that I do and think? Or we could put it this way, do I know about Jesus or do I really know Jesus? That was the Apostle Paul's passion. In Philippians 3:10 he wrote, "That I may know Him."

So how do we know that we have come to know Him? It's spelled out clearly in 1 John 2:3, "By this we know that we have come to know Him , if we keep His commandments." The text continues, "The one who says, 'I have come to know Him ,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him" (1 Jn. 2:4-5).

The greatest test that we are really saved, really know Him and really love Him, will be a desire and ability to obey His commandments. So here is the progression: We come to Jesus Christ by faith meaning we pledge our total allegiance to Him. He enters our life through the Holy Spirit. Then in this relationship by grace we grow in our knowledge of Him through the Scriptures and find delight in expressing our love by obeying His commandments. This is good. This is knowing Christ. But I don't think this takes it far enough.

If we live only by the expressed "do's and don'ts" in the Bible, we will find ourselves in reality following Jesus only a small percentage of our lives. Furthermore, we will easily fall into the routine of legalistic living, mechanically doing what we've got to do, but not doing it out of a pure heart that flows from a genuine relationship with the Savior. You see, every action of ours is to be Christlike. However, not every action is mentioned in the Bible. Solution? We need to keep growing in our knowledge of Jesus (Phil. 1:9-10) so that we live our lives on earth in all aspects (from the profound to the mundane) in the same way that He lived His.

So with that as an introduction, I'd like to take a break from our study in 2 Corinthians and conclude the summer with a few sermons along these lines. I am calling this series, "Wisdom to Live By." How should we live in those gray areas that Christians often overlook? And the first sermon is entitled, "The Business of Busyness": Time management, priorities, frantic paces, saying "yes" to everything, sanity - I think we can all identify. As the ideal Person, how did Jesus live in this area? How should we live in this era of busyness? Much of my content will be from Kevin DeYoung's excellent short book called, "Crazy Busy."

What amazes me as I study the life of Christ is the fact that I never witness Him running around overwhelmed or stressed out. He was never grouchy or distracted. It seems there was always a sense of peace and purpose to His life. So why don't I witness His followers that way - oftentimes including myself?

Now it's easy to think that somehow Jesus can't identify with our hectic lives in the twenty-first century. He didn't have to make breakfast for a family of five and rush out the door by 6:00 am to catch the computer train. He didn't have to balance Jenny's piano recital at six and Steve's karate lesson at seven and little Bobby's temperature and stomach bug that he's been battling all day. Jesus never needed to fix a refrigerator, answer twenty e-mails, attend parent-teacher conferences at school and prepare income tax forms. You're right, He didn't have any of these responsibilities we experience, but that doesn't mean He didn't have more responsibilities!

He didn't have bills to pay, but He had lepers to heal. He didn't have kids screaming at Him, but He did have demons calling Him by name. He frequently taught large crowds with people trying to touch Him, trick Him and kill Him. People were demanding of His time every second of the day. Most were ungrateful. His friends were clueless. And in the forefront of His mind was His march toward a cross at Calvary. He was tempted every day to be sinfully busy, but He never sinned in this area as well (cf. Heb. 4:15)! DeYoung says, "He knew the difference between urgent and important. He understood that all the good things He could do were not necessarily the things He ought to do."

This is so clearly seen from Mark 1. "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, 'Everyone is looking for You .' He said to them, 'Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for'" (Mk. 1:35-39).

What? Starting the day in prayer when He's got so much to do? Additionally, there's a need and yet off He goes to another town? Can it be that His mission was from the Father (which He received in prayer), and despite the fact that He far exceeds us in compassion for others, He refused to be driven by the demands, expectations and approval of others?

This past week I was discussing this topic with my children. I believe we are "crazy busy" and "crazy ineffective" because we have never thought and prayed through our priorities. As I asked my daughters, "What are your priorities?" I was forced to contemplate that one myself. I wrote them down. Yours will be different, but here is the list I believe has been assigned to me.

  1. To honor the Lord by cultivating a meaningful relationship with Him.
  2. To love my wife and children through biblical example and instruction, service and quality time together.
  3. To faithfully fulfill my responsibilities as the lead pastor of this church.
  4. To do what I can to speak on behalf of unborn babies and the persecuted church.
  5. To get to the gym three days each week.
  6. To manage the Grace Quotes website and write the Battle-Tested" curriculum.

That's a lot of stuff and responsibility, but that is what I believe God has called me to do in this life. And what that also means is that other things, as good and noble as they may appear to be, simply need to be minimized or outright rejected.

I couldn't tell you the first thing about the hottest shows on television. My lawn is a combination of brown grass and weeds - just good enough to not be an embarrassment to the neighbors. My social life with other guys is almost nonexistent. My children are limited in the commitments they can make and are not permitted to make commitments that conflict with spiritual priorities higher up on the food chain. I can't accept every invitation. I refuse to enter meaningless debates. I presently maintain no hobbies that demand anything of my time. I write short responses to e-mails and have trouble reading long ones. I limit social media almost entirely to Gospel purposes. I refuse to get behind every cause that's thrown my way. And apart from watching the Chicago Bears (which probably would be priority number seven if my priority list continued), the days of obsession with batting averages, league standings and three hour of meaningless baseball games has come to an end, unless the Cubs ever make the World Series.

Jesus had priorities which kept Him from doing everything, but accomplishing very little. What are your priorities? Can you affirm in your conscience they are from the Lord? Can you say "yes" to your priorities with vigor and zeal and say 'no" to those things not your priorities without guilt and shame? Is it your mission to stay on mission? Study the life of Jesus. Know Him and you will conclude He did this masterfully!

A number of years ago a Christian brother placed in my hands a copy of a pamphlet written by Charles Hummel entitled, "The Tyranny of the Urgent." The whole point of his work is that we must avoid letting the urgent things crowd out the important things. Hummel claims that the spiritual disciplines like church attendance and prayer and Bible reading and the time it takes to develop a few meaningful relationships (as compared to the 700 superficial ones we have on Facebook) are too often the very things that get put on hold because the urgent tasks call for instant action. These urgent things rob our time and often leave us frustrated, anxious and unfulfilled, knowing we were busy, but also knowing we accomplished very little of importance.

Hummel makes the point that we need to derive our priorities from God and then live in such a way that we are accomplishing His will and not our will or even the will of others for our lives. He reminds us that Jesus Christ, after concluding a short three-year ministry left thousands of people still without forgiveness, still in their poverty and still with their sicknesses. Yet He made a remarkable statement in John 17:4 when He declared to the Father, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do."

Our Lord had needs pressing around Him continuously, yet He found time to engage a lonely Samaritan woman at a well, retreat to a boat to escape the crowds and always petition the Father for His plans for the day (Mk. 1:35). Waiting on the Father's instructions freed Him from the tyranny of the urgent. He wasn't crazy busy. He wasn't frantic. He was free, free from the sinful anxiety and worldly despair and cultural pressure and human expectations that so often rob us of our contentment and peace. And the same He promised His followers, "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (Jn. 8:36). Are you really free?

Hummel said, "Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service. Like the time-out in a football game, it enables us to catch our breath and fix new strategy. As we wait for directions, the Lord frees us from the tyranny of the urgent. He shows us the truth about Himself, ourselves, and our tasks . He impresses on our minds the assignments He want us to undertake. The need itself is not the call; the call must come from the God who knows our limitation. "The Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:13-14). It is not God who loads us until we bend or crack with an ulcer, nervous breakdown, heart attack, or stroke. These come from our inner compulsions coupled with the pressure of circumstances."

Our Lord had His priorities, and He wants you to get your priorities from Him. If you don't, you'll run around aimlessly serving only the loudest, neediest and most intimidating people. If you act like this, I guarantee your spiritual life will be the first thing to slip away and your soul after being sucked dry will be found responding to others with resentment, impatience and irritability - the very opposite of how Christians should be treating others.

Jesus taught this when He explained His parable of the four soils. Remember the third soil? "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop" (Mk. 4:7). And how was that interpreted? Jesus told us, "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world , and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mk. 4:18-19). According to Jesus, one of the greatest threats to the Gospel is sheer exhaustion.

DeYoung commented, "Busyness kills more Christians than bullets. How many [Sunday] sermons [from church] are stripped of their power by lavish [lunch] preparations and professional football? How many moments of pain are wasted because we never sat still enough to learn from them? How many times of private and family worship have been crowded out by soccer [games] and school projects? We need to guard our hearts. The seed of God's Word won't grow to fruitfulness without pruning for rest, quiet, and calm" (p. 30).

So why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we crazy busy? We could conclude that we just need better time management skills. Perhaps we can say we just need to say "no" a little more often. Maybe our priorities are off kilter. My friends, you didn't need to come here to hear that. Oprah and Dr. Phil could have provided that advice! We must go deeper as I have been explaining and say that our priorities for our lives are not God's spiritual priorities for our lives. And we can even sharpen this point and say we think we are obeying God in all the do's and don'ts," but are really further away from the godly character our Lord desires deep down inside manifested in all areas of our lives.

So here is my question as we probe a little deeper: Is our busyness seen in obsessive people-pleasing , whacked-out priorities, restless ambition and a life of meaningless an indicator of a spiritual problem much deeper and more profound than simply being too active?

Tim Kreider of the New York Times, not exactly the bastion of Christian publications proposed, "Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness. Obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day" (June 30, 2012).

Wow, can we conclude that busyness now just joined the party of the other sins that tempt us on a daily basis? And if so, can we conclude the root of busyness is the same as the root of all other sins: pride?

Now let me be clear. I'm not saying hard work is bad nor am I saying that our lives should be unproductive. And I think I can conclude that all of us who seek to discharge our roles as a parent and spouse and servant in the church and homeowner and employee (just to name a few) will experience on a regular basis the reality of busyness. My question earlier was, "Am I sure that busyness is not robbing me of my God-centered priorities and the joy and peace I am to experience in my walk with Christ?" My question now is, "Am I sure that my busyness is honoring to the Lord and not a temptation to fuel my own pride?"

DeYoung in his book "Crazy Busy" provides a twelve-point diagnosis to help us answer that question (p. 36-38). Let's run through that list and with the aid of the Holy Spirit do some honest self-evaluation as I ask a couple questions for each one.

So how do I know if my busyness is sinfully fueled by pride?

  1. People-pleasing - Do I say "yes" to too many people because I fear their disapproval? Am I serving others because I want to do good or is it because I want to look good in their eyes?
  2. Pats on the back - If "people-pleasing" is motivated by fear, "pats on the back" is motivated by the hunger for personal glory. Do I live for the praise and applause of others? Am I willing to sacrifice time in my priorities if others will think higher of me?
  3. Performance evaluation - Do I think so highly of myself that I believe I am irreplaceable? Do I believe everyone is dependent on my performance?
  4. Possessions - Is my schedule determined by how money much I can make even if it means sacrificing my most meaningful relationships? Do my possessions own me with such a tight grip that they have become idols choking out the things most important in life?
  5. Power - Do I always need to out-compete the other person? Am I staying busy because I fear that I will lose control over others?
  6. Prestige - Does busyness give me a sense of satisfaction in who I am? Am I on a radical pursuit to make myself feel more important?
  7. Pity - Is my busyness just a ploy to feel like a martyr? Do I enjoy receiving sympathy when people conclude that I am too busy?
  8. Poor Planning - Am I prudent and self-controlled and reasonable when making plans? Do I have the discipline to stick to a well-managed life?
  9. Perfectionism - Do I think too highly of myself? Do I have an unhealthy fear of making mistakes?
  10. Posting - Am I submitting this post on social media because others will think more highly of me? Am I on social media too often because I fear that will let others down?
  11. Position - Am I too busy because the world assumes people in a position like me need to act this way? Is my identity in life too wrapped around my position in life?
  12. Proving myself - Am I ambitious because I feel inferior to others? Do I never rest because I am forever trying to prove myself to another person?

I'll assume at this point that we all have some work to do! Please do not be overwhelmed to a point that now exceeds the stress from the busyness you are presently experiencing! The solution to all these problems is very simple. It is very liberating. Like everything, it starts and ends with a fervent love for Jesus Christ.

  1. People-pleasing - Is it my goal to be more pleasing to people or to Christ?
  2. Pats on the back - Do I live for my glory or Christ's glory?
  3. Performance evaluation - Do I get people to depend on me or am I pointing people to depend on Christ?
  4. Possessions - Am I aiming to have my possessions temporarily here on earth or eternally with Christ in heaven?
  5. Power - Am I trying to overpower other people or serve them through the power Christ?
  6. Prestige - Is it about being great for myself or greatly used by Christ to show His greatness?
  7. Pity - Am I drawing people to be compassionate for me or am I seeking to show, like Christ, compassion for others?
  8. Poor Planning - Is my life chaotic or am I in line with Christ who was always in order and well-managed ?
  9. Perfectionism - Do I aim to be perfect or do I worship Christ who is perfect?
  10. Posting - Do I use social media for my glory or Christ's glory?
  11. Position - Do I seek to be identified by the world's perspective or Christ's perspective of me?
  12. Proving myself - Am I ambitious for others' approval or am I ambitious to praise Christ for His acceptance of me?

Back to our opening reading from Luke 10. Jesus visited the home or Mary and Martha. Martha was doing all the work to make preparations for the evening - cleaning up, preparing dinner, arranging the furniture. These chores were important and are a tremendous example of selfless service. Mary on the other hand was doing nothing that appeared to contribute. All she was doing was sitting at the feet of Jesus.

I think you know the twist in this story. Mary becomes the hero. Beginning in verse 40, "But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her'" (Lk. 10:40-42).

Martha wasn't doing anything contrary to the "do's and don'ts" in the Bible. She wasn't getting intoxicated. She wasn't downloading porn. She wasn't cursing her head off. Maybe a little complaining, but easily justifiable when Mary was sitting around not lifting a finger. How many times as parents have we been down that road with our children? Martha was doing nothing wrong, but she was doing everything wrong.

The key word in the passage is "distracted." She had the living God, the Savior of the world right there in her own house and she was consumed with other much lesser priorities. Jesus isn't against serving others. It's a good thing! But He's against it when it takes our focus off of Him.

Are we spending time with Jesus - the "good part", the only part that "shall never be taken away?" Do our lives revolve around His agenda first? Are we committed to the priorities that He has given to us? Only then will we be able to live in peace, provide genuine love to others and conclude our lives knowing we like Him have done that which the Father has assigned to us.


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