Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.
How do we get our brain to focus? I chose this video/topic and that irony is not lost on me. I am the most ADHD, scatterbrained, can't focus person I know. I generally have to have numerous external stimuli going on around me for me to buckle down and focus on things such as bible study, sermon prep, or simple everyday tasks that require my attention and focus. In fact, I wrote the majority of my sermons while in seminary while in my seminary classes so I could focus on the class topic and the sermon. While writing my sermon on this topic I actually had The Wolverine movie playing on the ipad next to me. What can I say? I like comic book movies.
Maybe you are like me and you go from screen to screen all day everyday. Look at your phone before you even get out of bed, then you look at a slightly bigger screen while you are at work, then you wind down from your day by looking at a massive big screen television in the evening (while simultaneously looking at the same smaller screen that started off your day)
I love this quote I found in a commentary I read about the story of Mary and Martha: "The disease of the internet age is "continuous partial attention." Perhaps it is not only the disease of the internet age; perhaps its always been with us and just the cause of our attention has altered.
I would guess that continuous partial attention is a good representation of the daily lives of quite a few of us. In his Ted Talk, Chris Bailey gave up his phone for a month and after about he week he noticed the following: 1) his attention span grew 2) he had more and better ideas 3) he planned and thought more about the future. Where we choose to focus our attention affects the focus on our lives. The research shows that "the state of our attention determines the state of our lives. Reminds me of the verse in Matthew 6 that states " that where your treasure is, your heart will be also."
The story of Mary and Martha gives us a great example of what is and what isn't important. Martha was working in the kitchen preparing a meal for guests and Mary was being lazy and not helping her. Well that's one way of looking at it.
Let me start by saying what Martha has chosen is not bad. She has chosen to focus on some important details: food prep, hospitality, and work. But she is distracted and her focus is not where it needs to be. She is focusing on what she perceives as an justice that is being done to her by her sister, who is not doing what she wants her to do. Martha is focused on her role, focused on herself (she mentions me three times), and her plans-which don't include learning from Jesus. Her own expectation did not include Mary focusing on Jesus and not helping her with the work. She finally reaches her breaking point and cries out to Jesus: "Lord, don't you care?" Newsflash-Jesus does care but not in the way Martha thinks he should.
Jesus doesn't get on to the work Martha is doing but gets onto how distracted Martha is. Like Martha if we as individuals or we as a church community get bogged down in the details too much we will inevitably be running in place and not making a difference in our community.
Contrast that with Mary who is sitting and learning at Jesus' feet. Mary understands what it takes to focus and what (or who) she needs to focus on. Mary was eager to be a disciple and has chosen the BETTER part because of her singular focus on Jesus. When we as individuals or as a church learn at the feet of Jesus by reading scripture together and continually listening to what Jesus has to say to us then we are much more effective.
Maybe the ultimate purpose of the story of Mary and Martha is to offer us the reminder that we need to focus on Jesus and give Jesus our full attention. So here's a way to do that. Over the next week when you become bored or distracted allow your mind a chance to wander.
In the morning make a point to focus on God's word by reading scripture. For example, I read scripture Sunday morning and gained a deeper understanding of the prophet Zechariah's first vision.
Around lunchtime take a step away from your phone and all other devices and people. Take the time to step outside and wander around and notice the sights, sounds, and smells of God's creation. Like the sky that I noticed after the rain on Sunday:
Then in the evening before you go to bed reflect on where you saw God during your day. I encourage you to take the time to write it down so you don't forget or better yet to tell someone about it. For instance, I felt that it was very impactful that while my friend Margret and I were watching the band Skillet perform in Fort Worth on Sunday night that as a lead in to one of their songs they sang the first first to one of my favorite hymns: Be Thou My Vision. It was unexpected but made an impact on my day.
So my prayer for each of you this week is that you would disconnect from your screens and take the time to focus on what is truly important. And that you would give limit the distractions around you and give your full attention to Jesus.
Grace & Peace
Kevin
