Good evening and welcome to Crowd Church. I'm Anna Kettle. I'm joined tonight by
Ade. Ade, say hi to everyone.
Good evening.
So tonight is cool because I'm joining you from Liverpool and Ade's joining us
from North Wales, so we're, uh, we're kind of almost multi— well, multinational,
aren't we?
Almost.
Yeah. So, and how are you doing, Ade?
I'm doing very well, thank you. Enjoying some wonderful sunshine in Wales-ish.
It sounds like you've got a little bit more than we have. We've had a tiny bit
today, but it's not been amazing. But anyway, apparently it's getting warmer
next week, so I'm excited about that. So tonight we're carrying on our series
that we've been running, um, and Dan's gonna be joining us tonight and talking,
aren't you, Dan? Tell us a little bit about what you're speaking about.
Um, yeah, talking about are you ever too busy to be present, too busy to be in
the, in the moment. So I look forward to it.
Yeah, that sounds great. I'm, um, I don't know about anyone else, but I find,
um, busyness, like, it's a hard thing. Like, we live in such a busy busy world
and it's been a busy day and then it's just, yeah, it's, it's a challenge. So
I'm looking forward to this one and I think it's got, we've got lots to learn
about this and so I'm looking forward to digging in a minute. But just to say
before we jump into the talk, if you've got any questions, thoughts, comments as
we go, just comment in the chat bar. We would love to hear what you think about
what Dan's saying and if you've got any questions or you want us to unpack
anything. We'll go to Conversation Street at the end and have a bit of
conversation and unpack some of what Dan shares. Um, but I think we'll pass over
to Dan and then come back to that. So Dan, over to you.
Well, welcome this evening. Um, just get straight into it. So who's ever
procrastinated, ever spent too much time doing that, that important task but
your comfortable task, the known entity, because you didn't want to do the other
thing, that other thing that may actually be better, but it's new, it's unknown,
it's a little different. You're going to stick with your day job because you're
busy. You've got work to do. You need to just read the next chapter of a book or
scroll to the next video. Are we sometimes too busy to be present? Today, I'd
like to talk about two I'll leave this out. That's fallen out. Two amazing women
in the Bible and feet. Don't worry, hopefully it'll become clear. Before we go
any further, let's read the main passage, and this is from the Book of Luke,
chapter 10. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman
named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who
sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted
with much serving, and she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that
my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.' But the Lord
answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.
But one thing is necessary: Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be
taken away from her.' Here we are introduced to these two women, Martha and
Mary. We know from— excuse me— another passage in John's Gospel that these two
sisters also had a brother called Lazarus. Yes, the famous Lazarus, the one who
was raised from the dead. So Martha is only mentioned on three occasions here
and in John's Gospel, but just through these verses we can pick up some of who
she was and what she did. A speculation that she may have been a widow, as she
seems to own her own house, which was unusual at that time for a woman. And that
she had enough money that she was able to support the disciples in some of their
travels. Her name Martha simply means lady or mistress, so we don't get much
from her, her name. Her sister Mary in this story is sometimes called Mary of
Bethany. Now there are 7 Marys mentioned in the Bible. I know, I didn't realize
there were so many. We've got Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary of
Bethany who was talking about today, Mary the mother of James, Mary wife of
Clopas, who was with the cross when Jesus died, and two Marys mentioned later in
the letters to the churches— Mary of Rome and Mary the mother of John Mark. It—
listen, all those off, it just helps me to give me a bit of context when I'm
reading the Bible and all these characters and locations, how they all fit
together. And I also did learn that while studying for this talk, the that the
name Mary means bitter, and some scholars think it was a common name at that
time, which it seems to be because we've got 7 of them, um, because the Jewish
people were quite bitter at being ruled over by the Romans. But back to the
story, if you've ever heard it mentioned, the, the story of Mary and Martha in a
Christian perspective or talks before, you may have heard people say, 'Are you a
Mary or are you a Martha?' Meaning, are you one who is a doer a servant, someone
who likes to be busy, or you're a Mary, someone who is prepared to listen and
learn. And I've heard it said you want to be a Mary because that's the woman to
follow. I want to perhaps change that simplicity of thinking. We're all
different, and God has a plan for all of us. So let's think back about the
passage. Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. That's a great thing to do, be a
welcomer. And then she did stuff, she served. Which was the custom of the time.
She sounds like an amazing host. In the next story that she's mentioned in, in
the story of Lazarus, she also is the first to run to Jesus. She's a lady of
action. She likes to get things done. I get the feeling she also likes to get
things right as well, and just so. And this is no bad thing. Um, didn't someone
need to be preparing, getting food ready. No microwaves back then, so no
ordering a takeaway and just letting someone else sort the food. It was a task
that had to be done, a worthwhile activity. Could I say from this passage that
it was her gifting to serve and to help? In 1 Corinthians 12:28, Paul says, 'And
that God has appointed to the church first apostles, second prophets, third
teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administration, and
various kinds of tongues. Helping is a gift. I was once helping to set some
tables or chairs out for something similar, like at church, years back. And, um,
I remember Dave Connolly came up to me and said, you have the gift of helps. And
I still remember that statement now. I'd never heard of it being a gift before,
and at the time I'm I'm not sure I knew what to think. Part of me was just,
well, stuff needs to be done, I do it. That's always how— that's the way I was
brought up. And I must admit, another part of me was thinking, I didn't know
that was a gift. Isn't it a bit of a lame gift in the list? Before this, we've
got, um, before the, like, the gift of helps, we've got healing and miracles and
prophets and apostles. Isn't the gift of helps just something everyone should
do. If I look around, there are lots of people here and there, and they're not
helping. Perhaps my reaction, like Martha here, was a bit, I've got a gift and
I'm a bit frustrated at others because they're not doing what I think should be
done. Anyone else frustrated when you have to work and others don't? How about,
how about the other way around? How about when you have a day off or afternoon
off from work and you go to the shops or out to the gym or golfing, whatever is
your fun activity, and you're there and you're thinking, what are all these
people doing? Why, why aren't they at work in the middle of the week? Don't they
have work to do? Looking back at yourself, coming back to the story, Jesus says
this: Martha, Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things. Whenever a
name or a word is mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible, it's done for a reason
and to emphasize Jesus loved Martha. This was a tender greeting. He showed her
that he cared. Martha, Martha. And he spoke, as he always does, not just to the
immediate statement, but to the heart of the matter. Mary not working was not
the real reason for her annoyance. Martha was anxious about many things. Have
you ever done stuff so you don't need to do some other stuff? Let me explain.
Have you been busy with things so that you can avoid what you really need to do?
I know I have. I've used the gift of helps to hide from doing things I needed to
do, to keep from, um, uh, yeah, to keep the things that being done, but, um,
like genuine, genuine needs, but in that moment they could have waited. 'in that
moment they should have been second. In that moment I could have been sat at the
feet of Jesus.' Are our priorities sometimes skewed or misplaced? Well, this
brings me on to Mary and my second point: feet. Mary was sat at Jesus' feet.
When I've read this before, I've had the wrong image in my head of Jesus'
teaching and Mary just being just being a woman. A woman, I thought of that era,
not as important, naive even. The Roman and Greek culture regarded women as
inferior, even subhuman, and that had become part of Jewish culture too. And
this is not the image here, and this is not how Jesus thought of women. This is
often an image brought on by, by tradition, perhaps sometimes perpetuated by the
church. By our upbringing, by, by famous religious paintings. You know the type,
the men all deep in thought and the woman just there's a bit of eye candy in the
image. Here Mary was at Jesus' feet, like we hear Paul say in the book of Acts
when he's talking about— yeah, so she was at Jesus' feet, but it, it's not— she
wasn't just sitting there. It's like, um, in the book of Acts Paul says This is
when he's talking about how he's raised. I'm indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of
Caesarea, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according
to the strictness of our fathers' law. So I had to change this view, this image
in my mind, how wrong I was. Mary was there to learn. She was there to hear the
voice of the Son of God. Do you know that when Jesus went out with his
disciples, it wasn't always just the 12 disciples. Luke says early in the
Gospel, soon afterward he went on through the cities and villages proclaiming
and bringing the good news of the 12. Um, sorry, we've got new software and it
jumps around, it flows very different. So as I'm, as I'm reading my talk, I'm
just losing myself a bit. Um, and the 12 with him. But also there was women as
well, women who'd been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called
Magdalene, and from whom 7 demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza,
Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others who provided for them
out their means. Many others. Jesus was a revolution— he, a revolutionary. He
went against the culture of the time. We've heard before in talks how God used
so many women, how the first people to see him raised from the, from the dead
were women, breaking the testimony sort of tradition of the time. Mary was
taking every opportunity to hear from the teacher, to learn this good news. All
God's gifts are not exclusive. They're all there for all. They're for rich and
poor, Jew and Gentile, men and women. Now Mary's role in the house was to help,
probably same as Martha's. As people had come to stay with them and eat, but she
prioritized the opportunity to listen. Nothing here to say that she hadn't been
helping before, been cooking, slaving away, but now was her time to listen.
Sometimes we have to stop and think, where are my time priorities? Often
difficult questions, and for me it's often when I'm tired, do I want to study
and work out what I'm going to say at a crowd, or Um, do you want to stay in bed
a little bit better? It's important, you know. Um, we've got other stuff to do,
whether it's working on quotes or invoicing or doing work. It all needs to be
done. We all have busy lives, but is our busyness of life, whatever it may be,
sometimes a distraction and not always necessarily, you know, not always a
necessary not always a necessity at that moment. Yeah, um, I'm going to read the
whole passage, but I'm not going to read the whole passage, but this, this next,
the next time we meet Mary and Martha, it's mentioned in John's Gospel, and
their brother, as I mentioned before, Lazarus, is dying. By the time Jesus gets
to see them, it's seemingly too late and he's died. Martha is the first to come
to meet Jesus. As I said before, she's a doer. Is that a bad thing? I don't
think so. She gets to meet Jesus and she has a conversation with her. Let's read
that in John chapter 11. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went
and met him with Mary. Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus,
'Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.' 'But even now I know
that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your
brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know he will be raised again in
the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and
the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whoever
lives and believes in me shall never die.' 'Do you believe this?' she said to
him. 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming
into the world. I love this passage. Martha may have been busy the last time she
was mentioned, but she knew who Jesus was. She hadn't missed who he was and is.
She wasn't lacking in faith. "Even now I know that whatever you ask from God,
God will give you." We don't know much about this lady, but we know that she
knew Jesus. She knew who he was, perhaps from her last encounter. She took to
heart Jesus' words, and she gave those things to God, those things that are
causing her to be anxious. The final time we hear about Martha, she's serving.
She's serving again. Jesus and the disciples are at her house, and this is where
the next mention of feet comes in. Mary is at Jesus' feet again. This time, Not
just listening, she breaks open an expensive vase of perfume and pours it on
Jesus' feet and wipes it with her hair. Like Jesus showed his love for Martha
when he spoke to her, "Martha, Martha," Mary shows her love for Jesus and
anoints his feet. She worships him. Some of the disciples complain, "That's
expensive, could have given that money to the poor." And Jesus knows that this
is her expression of love. And says, "Leave her alone, for the poor you've
always got with you, but me, not always." Why did I mention this? Some things
are time-sensitive. Some things need to be done when we're prompted. Mary may
have not had another chance to do this before Jesus died and ascended to heaven.
It's good to serve, but we need to be present. We need to be listening to God's
prompting. Perhaps some of us hide behind our activities. Lastly, I want to
finish with this, the final mention of feet. At the Last Supper, Jesus washed
the disciples' feet. And when he said this, and he said this in John chapter 13,
'If I then, when your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also are to
wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should
do.' 'As I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant's not greater
than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you
know these things, blessed are you if you do them.' Truly, truly— there's that
emphasis again— blessed are we to serve, whatever position we're in: leading,
following, learning, or teaching. There's no exception to service. Let's serve,
but let's not hide behind service. Let's work, but set our priorities on his
word and his prompting. If God prompts you or me, what's our first reaction? Can
we make an excuse with a valid thing that needs to be done, or can we let God do
something through us? Are you a Martha or a Mary, or are you you? Are you
unique, created by God, born with giftings, and available for God's gifts from
the Son of God, gifts given by his Holy Spirit? Let's learn at his feet, worship
at his feet, and serve at the feet of others.
Thanks, Dan. That was a great talk. I feel like you packed quite a lot of
scripture there in quite a small talk. So yeah, thank you so much for that. Um,
yeah, I, I just feel like there was, yeah, an awful lot in there. I'm looking
forward to unpacking it. Ade, what did What did you think?
I thought Dan touched on an important point that sometimes we have to listen,
because also sometimes we have to act. And I've seen this exact passage be used
to just justify, oh, we're just going to wait. We're just going to wait until a
sign or until something happens. Now, we are called to listen, just like in
Matthew 7, think about the man who built his house on the rock. He listened and
he built his house on the rock and the rain came and it stayed. The man who
built his house on the sand is likened to one who did, who listened but did not
act. And we have to both listen and act and not use listening. I'm still
listening. I'm still listening. As almost an excuse not to go and act. So I like
how he mentioned sometimes we have to listen.
Yeah, yeah, it's a really good point you pick out. I really liked the whole kind
of way that you unpacked it, Dan, as like a bit of an evolution in both of the
girls' narratives. Like, I felt like quite often I'm the same as you. I've heard
that Martha versus Mary story a lot of times in church over the year. Years.
And, um, you know, quite often it's like, yeah, you should be more like Mary and
less like Martha, who's just doing, doing, doing and needs to sit at Jesus'
feet. And that is part of that story, like, that is there, um, and I, and I get
that point. But I think sometimes if you're, as you say, you're more of a
natural helper, server, doer, like quite an active person— I, I am— it, it sort
of becomes a bit polarizing. And actually, the point for me that I I really took
away tonight, and I hadn't seen this before, was that both of those women, it's
like an evolution in both of their lives. Like, they go from a point, one point
with Jesus, and they move forwards, and both of this growth in both of them,
like, from where they are at the beginning of that story to where they end up,
which is, you know, Mary goes from sitting and wanting to learn at Jesus' feet
and then She goes to a place where she worships extravagantly and kind of
blesses Jesus with the oil. And it's extravagant worship, isn't it? And she
really wants to give her all, her very best. And so there's growth path there.
But then equally with Martha, it's like I'd never seen that before, that idea
that she goes from being kind of busy, busy, busy, too busy serving Jesus, is
challenged, and then the next time she encounters Jesus, she's on the lookout
for him. So, at Lazarus's house, she's looking for him. She's expectant for him
to turn up and do something. And actually, she's quite disappointed when he
turns up and he doesn't arrive in time, and he doesn't do what she thinks he
should do, which is heal her brother before he dies. And so, yeah, I like the
fact that there's a growth in both of them. Like from spending time with Jesus.
And that really hit me tonight. I thought that's really cool.
And they both, um, I didn't read it there, but they both have exactly the same
reaction. And they both say the same thing. They say, Jesus, if you were here,
he wouldn't have died. They both know the, the, the power, you know. They both
know this Jesus, that he was, he was a healer. He was able to. Yeah.
And I love that. I love that part. I know this isn't totally what we're supposed
to be talking about tonight, but I love that detail in the story because I feel
like, haven't we, anyone who's been a Christian for any length of time, or maybe
walked away from Christianity because, like, you know, I know lots of people who
have because they've expected something of Jesus. They've expected God to turn
up in their lives in a certain way, maybe give them healing for illness or you
know, someone who's unwell, or, you know, to do a certain thing or answer a
prayer in a certain way, and it's not worked out the way they expected. And
I've, I've sure been there as well. I'm sure you've got examples. Um, and it
makes you think, oh, if only you turned up, if only you'd done that, Jesus. And
sometimes people walk away.
Yeah.
And a bit out of that disappointment. And I think just stick around and see what
God's gonna do, because it may not look the way you think it should or you think
it will, but like what Jesus does in the situation is so much bigger than, you
know. But she still has that expectation, like, "You should have come and healed
my brother, but I still believe you're the Son of God and I still believe you
can do something even now, even in this kind of worst case scenario where my
brother's already died. I still know who you are." And I love that. Kind of just
heart attitude, which kind of opens up space for Jesus to do this amazing
miracle.
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Um, just her great love, a great love for her brother,
for, for her sister, and for, and for Jesus. It's just apparent, isn't it? Um,
and like you said before, it's so many times it's, oh, Martha, she's just
serving and doing. And she does, but she was listening as well. You know,
there's not many people in the Bible that realized that Jesus was the Son of God
straight away and said it out, you know, "Who are you? Who do you think I am?"
But she, yeah, she knew who this man was.
Yeah, it's like she's obviously intimately encountered Jesus, and that's why,
yeah, she knows him because she's met him, like, and it's been personal. I'm
just having a quick look at the feed, and there's a few comments coming through.
Which is great. So we've got a few people— actually, we should start by saying
happy birthday to Erica. Erica's on the feed tonight and it's her birthday, so
happy birthday, Erica. Um, we've also got Jamie and Catherine and Mia on the
vertical stream. Um, we've got Ellis, Alicia, and Sonia all watching on the feed
as well. Alicia said she recently did a Bible study on overwhelm, and Martha and
Mary was kind of came up as a story in that. And I think that's, that's a really
good point, that there's a lot about that sense of like, you know, I suppose
culture today, it's so easy to get in that sense of overwhelm, isn't it? We're
like— and you touched on this, Dan— like, we're busy, busy, busy, and, um, we
can, yeah, quite easily feel overwhelmed. Like, there's lots of things coming at
us from all angles, and, and you touched a bit on this, and It's a real
discipline, isn't it, to sit at Jesus' feet and choose to do that when there's
so many things vying for our time, so many distractions, so many— and, and it
can be overwhelming and it can feel like another thing to do. But I think what
comes out in this story is that, like, spending time with Jesus isn't another
thing on the to-do list. It's the thing that makes the to-do list, like,
dramatically different. It's like, it's should be the top, really, because yeah,
sometimes you can feel like, oh, I need to spend time with God or speak to God
or do my quiet time or spend some time praying, and it can feel like another
to-do, can't it? And yeah, the actual experience of sitting at Jesus' feet is
kind of like, it's like exhaling, like, oh, you know? Yeah, it's really— what
about you, um, Aid? What's, what's your experiences on on all of this?
Certainly spending time with Jesus changes your perspective on the to-do list,
um, and you might find things are added to it, but things are also taken off, or
rather drop down. Yeah, the, um, the, the priority on the to-do list.
Yeah, it can be like a perspective change, can't it? Like, when you spend time
with Jesus, you get his perspective on everything else in your life, and that
can really change how you do it all.
Did I— did feel that— go on, go on, Nate. Sorry, can I say it can—
oh, it can change you in the moment as well. I mean, just looking at that
passage where, um, you know, Martha's saying, if only you were here, and, you
know, Jesus says, well, I will, um, you know, I'm going to resurrect him. And
she says, "Well, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in my last
day." And Jesus is like, "No, I am the resurrection, the life. It's going to
happen now." And you can see her, just her mind is expanding. She knows him, she
believes what he can do. She thinks, "Right, he's passed now. We'll see him in
the next life." But right there, Jesus is just stretching her mind and just kind
of focusing her on him and what he can do. And it's like you see her her
understanding is just being even more revealed as this passage goes on.
So I was going to say, one, um, another sort of title that I could have put on
that talk was, was priorities. It could be sort of summed down to that, that
word, kind of like you, you've been saying, like perspective or priority is just
We have lots of things to do. We are all busy. There is so much— so many things
vying for our time. But can we adjust our priorities?
Yeah, I think what came across really well and what you said, Dan, was that,
that kind of last bit you talked about, like, presentness and kind of being
present to what God wants to do in the moment, really. And that actually, when
we stop and spend time with him, we're able to be present to what he wants to do
in that moment. And I think sometimes in our busyness, we can just miss it. We
can miss the thing, like, you know, perhaps God wants to bring heaven down in
that moment and do something really dramatic, like even, you know, raise someone
from the dead or heal someone. Um, and, and we can miss it in our busyness if we
don't stop and listen and make space in our already busy agendas. Like, I often
think it's about our agendas versus God's agenda and making space for God's
agenda to break into our day rather than just kind of what we already had
planned for ourselves. Yeah, so I think that's really— yeah, that really
challenges me.
And we can very easily have that, that excuse that, um, our daily tasks or our
task—
we—
what I'm trying to say, we I didn't mention it, we can hide behind things, can't
we? Hide behind genuine stuff. And that, for me, I know I've done so many times,
and I really have to be conscious of that hiding behind stuff that has to be
done.
Can you unpack a bit more about that, Dan? Like, what— because I was interested
in this when you were talking about it, but you know when you're just sort of
talking about like, sometimes we can hide behind our busyness. What do you think
are some of the reasons that we do that?
Like, I don't know, for me it was, it was easier. I knew there was— let's take
an example of, of church and stuff, doing lots of like helping, and, and I was
there, and God might have given me something to do. Even if you've been to a
Christian service where it's a bit more interactive— I don't know your
experience of church, but In some churches, someone will do a talk like, like
we've done now, um, and instead of the questions at the end, it might be, well,
if, if God— if you feel God has said something to you, then perhaps go and talk
with someone, um, or go and get prayer. And my busyness and my duties, I say, oh
well, I need to do, I need to do the PA, I need to turn these mics down, I need
to do this. But I knew that God was prompting me, no, you should go and get, you
know, you get prayer, you need to go and meet with God now. And that for me was
where something came in that I genuinely had a job to do. No one would notice.
Yeah.
Um, they thought, oh, you know, he's just doing what he should do.
But sometimes it's like trying, trying to— I know sometimes it's a little bit
outside of our comfort zone, isn't it, when God wants to break into the moment
and speak to us or got our attention. Or maybe we order our priorities, that can
be Sometimes it can be uncomfortable for me, and I think sometimes I can avoid
in the busyness because I perhaps know that God's going to challenge my
priorities, or yeah, or it might be a little bit uncomfortable in short term,
even though you— just as it was for Martha and Mary, but actually it was for
their growth, and you can see that growth trajectory in their story. But I think
sometimes It's, yeah, it's that fear of like, oh, is this going to be
challenging or difficult, or is God going to say something maybe I don't like,
or that's, I know, just uncomfortable. But like, it's knowing, it's knowing that
God is good and he's for you, isn't it? And I, I loved, um, what you said at the
beginning, which was, um, you're talking about kind of when he, when Jesus says,
Martha, Martha, and it, and it's That really struck me as well, because I
thought, yeah, that's it. Sometimes I've read this story and it's like a bit of
a ticking off of Martha. And the way I've heard it is, oh, you know, if you're
too busy and you're not making enough time for God in your life or in your day,
then, you know, like, well, you really should be, you know. And it's a bit of a
ticking off, and I hear it that way sometimes.
This story— say your name twice just so you listen.
Yeah, yeah, like, you really need to listen. Anna, Anna, come on now. Bit like
my dad doing his stern voice. And actually, that's not the thing at all. It's
like tender. It's like, Martha, Martha, I really want your attention here
because I love you. And it's like understanding the tone and the kind of, yeah,
the kind of way that Jesus is saying that. And I think that really illuminates
the whole passage. It's like, oh, he's not telling her off. He's really calling
her to come to him out of his love. And It's the tender thing and I really like
that. And I thought, yeah, that's absolutely right. Yeah. Any more thoughts from
you, Aidh?
I think there's a popular, almost social misconception that if you're busy,
you're important because you've got lots of stuff to do rather than, well,
actually, maybe you're just not very good at organizing your time. And, you
know, as people, it can be very easy to fall into that trap of just getting
caught up in the busyness and even in the buzz of being busy. And, you know,
I've been in a similar place to Dan where I'm down at the PA desk and it's the
end of a service, or I'm at the front, I've been leading worship and the stuff
needs taken down. And you can see people kind of looking around, kind of, you
know, maybe looking looking for someone to talk to or not, and you're like, ah,
but I've got so much stuff to do here. And then, you know, we have to be out of
the building by such and such a time. And being, being human beings and
task-oriented, we tend to just focus on the task that's immediately in front of
us and then block out what's around us. And, you know, it's just, it's done,
it's done from a good place of, you know, serving the body by doing this task.
But then you have to think, well, maybe if we took a step back and looked at it
from Jesus' perspective, are we serving the body in the best way we can? By
focusing on this task in front of us, or maybe there are people over here who
could benefit more from our attention.
Yeah, that's, that's a really good point. I think sometimes we can feel a little
bit like we've already got an agenda or things we need to do, and it can be a
bit inconvenient, kind of, to kind of veer off that. But sometimes I think God
wants to interrupt our day or our moment and to be like, 'Well, what about this
person over here who perhaps really needs someone to talk to or to listen or to
pray with them for a few minutes?' I've been thinking, just perhaps when you go
to the shops, you know, there's someone outside who's begging or asking for
money or something, but your immediate reaction is, 'Well, I'm doing my
shopping.' Yeah.
'I'm doing this.' And that's— I'm speaking to myself here— that's what I'm
making myself busy Yeah, what's, what's another minute to just to talk to
someone? Um, yeah, and I, I need to know what I, what I do with that. Am I, am I
making myself— this is my task, I mustn't veer from my task— just so I can not
do that thing that's a little bit awkward, a little bit— I don't quite know what
to do here.
We can be a bit, I don't know, inflexible, can't we, as human beings? We can be
a bit kind of just fixed, fixed on what we plan to do.
Excuse. Yeah, it's a great excuse in your head why you didn't do it, because I
had to do this other thing.
That's for me.
For me, it's— yeah, great.
Yeah, it's, it's hard, isn't it? I think, um, I like what Alicia said on the,
um, on the feed here. She says, I think the Lord was showing compassion to
Martha in the way, in that moment. Um, and I think so, I think we're going back
to that point about Martha, Martha, when, um, Jesus was like speaking
compassionately and tenderly to her. And I think that's the thing that I really
take away though, and like I hope others at home take this away as well, that
it's not a, it's not a like kind of harsh thing, like, oh, you really should be
less busy, and you really, Dan, you really should listen to me in the
supermarket when I tried to get your attention then. And like, it's not a like
taking off. It's, uh, yeah, like, it's Jesus' compassion and that actually he,
you know, he's got compassion. But he equally, just as he had compassion for
Martha, he's got compassion for our inflexibility and the times we miss it and
miss the moment and don't create time for him and don't hear him and don't make
space for him in our day. I think, you know, we're all a work in process, aren't
we? So I think for me, I guess I just wanted to say as well, it's a real grace
thing. Like, We're all learning. Like, none of us are experts at this. And I
think, yeah, it is a compassionate thing. Like, Jesus is like, come on. Like, I,
you know, I've got a lot of grace for you here, but like, let's grow and let's,
you know, kind of partner together and work together. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just
having a quick look through the feed. I can't see much else at the moment. Any
other thoughts from you, Ade?
Not at this point in time.
Dan, how about you? Are you— any other thoughts as you're planning the tour for
anything?
No, I think we spoke yesterday about that— not yesterday, last week— It was
mentioned that, um, you know, when we're praying, it was, well, God wants to
hear your voice. Um, and he wants us to hear his voice too, as well. Sometimes
we can do all the talking, can't we? And it's just like, yeah, listen to my
voice. Daniel, Daniel, just—
yeah, I think that's really right. And I, I've— yeah, I think it's really hard
for us culturally as well. Like, we live in a very fast-paced society, don't we?
And Yeah, I think there's not much space for listening at all. I mean, you can
see that in politics, you can see it in our day, you see it the way people are
on mobile phones and you just like quick text. Like, culture has never moved
faster, really, has it? And so this, it's quite, it's quite alien to us in some
ways. And I think we've got a lot to learn about listening and stilling
ourselves and being present in the moment and being present to what God wants to
do in the moment. Yeah.
In Ephesians it says, um, it says, look carefully then how you walk, not as
unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
So it's just, yeah, the time can run away from you, basically what it's saying.
But let's make the, the best use of all that we've got.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I love that. So I think that probably is a natural
conclusion to our conversation straight, but can you tell us a little bit about
what's happening next week, Dan?
Yeah, so we've got, uh, Dave Connolly doing the talk.
Brilliant.
And he is talking about— and I did remember it, and, uh, here we go— When You're
Running on Empty. So yeah, looking forward to that.
That's kind of continuation from this theme, isn't it? Because we've talked
about being present and trying to, yeah, just be still and spend time with Jesus
and spend time at his feet today. And I guess Running on Empty is— and Alicia
mentioned it tonight on the feed, actually— overwhelm. And that, yeah, it feels
like part of the same theme, really, like too much going on.
And then when you have got time, yeah, you just want to—
you just want to, yeah, watch Netflix or whatever it is, whatever your channel
of choice is. But yeah, um, that sounds really good. And who's hosting next
week?
So that'd be Sharon and Mike.
Awesome dream team. So that's pretty much all from us. Any last thoughts from
you, Ade?
Hopefully we'll see you all in the live lounge in a couple of minutes.
Yeah, the link—
a bit like having tea and coffee after church, only you bring your own tea and
coffee, so you can't complain if the drinks are naff. That's on you.
I love that. I love that. So the link for that should be somewhere in the feed.
Or coming up shortly if it's not there. Yep, it's there, I am told. So there it
is. So yeah, come and join us and we'd love to chat some more if you want to
unpack anything that we've talked about tonight and meet some of the team. Yeah.
And if not, we will see you next week. So that's it from us. Say bye, Dan.
See you. See you next week.
Say bye, Dan. Bye, Dan.
Bye, Dan.
Bye, Dan. See you, everyone. Have a good week.