Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, when we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation with them throughout your day. Your host is Travis Twiney, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. In this season of the podcast, we will be journeying through the Gospel of Luke, specifically looking for moments in the life of Jesus of the Oscar. Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to the Daily Together on Mission podcast. It's great to be with all of you. And I am in Luke, Chapter 10, famous story at the end of Luke, Chapter 10, that we're going to meditate on this morning and look at and think about for just a bit. The title of the podcast this morning is The Moment.
The Moment. And one of the things we struggle with is to actually be here and really be here, like in this present moment. We often, I think, find ourselves scattered and maybe a little bit distracted. For some of us, we tend to always be in the future.
And so it's difficult to be right here, right now, with those that are right in front of us, some of us tend to struggle with being pulled into the past with guilt or shame or regret or I can't believe, I didn't do that or I can't believe I didn't get that or I can't believe they didn't do that. We can be thrust into the future or pulled into the past, but often we find ourselves distracted from the moment. Sometimes we find that it's difficult to listen, to actually listen. We find that it's difficult when people interrupt us.
It's like my schedule, my agenda. This is what I needed to do or this is what I needed to get done. We find it difficult when we're interrupted to actually see the person right in front of us and to see their need or what we could do for them. Often we find it difficult to celebrate and just be in the moment with someone and celebrate a win with them or to be in the moment with someone and encourage them or be in the moment with someone and compliment them.
And so there's just something so powerful about the moment being here and really being here. And so Luke 10, verse 38, as Jesus and his disciples were on their way, they came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Jesus. Martha has a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
And she came to him and said, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her to help me. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered. You're worried and you're upset about so many things.
Few things are needed. Actually, only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is best and it will never be taken from her. Now, most of us have probably heard this story.
You know, Jesus is at Martha's house and Martha's distracted by the preparations. And Mary is right there in the moment with Jesus listening to Jesus. Martha gets upset, you know, runs in and kind of commands Jesus to tell Mary what to do. And I think that's kind of interesting because in the story, Mary listens to what Jesus says.
And Martha is telling Jesus what he should say and telling, you know, Mary what she should do. And there's a contrast in the story between Martha who is not in the moment. Martha is not rooted and grounded in the now. And so therefore she's just very preoccupied with what other people are doing and what other people should be saying and where other people should be and how other people should react.
It's like she's distracted. She's here and she's there. She's not really right here right now with who is in front of her and what is in front of her. And then Mary, and Luke seems to be saying that Mary is present.
Mary is rooted and grounded right here and right now in what is in front of her. And who is in front of her. And we see Jesus in the story offering Mary the gift of the moment. And we see that Jesus is communicating to Mary that she is valuable and special enough to take up the whole moment.
And that's not a bad way to put it. I mean, if we could just think for a moment about our marriages, you know, and our, you know, the people that we work with and for sure our kids, especially if they're young, our dating relationships, our friendships, our families that we're going to, you know, interface with today or the next couple weeks or whatever. And when we're with them, when we're there, are we communicating to them that they are special enough to take up the entirety of this present moment? Is that what we're communicating?
You know, by celebrating, by encouraging, by listening, just like Mary is doing right here. Or do we find ourselves distracted? You know, Jesus describes Martha as distracted. And that means pulled apart.
Martha, you're here, but you're not here. You know, you're judging. You're judging. You're triangling, right?
You're, you're pushing, you're pulling, you're commanding, you're playing the victim. You're trying to hurry other people. It's like you're, you're not here, Martha. And I'm not going to let you interrupt what Mary is doing.
She has chosen to be present and she's chosen what is best. She's chosen what must come first. She's chosen, you know, the good portion and it will not be taken from her. And one of the things that's so amazing about this story is that Jesus is incredibly aware that his presence matters.
That when he is present to Mary, it communicates something to Mary. And then what we see in this story is Mary returning the gift. She's present to Jesus. She's listening to Jesus.
She's focused on every word that's coming out of his mouth. And so she is returning that gift of presence and offering Jesus what is perhaps the greatest gift that you could offer anybody. Which is your presence to be there and to actually be there, to be rooted and grounded in this present moment. Not pulled into the past, not thrust into the future, but right here, right now, not wishing that you were with someone else.
And not wishing that you were somewhere else. But simply taking in the beauty and the mystery and the good and the bad and the ugly of this present moment. And this is such an incredible story. Martha finds herself ripped out of the present.
And if we get ponder just for a moment in the presence of Jesus, what is ripping you out of the present? You know, is it that you feel like you have to run around and make every single person happy? You know, is it past guilt? Is it fear of the future?
You know, is it ambition? You know, we can never be in the moment because we've got to accomplish this and then this and then that and then that. Is it perfection? We can't be in the moment because we just got to get it right.
You know, is it comparison? Right, we can't be in the moment because we're always looking at them or their marriage or what they've accomplished. Are we comparing ourselves to somebody else or where someone else is? And you know, I could go on.
This is only a 10 minute podcast. So I've got to land this plane. But what is ripping you out of the present? Because in this story, Jesus is there.
And he is actually there. And Mary returns that gift. She is there and she is actually there. And so as we just enjoy the power of the story, we need to ask the question.
Right now, are we here and actually here in the moment? And as we move through this day, you know, and as David said, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. As we move through this day, let's commit to be present, to be in the moment and to give.
Whoever we interface with today, that gift that maybe is the greatest gift that could ever be given. Presence. So your presence matters. We'll talk soon.
Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by it today. If you had any questions about the Inland Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store, and check out our social media pages like Facebook and Instagram, or even check out our website at inlandvignard.org.