“What are you worried about?” Luke 10:38-42

“What are you worried about?”  Luke 10:38-42

1. What one thing would you change about the world, about life?

2.             The concept of time and space that forces us to make choices.

3.             Luke 10:41-42 a)pokriqeiìj de\ eiåpen au)tv= o( ku/rioj, Ma/rqa Ma/rqa, merimn#=j kaiì qoruba/zv periì polla/, e(no\j de/ e)stin xrei¿a: Maria\m ga\r th\n a)gaqh\n meri¿da e)cele/cato hÀtij ou)k a)faireqh/setai au)th=j.

          a..       Luke 8:14  to\ de\ ei¹j ta\j a)ka/nqaj peso/n, ouÂtoi¿ ei¹sin oi¸ a)kou/santej, kaiì u(po\ merimnw½n kaiì plou/tou kaiì h(donw½n tou= bi¿ou poreuo/menoi sumpni¿gontai kaiì ou) telesforou=sin.

          b.             luke 12:21 ouÀtwj o( qhsauri¿zwn e(aut%½ kaiì mh\ ei¹j qeo\n ploutw½n. luke 12:22 Eiåpen de\ pro\j tou\j maqhta\j [au)tou=], Dia\ tou=to le/gw u(miÍn: mh\ merimna=te tv= yuxv= ti¿ fa/ghte, mhde\ t%½ sw¯mati ti¿ e)ndu/shsqe.

luke 12:25-26 ti¿j de\ e)c u(mw½n merimnw½n du/natai e)piì th\n h(liki¿an au)tou= prosqeiÍnai ph=xun; ei¹ ouÅn ou)de\ e)la/xiston du/nasqe, ti¿ periì tw½n loipw½n merimna=te;

          c.             matt 6:24-24 Ou)deiìj du/natai dusiì kuri¿oij douleu/ein: hÄ ga\r to\n eÀna mish/sei kaiì to\n eÀteron a)gaph/sei, hÄ e(no\j a)nqe/cetai kaiì tou= e(te/rou katafronh/sei. ou) du/nasqe qe%½ douleu/ein kaiì mamwn#=. matt 6:34 mh\ ouÅn merimnh/shte ei¹j th\n auÃrion, h( ga\r auÃrion merimnh/sei e(auth=j: a)rketo\n tv= h(me/r# h( kaki¿a au)th=j.

          d.             phil 4:6 mhde\n merimna=te, a)ll' e)n pantiì tv= proseuxv= kaiì tv= deh/sei meta\ eu)xaristi¿aj ta\ ai¹th/mata u(mw½n gnwrize/sqw pro\j to\n qeo/n.

          e.        1 pet 5:6,7 Tapeinw¯qhte ouÅn u(po\ th\n krataia\n xeiÍra tou= qeou=, iàna u(ma=j u(yw¯sv e)n kair%½, pa=san th\n me/rimnan u(mw½n e)piri¿yantej e)p' au)to/n, oÀti au)t%½ me/lei periì u(mw½n.

4.        Luke 10:42   e(no\j de/ e)stin xrei¿a: Maria\m ga\r th\n a)gaqh\n meri¿da e)cele/cato hÀtij ou)k a)faireqh/setai au)th=j.   in contrast to the many things Martha is worrying about.

Luke 11:13

Teach us to pray

1.             The story of Mary and Martha is inserted between Jesus’ telling the story of the Good Samaritan and a teaching on prayer.

2.             Jesus had been asked by a lawyer how he (the lawyer) could inherit eternal life.

3.             He was told to love God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love his neighbor as himself.

4.             To illustrate loving his neighbor, Jesus told h im of a Samaritan who risked his life and showed extraordinary concern and helped another person at great expense.

5.             In contrast Marther was  distracted and overburdened with much service 10.40 h( de\  Ma/rqa periespa=to periì pollh\n  diakoni¿an:

perispa/w; literally be pulled or dragged from all around; figuratively be or become distracted, be anxious (LU 10.40)

6.             So while our love for others will move us to do  a lot of service for them, our service can become a burden we were not meant to bear.

7.             Mary has chosen the good part, and then Luke immediatelhy follows with the disciples asking Jesus how to pray.

8.             But why would they ask Him how to pary?  What made them think theyjhad to be taught?

                a.             Isn’t payer just talking to God?

                b.             How would you know you needed lessons in prayer? If you  say that one can always use help in praying better, are there prayers that were  not answered the way you would have liked but would have been if you knew how to pray better?

c.             Are there things that happened to you that you assumed were God’s will because you had prayed about them, but maybe if you knew how to pray better, things would have turned out differently?

d.             How would the prayers of a person who had been taught how to pray differ from one who was not taught?

e.             If a person had never been taught how to pray, what effect would this have on their lives?

                                1.             Would God not answer them?

                                2.             Would things happen to them that/God did not intend for them?

                3.             Could they miss God’s best for them?

4.             Would there be things that they could have changed through prayer which will now not be changed, because they did not know the right way to pray?

f.              Will God just overlook a person’s  ignorance because they are sincere or didn’t know better?

g.             How oeuld you know you were taught enough or well or had learned your lessons well?

h.             How would  you evaiuate your own prayer life and do you need to be taught how to pray?

i/             Isn’t prayer just asking God for what we need and believing that He will grant it according  to His will?  What is there  to be taught?

j.              If prayer changes things, and things that wouldn’t have happened otherwise happen as a result of prayer, and if we need to be taught how to pray and have not been, that means that we might experience things in our life that God doens’t mean for to us to experience.  We might go through some things tht God doesn’t want us to go through.

9.             Unless we see some tangible evidence of prayers being answered, of things actually changing as a result of our prayers, how can we know if we don’t still need to be taught more about parayer?

10.          So what then does this passage teach us about prayer?