Sermon Tone Analysis

An Age of Distraction

We live in an age of distraction.

How many of you have smartphones?

How many of you have sent or received a notification already?

Texting/Driving Stats

General Cell Phone Statistics

Note: These are the most recent statistics available

The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.

1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.

1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.

Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.

Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds.

Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field.Texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.Of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity.94% of drivers support a ban on texting while driving.74% of drivers support a ban on hand-held cell phone use.

Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds.

Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field.Texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.Of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity.94% of drivers support a ban on texting while driving.74% of drivers support a ban on hand-held cell phone use.

Teen Driver Cell Phone Statistics

11 teens die every day as a result of texting while driving.

According to a AAA poll, 94% of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway.

21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones.

Teen drivers are 4x more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near-crashes when talking or texting on a cell phone.

A teen driver with only one additional passenger doubles the risk of getting into a fatal car accident.

With two or more passengers, they are 5x as likely.

Now, my purpose here is not to give a lesson on roadway saftey.

But to illustrate the point that we live in a particularly distracted age.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

What makes something a distraction?

Distractions pull our attention away from where it should be.

In the case of driving and texting, the phone is pulling our attention away from the very serious responsibility of driving.

As these statistics show, this distraction has serious and even fatal consequences.

What is it about that phone?

Why are we so easily distracted?

Why do we take such risks?

Overconfidence in our own ability

Lack of awareness of the danger

Boredom with our primary task

Lack of self-control - instant gratification

Impatience

Fear of man

Fear of missed opportunity

Carelessness/Complacency

It is not the phone itself that distracts us, but our own pride, pleasure, complacency and misplaced priorities.

Just as these things lead to distracted driving, they also lead us to distracted devotion.

What are your distractions?

What makes something a “distraction”?

Preliminary Comments

We are a distracted people

Why is distraction bad?

Keeps you from what is really important

With that in mind, Let's turn to the book of Luke, chapter 10.

We will read from verses 38-42.

Read the text

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village.

And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

40 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 then to help me.”

41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary.

Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Only One Thing is Necessary?

Jesus says here that only one thing is necessary.

What do you think is necessary?

What is the One thing?

Jesus does not actually state what the one thing is.

He just says that Mary has chosen it - and that it wont' be taken away from her.

4 The Context

In order to understand what Jesus is getting at, it is especially important that we understand the context of this story.

vs 38 38 Now as they went on their way

Where were they going?

9:51 -

Jesus entered a village

What village is this?

one of the Villages the 72 had visited

Bethany where Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived - John 11.

And a woman named Martha

This appears to the be same Martha that is mentioned in the book of John whose brother Lazarus was raised from the dead.

Probably single or a widow

Probably the oldest sibling - she is always named first.

welcomed him into her house.

This story occurs at her home.

So Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem, preaching in many small towns and villages, he comes to this small village where Martha welcomes him and in verse 39, we see a contrast made between Martha and her sister Mary.

Let's look at this contrast in Verse 39 - 40 - The Contrast

5 The Contrast

And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet

This was no place for a woman

The Rabbi's never would have let this happen

let the Torah be burned rather than handed over to a woman

This is astonishing

A woman sitting among the disciples

Ignoring her cultural obligation of hospitality

Sitting in the front, at his feet, right next to him.

By Doing this, she is choosing to endure the scowls of the other listeners and the disapproval of her own sister

For her to choose to do this goes beyond mere preference, laziness, etc.

There was something more important going on than social acceptability.

you see this attitude among those who Jesus honored

Zaccheus in a tree

the adulteress who washed Jesus feet with her tears

The sinner who beat his chest and begged to be forgiven

There is a humble desperation that rightly grasps the importance of Jesus words.

listened to his teaching - Literally "His word"