Good Shepherd sermon. July 20, 2025. Luke 10: 38 – 42
“At the Feet of Jesus”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As I read Luke’s gospel text early in the week, my eyes closed a bit, visualizing Martha kind of scurrying around the house being attentive as she served Jesus. Mary, on the other hand, was also serving Jesus by intently listening to seemingly every word, and pondering them in her heart. (My words.)
Mary’s choice of listening – might I say being contemplative- brought my mind back to 12 Noon on many a Friday at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Fridays on campus was analogous to a huge exhaling “sigh,” as the academic week had come to end the day before. This time of meditative prayer was the perfect ending to a possible stressful week filled with classes, studying, writing papers, and definitely more studying.
Oftentimes I did not want those 30–45-minute reflective, prayerful times to end as, at the risk of being corny, it was like we were at the feet of Jesus. But end they did.
What invariably happened as I walked out of the small, rather dark chapel into the brightness of the day, was a feeling of more purpose, if you will. Was my spirit rejuvenated, or, perhaps there was more clarity to “do” what God had in store for me, whatever that might look like?
Mary’s choice to sit at the feet of Jesus had me think of a song by Contemporary Christian singing group, Casting Crowns, from an album released some fifteen years ago. The song is simply entitled, “At Your Feet.” Here’s a taste of some of the lyrics:
Here at Your feet
I lay my past down, my wanderings,
All my mistakes down and I am free.
Here at Your feet
I lay this day down, not in my strength
But in Yours I’ve found all I need.
You’re all I need Jesus,
Jesus, at Your feet
Oh, to dwell and never leave.
Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
There is nowhere else for me
There is nowhere else for me
Here at Your feet
I lay my future down,
All of my dreams
I give to You now and I find peace.
In our hurry up world, where time seems to be an enemy rather than a friend, when is it that we take time to be at the feet of Jesus? I mean, can there be a better place to be than at the feet of God Almighty?
So, there I sat. With soft piano music and ocean waves in the background, I put my computer down and sat at the feet of Jesus. I would imagine that somewhere in our prayers this past week, we gave a burden or two of ours to God. You know, prayers for those suffering from one malady or another, like praying for a friend or loved one for God to intervene with either God’s healing touch, or perhaps the precious touch of peace.
It was “Noon on Fridays” for me as I sat at the feet of
God-in- the-flesh.
But there’s more to today’s brief passage, isn’t there? There’s Martha’s wondering aloud to Jesus about her serving yet her sister was seemingly doing nothing. You know…just sitting.
So I began to wonder.
What if we, as a congregation at Good Shepherd, would intentionally sit at the feet of Jesus every day? What if there was a total concentration of asking God to reveal his will for this church to even be a more vibrant, brighter element in the lives of more people in Dayton?
This may sound a bit different, but what if, at Noon every day, we would stop what we’re doing and sit at Christ’s feet for a few, uninterrupted minutes, asking him, “What is it, Lord, that we, as a congregation can do, to better serve you? What can I do to play a more integral role in the life of this body of Christ?”
That’s a pretty bold request, isn’t it? Maybe. If we come to church each Sunday for a spiritual refueling for the week ahead, okay…I get it. But have we asked God specifically to help us better discern his will for us? I mean, we pray for God’s will to be done every time we pray The Lord’s Prayer, don’t we?
“Thy will be done.”
I think that at this particular time in the life of Good Shepherd, it is my prayer that we – as one body – ask for God’s direction. Then, as answers become more apparent, we can begin to enact God’s will to be done.
You say you’re too young, or you’re dealing with some of age’s harsher dealings and don’t have the strength or energy anymore. You know, “My get-up-and-go…got up and went!” As long as we have the breath God breathed into us, I do not believe for a nano-second that God is done with you.
Or, maybe you feel you’re too young and don’t quite fit in with the “adults” yet. Well, please don’t tell Finlee that, as she respectfully and lovingly bows at the waist before she approaches the altar to light the candles. Candles that reflect and remind us of the Light that God freely gave us in Jesus. As I said, we are never too old, or never too young.
I don’t mean to discount Martha’s servant heart today, but I felt the Spirit move me to encourage each of us to sit at God’s feet asking for direction and to have the security in knowing that we are a part of God’s Holy plan for this church. And, this is especially important as we are in need of a full-time pastor to help guide.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to what he may have to say, is one of the more important things we can “do,” before we begin to “do” God’s will.
Be prepared to hear, or feel – be touched by the power of the love of Christ. Can you imagine what it will feel like when you absorb waves of the un-earnable, unbidden, even unnoticed gifts of grace that have carried you to the place where you sit?
Isaiah 43 says,
“Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
You know, for sure, Martha had the right idea to serve, but for today, and for our purposes at Good Shepherd, may we take on Mary’s attitude and begin to intentionally sit at the feet of Jesus.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.