Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 10:38-42
Jerry Pfister has been carefully cataloging and compiling the most extensive and exhaustive history of the
Technically, our stained glass panels were used as “ballast” for the ship - ballast being the weighted cargo that was stored in the very depths of the cargo hold. Being on the bottom, ballast was the first cargo to be loaded aboard and the last cargo to be unloaded.
Does any one know what the purpose of “ballast” was and still is in the shipping industry?
Ballast keeps the ship weighted down in the water so that it is not so light as to be flipped over and capsized in the winds, the waves, and the storms you find on the ocean.
I doubt that there were very many of the crew and passengers on the ship that brought over our stained glass windows who had any idea that they were carrying Jesus as ballast.
There’s a lesson in this idea of carrying Jesus as ballast as we finish up our sermon series about hoisting our sails so that we can capture the wind of the Holy Spirit. It is the lesson that with Jesus as your ballast, with Jesus in the deepest cargo-hold of your heart, with Jesus as the first and the last parts of your day, you’ll stay upright. With Jesus as your ballast, you’ll stay faithful and you’ll stay on course to heaven even in the fiercest of life’s storms.
If that’s the kind of life you want, then this is the sermon you need.
Our bulletin cover reminds us of the words of Jesus when He came to the home of Martha and her sister, Mary. Jesus said to Martha that “there is need of only one thing” in this world.
After being saved, what was that “one thing” that Mary had and Martha needed?
What is the “one thing” that will keep us upright in the storms on life’s seas, the “one thing” that will keep us on course for our eternal “port-of-call,” and the “one thing” that needs to be deep in the “cargo-hold” of the believer’s heart?
I think that it just might be “ballast,” and here’s why.
Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 10:40-41
Many people capsize in life’s storms because they have been distracted by the worries and tasks of this life and have not focused on making sure they have the right “ballast” in the deepest “cargo-hold” of their lives.
There is a crusade of sorts going on in
Why is that?
It’s because you are “distracted” when you try to text and drive at the same time. In fact, they have found out that people who text while driving have a longer reaction time than those who have been moderately drinking alcohol, if you can believe that.
When I saw again that Jesus shared with Martha that she was being “worried and distracted by many things,” I was reminded of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus spoke of the danger to our faith when we are worried. In Matthew 6, we read how Jesus warned against being worried about what we wear, what we eat, and what may or may not happen tomorrow.
I believe that Jesus saw in Martha a woman who was being tossed back and forth on life’s seas and who needed ballast because she was about to tip over and capsize. She’s texting, putting her make up on, listening to her Ipod, and trying to navigate
Interestingly enough, the Greek word that Jesus used in speaking of “worry,” both to the crowd gathered for the Sermon on the Mount in
This is a truly colorful word because it does not mean, “worried” as we think of worry. It comes from a root word that literally means “to part through distraction.”
Now let’s dissect this definition for a moment because it gives of tremendous insight into why we, like Martha, need this one thing in the cargo-hold of our hearts – ballast.
The things of this world, the duties in the kitchens of our lives, dissect us. They part us and divide up our minds and hearts because the things of this world and the duties of our lives “distract” us. Jesus was saying to the crowd in
But it gets worse.
Did you see that Jesus said to Martha that she was “worried and distracted?”
Well, if the Greek word for “worried” really means “distracted,” then what does “distracted” really mean?
Once again, Jesus chose a very colorful and illustrative Greek word to pin Martha down. So get ready to be pinned down.
The Greek word translated here as “distracted” is the word perispao, and it literally means, “to drag all around.”
Ever come home to find that your dog has gotten into your trash and has dragged it all over the house?
Well, you get the idea.
When we are distracted, when our lives become segmented and parted here and there, then Satan can drag our hearts, minds, and bodies all over the map. When we’re distracted by what clothes to wear and what designer label to model, Satan drags us in one direction. When we’re distracted by what we should eat, we’re dragged in another direction. When we are distracted by tomorrow, the lists on the refrigerator, the meetings on the calendar, the bills arriving in the mail, the kids screaming at each other…we will be emotionally and spiritual dragged all over the Seven Seas.
And if we do not have ballast, we will capsize.
That’s why Jesus followed up His observation of Martha being distracted and being dragged from the pillar to post that day, “there is need of only one thing.” Martha needed “ballast.”
Luke 10:39
The one thing we need as “ballast” in our spiritual boats which will keep our souls upright in life’s storms is to sit and listen.
A little boy came home from his first day at kindergarten, and his mother asked him who sat next to him in the classroom. The boy said that his name was “Jimmy.” His mother asked, “Does he have a last name?” Her son replied, “His last name is ‘Sit Down.’” “Really?” his mother said in surprise. “That’s an unusual name. You sure that was his last name?” The youngster answered, “It must have been because that’s what the teacher called him all day long, ‘Johnny Sit Down.’”
Sounds like Johnny is a boy like most of us are as adults….we’re distracted, parted, dissected, and dragged all over the Seven Seas, and the Master keeps trying to get us to just sit down.
You see, Jesus knows that if He can get us to sit down at His feet, we won’t be dragged around by distractions. And people who sit down have a better chance of listening. And people who listen have a better chance of being mighty warriors for Christ in this end-times world.
Have you ever noticed that when you have to run around all day, when you’re distracted by this thing and that, and when you day is chopped up by one thing after another, you don’t sit still and your mind races. There’s no quietness in your spirit, there is not quietness in your head as long as you’re parted through distraction and being dragged from pillar to post.
The one thing…the one thing that Mary did that Martha did not was sit down at the Lord’s feet, and in sitting at His feet, was listening to the spiritual truths and the peace that Jesus was imparting to her.
That’s “ballast.” The first thing we should put into our heart in the morning and the last thing that we should find at the end of the day when all the cargo has been off loaded, is a little time at the feet of Jesus where we listen to His word.
Now some of you will tell me that you don’t have time. First of all, that’s not true. You’re just not making time. Second of all, on your way to work, you can sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His word if you turn to Christian radio instead of some other station. You can spend time in prayer and meditation on your way to work as you listen to Christian music and teaching on your radio, but the problem is that we are tuning to something else, aren’t we?
Listen, all Satan needs to do is distract you. For he knows that if he can distract you, he can drag you. And if he drags you, he knows that he can pull you away from the feet of Jesus and out of earshot of His holy and divine words.
Ballast – it’s so simple but we make it so hard. It is nothing more and it is nothing less than keeping your eyes upon Jesus, sitting at His feet, and listening to His words. It’s having Jesus as your ballast, just like the ship that brought our stained glass to us, for He alone can keep us upright in life’s storms. Sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His words will keep you from being capsized because it’s the ballast in the bottom of your boat that you put there at the beginning of day.
Matthew 6:33
When we have the right “ballast,” we will be able to do the right thing, whether in calm or stormy weather.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do all kinds of things in life…..
From riding horses, ….
To removing fleas from cats….
Jesus ended His message on not being distracted and worried about seeking first the
Just like last night and this morning, storms are going to come upon us as we sail the Seven Seas of this world. To keep from being capsized, you need to make sure that you have ballast in the bottom of your boat. Now you know what that ballast is – it’s sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. When you do this first thing, you’ll minimize the power of the distractions in this world to drag you around and drag you down and you’ll maximize the power to do the right thing in the eyes of God.
