There's a story in the Bible where Jesus is at the home of Mary and Martha. They're sisters. 

 

Martha is slaving away in the kitchen making the most awesome dinner she can imagine. This proves that Martha is Italian.

 

Meanwhile Mary, the sister, is in the living room actually visiting with Jesus. She's hanging on every word he says.

After a little while of this, Martha comes storming out of the kitchen, interrupts Jesus, and loses it.

Jesus' response is tender, but clear: "Martha, dear Martha, you're worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42)

Everybody in this room who feels the tiniest bit of responsibility and grown up maturity will most naturally side with Martha. She was the responsible one. That dinner's not going to make itself.

So on one level Martha is completely right when she comes out hurt and left out and all alone.
And yet... Jesus doesn't take Martha's side. He takes Mary's side.

Mary the one who isn't serving.
Mary the one who isn't working.
Mary the one who isn't responsible.
Mary the one who is just enjoying Jesus's company.

Jesus takes Mary's side. "She has chosen the best part..." he says. Jesus sides with Mary, and the fact that most of us would side with Martha is exactly why most people stand in urgent need of the very thing I'm going to talk about today.

My message today is part of a series. The series is called Resting in the Love of God. I said that most people stand in urgent need of what I'm going to talk about today.

My talk today is called: GRACE REHAB

And for a case study we're looking at a beautiful story in the Bible called the Book of Ruth.

Welcome to your very own Grace Rehab.

What I mean is that human nature is naturally broken; naturally messed up. We all come into this world with a bad allergy against the love of God. I do. You do. We all do.

You need an intervention.
You need a breakthrough.
You need rehab.

That's what church is supposed to be about. Church exists to help reconnect all the broken places in your heart back to love, back to wholeness, freedom, joy, connection, purpose, meaning, friendship, abundance, confidence, kindness, and all the good things God designed you for.

In this third chapter of Ruth, Naomi (the mother-in-law), who is a widow, will guide Ruth (the daughter-in-law), who is also a widow, into proposing marriage to Boaz, who is a single man. That's the story line.

But underneath the story line, the author of this book is putting on a clinic on a Grace Rehab. Point by point we get to see 5 areas of the human heart that get rehabbed, rehabilitated and healed, by a new encounter with God's love. Let's take a look.

"Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do."" (Ruth 3:1-4)

I know it sounds sketchy, but that's only because that's what happens when you have to think cross-culturally. There's stuff in every culture that's weird to stuff in other cultures.

It's clear from what happens that Naomi is explaining to Ruth how to suggest marriage to Boaz. For them, there's nothing weird here. There's nothing immoral or anything. It's just different than how we would do it. It felt really different for Ruth too.

But when you take a step back and just look at this paragraph, there's something deeper happening here. The deeper thing is that Naomi is transferring information to Ruth. And it's this transfer of information that has to happen every time anybody is going to have faith.

For example, last weekend was Easter. Here at Pathway, we communicated the way of salvation. That's the transfer of information. And a lot of people responded to that information and were saved.

Would you like to know how many told us they were saved? Over the course of 7 services, the number of people who told us that they heard and responded to that gospel was... 254 people! We're so excited for every single one... and the stories we've been hearing are awesome.

Faith begins when information is transferred and that's what Naomi does for Ruth. The technical word for this information is "revelation." This is information she couldn't have figured out on her own.

She didn't know the marriage customs of Israel. She wasn't from Israel. So Naomi had to tell her. Naomi had to reveal it to her.

It's the same with all of us. Before faith can begin, revelation must come first. You can't believe in what you don't know.

"How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14)

One person has to somehow bring the truth, the revelation, the promises, the good news of God to another person.

Grace rehabs your understanding. 

 

For you to really live in the grace of God you have to think different thoughts about God. Martha had one set of thoughts about God. Mary had a different set.

 

When I look back at the thoughts about God that I inherited from my church, I could probably sum them up this way:

God loves you, kind of.
He is very very holy and I am not.
God is a judge, and he is angry.
Even though the Bible says I have been forgiven, don't count on it.
Yes, Grace is amazing, but Bill you've probably already been disqualified.

I think Martha had the same set of thoughts about God. I better work. I better produce. I better serve. I better sweat. I better qualify myself. I don't dare just go and enjoy the presence of Jesus.

People talk about the grace of God and the love of God, but they don't mean it. They don't get it. It's counterintuitive. There is this nasty religious instinct that takes over. And whenever that happens, Christianity becomes a very long, very burdensome list of chores. In fact, the list is so long you'll never be done with it.

And so along comes Jesus to do absolutely everything he possibly can do to rehab everybody's understanding of God.

He announces, Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
He promises, My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
He says, The truth will set you free.
He says, Let not your heart be troubled.
He declares, Whoever believes in me will never perish but will have everlasting life.

To all the Marthas in the room, none of this computes.

What if we've been living with a faulty understanding of God? What if He's better than we've imagined? What if grace is more lavish, more unconditional, more free, more permanent, more abundant than we've dared to believe?

What if all the price for all the grace has already been paid in full by Jesus so that there's nothing left for you to do but to believe and receive and enjoy and take a rest?

What if I told you that the salvation many of you received last week is permanent and you couldn't lose it if you tried?

What if God is a really awesome, loving, fun dad, and you've just never been told?

What if God is for you, passionately, permanently, and persistently. There for you. With you. Loving you. Blessing you.

What if God gets you and he likes your jokes?

What if the God of the angels enjoys your company and looks forward to every minute you hang out with him?

What if Jesus would rather hang out with you and have some friendship time talking about whatever... rather than send you off to the kitchen to make a dinner he could make himself with a snap of his fingers?

Jesus came to align your thoughts about God with who God really is.

Jesus wrote a Bible to align your thoughts and feelings about God with who God really is.

Jesus created the church to align your instincts and whole psychology around God with who God actually is in reality.

That's my job. That's our job.

That's where grace rehab begins - with a fresh, Bible-taught revelation of what God is really like.

 

Grace rehabs your understanding.