In the blockbuster movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby are three best friends who do everything together . . . and I mean everything. They even take their yearly vacations together. In the movie, the boys are suffering through their own personal versions of a mid-life crisis, and the need to get away from it all and sort out their lives. Stern and Kirby have found the perfect way both to solve their problems and soothe their souls: take Crystal on a "great outdoors" vacation to become a cowboy on an actual cattle drive! But life on the trail, however temporary, isn't always what they expected, and the guys find themselves in a number of hysterical, and occasionally dangerous, situations. Jack Palance won an Academy Award for his role as a crusty old cowboy named Curly. While the movie is more than fifteen years old, there is one scene which was so memorable to me that it reminds me of our New Testament text.

Curly, in a private conversation with Mitch who was played by Billy Crystal, says, "You want to know the secret of life?" He holds up his index finger and says, "One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and everything else don’t mean nothing."

Billy Crystal responds, "That’s great . . . but what’s the one thing?"

Curly replies, "That’s what you’ve got to figure out."

The movie unfolds with the three men trying to figure out their secret of life: that one thing which rises above all else. We don’t have to go out west and drive cattle across the open range, gorges, canyons, and rivers to unearth that one good thing for us. Jesus knew the importance of priorities; that is the focus of our passage

This story is found only in Luke. All morning long there had been a bustle of excitement in the home in Bethany; Jesus was coming for dinner. Martha was so excited. Since daybreak she had been sweeping, scrubbing, dusting, checking recipes, darting in and out of the kitchen, frantically preparing the food and putting the place in order for this special occasion.

Every moment now was precious. Time’s a-wasting. So much to do. So many details to cover. Then, Jesus arrived, and look what happened. Martha welcomed him at the door but then returned to her duties while Mary whisked in to take over as hostess. She received Jesus and the disciples warmly and ushered them into the living room. There was a certain urgency about the moment. The Master was on His way to Jerusalem and the cross. He was on his way to die. . . He began to talk to His friends. He had so much to tell them, so much to teach them… and so little time.

They listened attentively, especially Mary. Mary had positioned herself at the feet of Jesus, and she was drinking in His every word. How good to have Him there! How good to hear Him again! How good it was just to be in His presence!

Meanwhile, Martha was out in the kitchen, slaving away: preparing the meal, polishing the silverware, cutting up the fruits and vegetables, checking the last minute details, doing the one hundred and one things which in her super-efficient mind needed to be done.

But here was the problem. All the while Martha was working feverishly, she was seething inside! Her indignation mounted. She got more and more aggravated, more and more frustrated. She felt more and more put upon, more and more stressed out. "Where is Mary? Why isn’t she in here helping me? Who does she think she is… sitting in there with our guests… and leaving all the dirty work to me? Surely, Jesus can see the injustice of this situation," Martha reasoned.

Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, her resentment erupted… and she burst out of the kitchen… into the living room, and made a scene! Martha cried: "Look at this Lord. I’m having to do all the work here. Don’t you care that my sister Mary has left me to serve alone? It’s time you reprimanded her. Tell her to get out here in the kitchen and help me!" Martha felt that Jesus was the key to get Mary to help her. Martha had both inward anxiety and outward agitation.

But Jesus said to her. "Martha, Martha, don’t be so worried and troubled about so many things. Relax. You are focusing on so many things, but really, only one thing is needful. There is really only one good thing. Mary has chosen the good thing which shall not be taken from her."

The story is famous, even though the event is only mentioned with these five verses. We tend to focus our remembrances on being either "Marys" or "Marthas," but both types of persons are needed. Martha is obviously a detailed planner. She has planned this event to the nth degree. She has covered every detail. She has worked her fingers to the bone in her super-efficient way. Yet, here in the story, Jesus rebuked Martha. It’s a gentle rebuke, but nevertheless He did speak words that compared Martha unfavorably with her less practical sister Mary… and the question that explodes out of this story is "Why?"

Not for a moment should we imagine that Jesus was unappreciative of Martha’s intense desire for a job well done. Not for a moment should we imagine that Jesus thinks people like Mary who could be described as artistic, poetic philosophers are better than detailed, meticulous planners.

To Martha, Jesus says, "Only a few things are necessary, really only one good thing is important." What is the one good thing? Martha was frantically making sure everything was just right to receive the word from Jesus. Her focus had shifted from the quality of relationship with Jesus to the activity surrounding her time with Christ. Jesus seemed to say to Martha that only one dish was really necessary for the meal instead of the "many" about which she was so anxious. The best dish on the table was fellowship with Jesus.

Getting the church ready for worship is not as important as worship itself. Spending time by attending meetings at church is not as important as working on our personal time with Christ. Being busy doing the Lord’s work isn’t as important as our relationship with God. Checking off the Ten Commandments is not as important as nurturing our relationship with Jesus.

All these activities I have mentioned are important: preparing the church for worship, church meetings, being active in the Lord’s service and keeping the Ten Commandments. But none can replace the most important: the one good thing is a person’s relationship with Jesus.

Here’s a question worth pondering: Is it possible to lose one’s soul in a program of highly useful activity? Is it feasible to be so active doing good things that a person could lose their focus? Our service needs to be in constant sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening. Without a relationship with Jesus, the activity is in vain. Losing sight of the main thing dampens the other activity.

As a student at the University of Georgia, I lived with three smart guys. They made Honor Roll every quarter. While they were out studying, I was out too: out playing ball, out on a date, out with friends. We all graduated: they graduated Summa Cum Laude; I also graduated . . . but without honors. Had I devoted the time to the books as my roommates, my grades certainly would have been much better. I had a good time in college, and majored not only in public relations but also in personal relationships. Because I did not study as much as my roomies, I did not learn as much either. I lost my focus of why I went to college in the first place.

So I went to seminary. Academically, I started with a bang. By the second semester of my second year, I was President of my Dorm Council; a member of Student Government; intramural sports coach and participant; member of the Christian Education Council; on two ASSIST teams with the Baptist Association where I was a Minister of Music/Youth; and that didn’t even include my social life. Guess who made a C in Greek that semester? Me, because I failed to remember the one good thing for which I had gone to seminary.

Twelve years later, I began doctoral work. I was able to remain focused throughout my three years of study- perhaps because of maturity, subject matter, practicality, who knows. The wealth of knowledge gained resulted from keeping the main thing the main thing. Working full-time, being involved in other community activities, and most importantly being a husband and father did not interfere with my goal of keeping focused. My grade point average at graduation was a 3.9 based on a 4.0 scale. Regarding my academics, I finally focused on keeping the one good thing, the main thing.

In our text, Martha was distracted. She was not giving really effective service. She was anxious and troubled about many things. She was busy preparing an elaborate meal–many dishes–when only a few were needed; really one would have been ample. As such, she wasted much of her time giving what was unneeded and unnecessary. She made the wrong choice. At least for the moment, she had lost the word of Christ and focused on getting ready to receive it. All her activity led her to lose the true reason for her work.

In our text today, there is only one thing which is ultimately needful; the other things are valuable only because the one thing is so important. That one thing is the word of the Lord. The most important thing in our lives as Christians should be our relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the stackpole around which everything else in our lives should revolve. Our relationship with Christ should be the prism through which all our activity is seen.

Unless there is God overarching and undergirding a person’s life, creating good and destroying evil, working out God’s purpose, our human life has not fulfilled God’s intention, and the so-called achievements of art, science, and thought, as well as of social and economic planning, merely serve to accentuate its unfulfillment. If God is always at work in the universe, then our relationship with God should be the one good thing. That is the secret of our life as a Christian.

Years ago, kudzu was introduced to this country as a possible source of food for livestock and as an erosion control agent. Since then, this "blessing" has become more of a "curse." Kudzu does help control erosion on sloping land. Growing swiftly, however, its vines begin to envelope trees, wrapping and entwining them. Soon the tree is struggling to survive. Kudzu’s large leaves cut off sunlight from the tree, keeping photosynthesis from taking place. Nutrients normally used by the tree are taken up by the vine. Finally, the tree succumbs to this mounting pressure, and it dies. The process continues until entire sections of forests are covered and destroyed.

What does this have to do with today’s sermon? Kudzu was never intended to destroy anything; instead it was intended to be helpful. Over time, the kudzu takes over, almost having a life of its own, and eventually the one good thing is forgotten. Over time, trees are covered and killed.

The vines of activity place demands on our time and force us to make decisions between the "better" and the "best." This is true, particularly in the area of service in and through God’s church. There are many "good" things to which we can devote our lives, but the Lord expects us to choose the "best." John 15:5 records Jesus as saying, "I am the vine and you are the branches." Like out-of-control kudzu, we can allow our level of activity to become more important than our personal relationship with the True Vine. We cannot afford to allow the "kudzu" of busi-ness and activity to affect our service to God.

As with other relationships, Christians need opportunities to nurture that relationship with Christ. Staying in the "Sonlight" can keep the growth process going. Growth comes by nurturing our relationship with the living Christ. If activity becomes our focus, then we allow the kudzu to take over.

For us, what is the one good thing? Have you and I allowed other opportunities and activities to crowd out the most important things in our lives? Have we become enamored with preparing so many heavenly treats that we have forgotten about the main course? When have you and I lost sight of the most important thing in our life, our relationship with God? If focus on the one good thing has been lost, today is the day to make that change. The longer we wait, the faster the kudzu will grow, ultimately stifling our relationship with the True Vine. Let’s make our relationship with God the most important thing in our life. Let’s find the secret of life, that one good thing. Join me in making Jesus your number one priority.