AVAILABILITY
[p. 411] AVAILABILITY
In coming into a locality for the first time, the question comes up in one’s mind as to the ear that there may be for divine things. This, of course, is coupled with the exercise that divine things may be rightly presented for, if one is to serve aright, there must be in some sense a representation of Christ; this gospel presents Christ in the attractiveness of His ministry. Throughout the record which Luke gives, there is an avoidance of any unnecessary irritating elements, any features in the presentation of the truth that would arouse prejudice. So the Lord is presented in His first public ministry as turning to the Scriptures and then, in His comments, it is stated of Him that gracious words proceeded from His mouth. He reserved the truth for later application, but He began His ministry with gracious words and He says, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”, Luke 4: 21. He raised no question, at that time, as to how they heard but He does raise this question later on in His ministry; and so, beloved brethren, the thought comes into one’s mind in entering a locality as to how things that one may have to say are heard, because however much may be presented, if any fruit is to be borne, things have to be heard aright.
The Lord indeed gives us a lead in this as in all else. In Spirit He said “Mine ears hast thou opened”, Psalm 40: 6. Coming into manhood as He is presented in this gospel, He is in the attitude of hearing. We read of Him at twelve years ‘hearing’ in the temple, in keeping with the lead which He would give us according to the word which I have quoted, in which He says, “Mine ears hast thou opened”. So again He says, in beautiful dependence on God as a Man here — “He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” — that is as the learner or disciple (Isaiah 50: 4); wonderful expression of dependence! It was not only that He had become Man and had in a general way taken man’s place toward God, for man should hear, but there was the daily wakening and opening; “The Lord God hath opened mine ear”, He says. So the Lord thus gives us a lead as to hearing, as in all else. We have to learn everything from Him, and not the least is how to hear the things of God.
Now I have selected this passage because it speaks of one who had learned to listen to Christ; Mary’s ear was available to Christ, and in using the word, one is reminded of the availability of persons in Luke. From the outset he presents us with person after person who is available to God and to Christ. Nothing in a way is more important than that one should hold himself as available to God. We see in chapter 1 how Zacharias and Elizabeth were available — he was serving in the order of his course as a priest, and she was of the daughters of Aaron, and they were both righteous and blameless before the Lord. They were thus fit vessels to be used for the purpose of God. They were available, but what we are to be reminded of is that, whilst there may be in a general way availability to God, there may also be defects in detail, and Luke does not pass over these. Zacharias had a serious defect in detail, notwithstanding his general availability; he was defective in faith in the angel’s announcement, and he suffered the penalty of a considerable time of silence, until the time came about when the word of the Lord, by the angel, was fulfilled. It was not a very serious penalty, but it was in a way serious to be silenced. In the ways of God, some of us have to become silent, not that we are not perhaps priests or generally righteous but because we are defective in faith in regard to the point immediately on hand, immediately pressed. He was defective in faith and was not prepared for the immediate heavenly message and so he suffers silence — a serious matter surely, but not irremediable. I mention it because we have to be, according to Luke, on the look out for detail in the history of our souls and see that we are ready for the immediate word of God, whatever that may be. Zacharias missed the word for the moment, and so was silenced, but as his mouth was opened, beloved, he utters beautifully the mind of God,
[p. 413] not only in regard of his own son, John, but in regard to Christ — the Dayspring from on high.
You have set against Zacharias, his wife, Elizabeth, and Mary, her cousin. What is said about Mary is “Blessed is she that believed”, Luke 1: 45. She believed, she was open to the immediate communication for the moment. She was wonderfully favoured and she was ready for the immediate communication from the Lord, and the comment of the Spirit through Elizabeth is “Blessed is she that believed”. It is beautiful, beloved, to be wholly available that there may be faith. There is no possibility of a work of God in men’s souls apart from faith; there is no possibility of any of us making any headway spiritually apart from faith, so the beautiful comment of the Spirit in regard to Mary the mother of the Lord is “Blessed is she that believed”, and so as you proceed in this narrative you find the shepherds are available. There was no room for the Lord in the inn in Bethlehem; no, beloved, the inn was not available: the manger was, and then the shepherds were occupied with what was legitimate, what was according to God, and they were available and as available they got the light. “Unto you” — how precious, beloved, as you are available and ready for a divine communication, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour”. Think what that must have been to the shepherds and how they set out for Bethlehem to see the Babe, and they saw the Babe. Then as He is brought into the temple by His parents, Simeon is available in the temple. He is in accord with the moment; you see as we travel with God in the histories of our souls, we are always in accord with the moment, we are not behind what God is doing, we are abreast of God, so to speak. And so Simeon, it says, came into the temple by the Spirit. Had he come in under any other influence at that time he would have missed this — he would not have been available. It needed a spiritual man in the temple to take that Babe. He had come, as it were, specially into the temple. None of the high priestly family of Jerusalem at that moment was capable of receiving the precious Babe that came into the temple, but Simeon came in truly a priest. He was [p. 414] available, beloved. He came by the Spirit into the temple. You see he was in accord with the movements of God and as he came into the temple of God he had the great honour of receiving the Son of God, receiving Him into his arms. It was a wonderful moment for Simeon. You see the advantage of being available, and so Anna came in the same hour. She was also in keeping with the divine movements. She was not behind and she was available to God at that moment, and it says that she “spake of him”; she had been occupied with Him beforehand, and she spoke of Him to all those that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And so as you proceed in this book, Peter’s boat is available to Christ. If Peter had resented and refused the Lord’s request that He should have the use of his boat then Peter would have been at a great disadvantage. The boat was available and through the availability of the boat, Peter himself became available to Christ, so that it is said of Peter and his partners, James and John, that they left all and followed Jesus. The Lord had said, “Henceforth thou shalt catch men”, and they left all and followed Jesus. I want you to notice, beloved, how the initial idea of following the Lord in Luke’s gospel is the idea that marks the dispensation — that is, one has to leave all, even the draught of fishes and the boats and the partnership. All is left behind to follow Jesus.
In that same chapter He calls Levi sitting at a tax-gatherer’s office; he left all. I do not know how much money may have been on the desk. He left all. There must be a complete break — politically, religiously, and otherwise, if we are to fall into line with this wonderful movement of God in Christ. There must be a complete break and leaving of all that we have been attached to. They left all and followed Him. Ah, look what they came into. They are now available to Christ; in the next chapter, He prays a whole night and then He appoints all these men, the apostles. See what they become, the authoritative representatives of Christ in this world. He appointed them after a whole night of prayer.
I have referred to that because it leads up to this passage in which you see Mary of Bethany; the ear and the heart [p. 415] of Mary are available to the Lord, and so, as I said, if one comes into a locality, one of the most important of questions that comes up in one’s mind is what ear there is It enters into what I may call ‘local furnishings’, of which chapters 10 and 11 of Luke deal. You will observe that in the earlier part of chapter 10 the Lord had sent out seventy, two by two, into every city and place to which He was about to come. He was about to come to one city after another, and one place after another, but ere coming or visiting these places, He sent seventy out, thirty-five pairs of men representative of Himself, into these cities; so that as He came into any of these cities or places, He would look for results of the previous ministry. Has the previous ministry satisfied you? Are you content with what you have got or are you prepared for more? He comes into a certain village as we have here and a certain woman received Him into her house; her house is available. We may thank God for that, but your house is not so important to the Lord as your ear. If one had all the money of a millionaire, one’s money would not be as valuable to Christ as one’s ear.
What He seeks is one’s ear, and so whilst He entered into the house of Martha, He found as He entered it that she did not hear. Her ear was not available to Him, but over against her is her sister, Mary, and it says she sat at His feet and was listening to His word. I can understand Mary considering what may have come to her during the visit of two of these seventy men, if indeed they came to Bethany. I suppose the thought is that Bethany is a representative village and I can understand how Mary would go over the things that she heard from these two, precious things, doubtless; they could have told her much about Christ, but now He has come Himself. He has come Himself, beloved. At the present time, the Lord Jesus is speaking to His people; it is what marks the dispensation, as the apostle, the writer of the Hebrews says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son”. The Son is the speaker and He continues to speak to us — it is a wonderful time, the present time.
[p. 416] I am now seeking to exercise our hearts, not simply to hear ministry but to hear Christ, because if the voice of Christ is not recognisable, then it is not ministry from Christ. It is a question of hearing what He has to say. Peter says, “Going he preached”. See the immense link backward. He went and preached to the spirits now in prison which were sometime disobedient in the days of Noah. Coming He has preached. He has come to us gentiles. He has preached the glad tidings of peace to those that are afar off and those that are nigh. It is the ministry of Christ and it is a question of how you hear — whether you are looking for His voice or whether you are simply occupied with some person or persons whom He may be using. The Corinthians were occupied with the ministers — they were setting one over against another, whereas a truly exercised ear is listening for Christ.
And so, as I said, Mary was sitting down; she was restful, she sat at His feet and was listening to what He was saying — listening to His word. And oh, what a fountain there is, beloved, of divine thoughts in the heart of Christ! He has many mouths through which He speaks now, but He speaks. The ministry is His. The apostle Paul spoke of himself — and others — as new covenant ministers, that means that he was employed by Christ. He was taken into the service, but the ministry was Christ’s — the ministry is Christ’s. It is a question of disclosure of what is in His mind. She was listening to His word.
Well, now, in closing I do not enlarge on what He said to Martha, but I would just remind you of another word later in this gospel, in chapter 19, where the Lord has been speaking to Zacchaeus, pointing out that He was a son of Abraham, and it says, “As they were listening to these things, he added and spake a parable”. There you have another touch — that is, if there is continuity of attention to Christ, He will add. How much there is before us, and what I have in mind is the availability of our ears, how we hear. And then the ministry will be added to as hearing and interest as to what the Lord is saying at the present time to the assembly are sustained. May God bless the thoughts to us.