The microwave oven for homes was first sold in America in 1952, and it's changed our lives so much that sociologists call us the "microwave society."

I'm old enough to remember when popping popcorn meant getting out the popper, putting in the oil, stirring in the kernels, and waiting five or ten minutes. Then the world discovered Jiffy-Pop, popcorn and oil inside the foil, ready to shake over a stove. When's the last time you saw some Jiffy-Pop? Do you even know what I'm talking about?

Today popcorn comes in microwave bags. And we get impatient that it takes two minutes to cook.

This morning I bring you this thesis: the greatest threat to our families and relationships today is the microwave. Not in our kitchen—in our hearts.

Restaurants now have entire rooms for cell-phone users, so people can eat and work and thus save time.

"Sink Eaters Anonymous" is an actual support group for people who are so busy they eat their meals standing over the kitchen sink.

John P. Robinson, director of the Americans' Use of Time project at the University of Maryland, says that the value of time has clearly surpassed the value of money in our society. Tell us something we don't know.

As we begin looking at relationships today from a biblical perspective, let's begin with their place in priorities. What does our culture value today? Doing more, faster, better, so we can have more and be more. But Jesus disagrees. According to him, our cultural values are exactly backwards. And unless we get our priorities right, our relationships will forever be wrong.

So, what should we value most today? Let's ask Jesus.