A Labor Shortage

TITLE: A LABOR SHORTAGE

SCRIPTURE: ST. MATTHEW 9:35-38 / ST. LUKE 10:1-4

There has been a lot of talk recently about a current labor shortage, as many businesses find themselves short-staffed and unable to find or keep employees. I will defer to those with more expertise in the economic field to offer explanations why this is happening and what can be done to solve it. We have seen this play out in our own city of Ardmore. Businesses and Restaurants have closed not because of a lack of business but because of a lack of staffing.

• Lack of those that want to work

• Or perhaps it is a lack of those that want to work for such a low minimum wage

• Perhaps it is people refusing to work for low wages while the CEO eats Lobster and vacations in Morocco and sends a box of Pizza to thank employees for their hard work

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world. When we consider our minimum wage for workers we are seriously lacking –

• Argentina - $12.85

• Australia - $17.47

• Belgium - $14.58

• France - $13.33

• Germany - $14.68

• Iceland - $17.45

• New Zealand - $16.10

• United Kingdom - $15.67

• United States - $7.25

I don’t want to tarry there too long. I want to discuss a related spiritual phenomenon that existed for a long time and whose solution is one that I think we can all grasp and work towards. I want us to consider a spiritual labor shortage which is one that was pointed out by Jesus and continues to this day – not enough laborers to minister to the needs found within our world. We find Jesus discussing this in the text that has been read from Matthew and Luke.

In these passages we see Jesus looking at the world in which he was ministering and seeing much spiritual need; people were like sheep that find themselves wandering aimlessly and into dangerous situations when there is no shepherd to guide and care for them. Notice that Jesus is not angry with the crowds and does not complain about them – which he could have since their condition arose due to their rejection of God as their shepherd.

Instead, Jesus has compassion upon them, yearning for them to be led back to the fold. That compassion is what prompts his words about a plentiful harvest but few laborers.

• Just like the business sector - as great demand but limited supply leads to things being on backorder, so, too, fewer laborers in the fields of spiritual harvest means less people coming under the care and guidance of the shepherd

• But whereas a delayed delivery or a long wait at a restaurant leads to temporal frustration and inconvenience, however, the lack of workers to help those who need to know and be led by the shepherd Jesus, has not temporal, but eternal consequences and causes significant loss in the present age

I don’t think the “market conditions” Jesus noted have changed much in the past 2,000 years. Great crowds of people continue to walk around like sheep without a shepherd. We see this reality around us everyday.

• We pass crowds at the supermarket

• We pass multiple families at the restaurant

• We see them walking around in our neighborhoods

• We encounter them while shopping around town

Rather than being discouraged by that reality, we should see it as an indication that the “HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL” in that many people are longing for guidance and help in this world – especially in these confusing times. But at the same time, there also continues to be a labor shortage when it comes to people seeking to lead these people back to the shepherd.

There are all sorts of things to distract us from looking to God and living out His calling upon us in this world. While not discussed as much as the labor shortage in the country, there is also a volunteer shortage seen in churches since the pandemic. Churches have always had trouble finding people to serve, but like so many other things, it seems to have been accelerated by the pandemic.

• Many faithful people are pulling back from serving out of health challenges

• Many others falling out of the habit of serving or having an easy reason to opt out

o I am already too busy

o I just don’t have the time

o I am doing too much now

It is not just through working or volunteering at a church or a ministry that we participate in this harvest of helping people to meet the shepherd. There are multiple opportunities in our daily interactions in which we can point to Jesus and show others how his care and guidance is what we need -- how he is THE GOOD SHEPHERD.