Labourers, Wanted!

Our Scripture text is Matthew 9:35-38 (Living Bible)

35 Jesus traveled around through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness. 36 And what pity he felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great, and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd.

37 “The harvest is so great, and the workers are so few,” he told his disciples. 38 “So pray to the one in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for his harvest fields.”

JESUS – Jesus travelled in and around cities and villages not because he was sightseeing. He knew every corner of every place because He created them. Jesus travelled to meet urgent and specific needs both tangible and intangible, immediate and long term, temporary and eternal, spiritual and physical; teaching in the Jewish synagogues, and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness.

Realize that many people are in these situations. They need to hear that Jesus is the good news for them. They need to be taught that they can lean on Jesus. They need to receive the healing of Jesus! Part of that healing is the empowerment of the Spirit! Jesus prompted his disciples to do something about it; to meet these needs!

John was a firefighter caught in rubble 20 meters below the World Trade Centre in the 9/11 attack. He was part of a rescue team but ended up being rescued when the part of the building he was on collapsed, and he waited for an agonizing 24 hours to be rescued. During that ordeal, he fought hard to keep himself alive and the hope to be reunited with his wife Donna and 5 children. Meanwhile, his wife and family were waiting for every inch of hope that John could still be alive. Donna kept saying, "please tell me that John is still alive. Please don't tell me otherwise." That's what people need to hear. They need to hear that there is still hope for them. That their situation can get better and that it is not the end of the road.

People need to hear that God is bigger than their troubles; that God is mightier than their enemies; that God can protect them from their enemies; that God can silence the noise around them; that God can give them peace; can give them songs of deliverance; that God can slay giants that threaten to eat them alive; that God still flatten mountains and valleys! This is what people need to hear these days. They need to hear words of hope and life from the heart of our loving Father God in heaven. We must give people not false HOPE BUT BIBLICAL HOPE!!!! HOPE! A DESIRE FOR SOMETHING GOOD TO HAPPEN NOW. A DESIRE FOR SOMETHING GOOD TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. We must not lose hope because when we do, we start to lose the desire to go on.

The Reality: Many people feel

• Harassed/troubled/sad/confused/dispirited/weary/with great problems they possibly didn’t create or had no control like illness, sickness, disease, affliction, death – Things like these, people often cannot control.

• Helpless/aimless/distressed/could not do anything to change their situation; some of them had stopped trying until someone pushed them.

• Lost (sheep without a shepherd)/didn’t know where to go for help; no one to guide them.

IN THE BIBLE, JESUS ALWAYS refers to as the Shepherd. He is portrayed and described as the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep against wolves and predators of many kinds. Without Jesus, people will be lost in sin and life.

v36) they were [b]weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Jesus saw this as he moved out and about!

Only God knows the full depth of someone's pain, need, or suffering, and He is full of compassion toward them (v36). And out of desperation, and after trying every help possible to no avail, people are ready to believe that only God is the way out. Jesus saw it with His eyes. He saw that people were ready to respond to God; they were ready!!!

Jesus said, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:24 Hence, there is a huge need for workers to meet these ready hearts – THIS IS GOD'S HARVEST FIELD!

Example of people who were ready: Jesus saw the faith of:

• A paralyzed man and his 4 friends (Matthew 9:1-8).

• those spiritually sick (sinners) (Matthew 9:9-17) – “Follow me!” Matthew was at his tax booth. He was literally at work when Jesus called Him, and Matthew left everything at once. What kind of faith was that?