The Harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. This is a powerful piece of scripture that just seemed to jump out of the page at us. To me it speaks volumes. To me it says there is a lot of work to be done but not many of us wanting to do it. When I was a young lad on our family farm the harvest was hard work. In my grandparent’s generation, it was even harder. We relied on extra help from friends and family and we all pulled together to get the hay in on time before the autumn months arrived. That was a special time. Although it was hard work we had a great time, a time of cementing friendships and acquaintances. We laughed and talked about all sorts of things and of course there were the harvest picnics that my grandmother brought to the field. Sandwiches made with egg and salad cream, home-made cake and a home brewed herb beer in stone flagons. These were halcyon days. But the one thing that sticks in my mind is the enjoyment of working together to get the job done. Jesus knew that the time was right to send disciples out to tell people about God. He told them “It’s going to be hard; you are going to come up against some tough circumstances and strong opposition. You will be like lambs among wolves, frightened and having to watch their back all the time. He knew that there would be opposition to them preaching a new message. There were three things that I thought about when I read these words of scripture:
1. We need workers
2. We have to go out into the field to reap the harvest
3. Hard work brings rewards
We need workers. If we all just go to church each Sunday and sit there and praise God then walk out saying thank you very much, then eventually we will end up a dead church. We have to work hard at trying to get others to join us. Don’t be mistaken it is right and proper to praise God but we have to involve others and we have to get involved ourselves in the community. It’s another step that we have to take. It is very easy to become detached from other people and remain in our comfort zone... We need to have other people join us to do God’s work. We have to speak about our faith to other and tell them how it makes us feel. This can be hard and make us feel embarrassed, but we should not think like this. To believe in God is something to be proud of, it is a way of life. It is society that has made us feel apprehensive about talking openly about our faith to others and apprehension is one of the hurdles we have to overcome. This past week it has been the flower festival in our village Church at Biggin and I have seen people, from the village, coming along to help who I have never seen before. People who have given up their free time to greet people as they arrive at the church, people who have arranged the flowers, made cups of tea, ran stalls or played the organ. Everyone has done a little bit to make the whole event a great success. The work has been hard and painful (after sitting on an organ stool for several hours I can assure you that you begin to ache all over) but it was worth it. People wanted to get involved and they enjoyed helping. I have talked to a lot of people this week and have been encouraged by the stories of outreach that is happening all across the world, stories of voluntary work with drug addicts and alcoholics. I have also talked to people who have had the ability to tell the gospel story as though they were there alongside Jesus. Jesus appointed 72 people to go ahead of him to prepare the way for him and to tell people what was about to happen. When a circus or fair comes to town there are posters advertising the fact that they will be arriving weeks before they come. Another example is the signs that are out advertising Bakewell show.
This is what Jesus was doing he was getting people’s attention and making them ready to hear his message. He was preparing the way. Can you imagine it a stranger walks up to you and says ”I have something fantastic and exciting to tell you there is a man coming this way in a few weeks time who is really worth listening to. He’s one of those people that you find fascinating to listen to and want to hear more of. He also speaks a lot of sense and is going to tell you about what happens to you when your life on this earth ends, and about a loving and forgiving God. Now no one has ever been able to tell us that before. By the way he will tell you that whatever you have done wrong it will be forgiven by this great God. No need for costly offerings anymore just to admit before him that you have done wrong and you will be forgiven.”
This is a message that people responded to then and will respond to again today. Of course they wanted to know more about this man, they wanted to know what it was like in heaven and they wanted to know more about this God. The appetites had been whet.
We have to go out into the field to reap the harvest. In 1985 I remember going to see Billy Graham preach at Sheffield on his UK tour. It was a powerful and uplifting occasion. Sheffield united football ground was full of Christians singing God’s praises. I regret to say that I did not go forward at that time to show my commitment to God, I was not ready for the evangelical way then, partly because of apprehension and uncertainty. But Billy Graham was working in the harvest field and my word he was waist high in crops that were ripe for gathering in. There were people coming to God who had not been practising Christians but had dedicated themselves to God at that moment. They were people who wanted to know more about God they were thirsty to learn. There were some that were tepid Christians, whose spirituality needed setting on fire. But who were the 72 people that Jesus selected to prepare the way ahead for him? They didn’t just show up when he needed them. They had been on the scene a long time they may have been the back room workers, the ones that are never in the lime light but always there true and trusty working in a quiet and efficient way. I suppose in modern language we would call them the logistics team. This period was the last 6 months of Jesus’ life and these people had an awareness of Jesus’ power and a shared vision to reach all people. They were strong in both faith and spirit and were willing to work for God. Jesus was turning his face towards his end on the cross. He was starting to make that painful journey towards Jerusalem. It is important to dedicate our skills to God’s kingdom but we must also be equipped with his power and have a clear vision of what he wants us to do. God is a fantastic employer and a great boss to work for. The wage is eternal life and the perks are great – we don’t get a company car or big bonus at the end of the year but what we do get is unconditional love, forgiveness and mercy. What’s more there are no redundancies with him and no unemployment. He was sending out 36 teams of two to reach out to the multitudes. They were not expected to do the job all by themselves, they had to ask God for more helpers. When some people start to understand the gospels, they want to go to work immediately, contacting unsaved people. This story suggests a different approach. Begin by getting people to pray and before praying for unsaved people, pray that other concerned disciples will join in reaching out to them. It is easy to sit back and let others do the work but we have to look to see ways that we can help out in the harvest fields.
Hard work brings rewards. The work they had to do was not easy. There was opposition to their message, people were ridiculing them and calling them names. Doors were slammed in their faces, backs were turned on them. But some stopped and some listened, some began to think and some committed their lives to following God. Does this sound familiar when the Jehovah’s witnesses come calling at our door?
But you know in some way their principles in communicating their message is right. They are going out to people and trying to engage them and have the opportunity in talking about faith to them. That is the first step to meeting people, it is an introduction or opening that we need and it is this that will bring back rewards. Whatever we do or say in telling others about God we will find these encounters – rejections and acceptances. When we face our enemies in this world face them not with aggression but with love and gentleness. The people in this scripture passage put their faith and trust in God. When they set off on their mission they took nothing with them. Jesus did not want them to burden themselves with possessions or to preoccupy them with concerns for themselves. He wanted them to be focused on their mission and on God. Jesus told them that if they were accepted into a household then they should accept graciously whatever was given to them. Their faith in trusting that God would cater for their needs and that they would be looked after was rewarded. They were given food and shelter. Jesus gave them two commands to eat what was set before them and to heal the sick. People have always seemed to need proof of God. They are unable to accept things and believe without seeing.
Thomas was a typical example of this he said “Unless I put my hand in your side and touch the wounds in your hands and feet then I will not believe. Jesus knew that people needed to see these things so by instructing them to heal the sick. By doing this people could see the power of god at work. Suddenly things were happening that they were unable to explain, suddenly what these men were saying about this stranger, who was coming their way in the next few weeks, might just be true. By seeing these things people would be willing to listen to the gospel message.
When the 72 disciples returned they were full of enthusiasm and excitement because they had seen fantastic results as they had ministered in Jesus’ name and with his authority. They had seen great victories and were over the moon at what they had achieved and were on a spiritual and emotional high. Jesus was pleased about what they had done but he reminded them that their names were written in heaven and their honour was more important than any of their accomplishments. As we see Gods wonders at work in and through us we must not lose sight of the greatest wonder of all – our heavenly citizenship.
So the next time we have the opportunity to help out let us give unreservedly of our time. If we act in the name of the church, and of God, people can see that we are on a mission for God. They can see that we are actually practising what we are preaching. We have to take up every opportunity that presents itself to us. By serving others we are serving God. In JOHN 13:3-4 John records that: ’Jesus...rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself...poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ’Lord, are you washing my feet?’’ Jesus didn’t wait for His disciples to make the first move, He went first. He taught that in order to serve God you must be willing to lay aside your image, your comfort and your agenda. And He dramatised it in a way His disciples would never forget. By laying aside His garments He showed them God has no time for form or fashion. Real ministry is not image conscious; it’s done with a complete loss of distinction. God incarnate clothed Himself in humility. Amazing isn’t it! But Peter didn’t understand it. He was embarrassed to think that His Lord would allow Himself to be seen in such a demeaning light. So Jesus said, ’You call Me Teacher and Lord. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you...If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’
So be a worker and go into the field and then see the rewards come back to you sevenfold. See people wanting to know more about the Christian way and wanting to follow it. Today some people have lost their way in life and have lost their direction. I see them time after time walking into my Police cell block. They have no focus because they have no belief either in themselves or in God. These are the people who need us more than anyone else. They are the lonely, the addicts, the drunks, the depressed, the emotionally drained and mentally disturbed. They are the hurting, the aching and the ones who are longing to know that God loves and cares for them and unless they hear it from us they will never hear or understand that message. We have to be the ones that say God loves you. He cares when no one else does. I care and I will pray for you each day so that you can get through this difficult time in your life. I will also help you and when people hear this they start to take notice. They listen and they become receptive to what we have to say. But once we have their attention we have to keep it. It is all too easy to get people’s attention and then lose it as easily as we have got it. They have to be nurtured and treated gently and with compassion. They are fragile, they carry a warning label that says “Fragile do not drop” It is you and me that has to safeguard them. So be one of the seventy, be a disciple for God and go out into the world to work for our Saviour and reap your reward in heaven. If you want to be blessed, don’t join the ’spiritual elitists’ who are impressed by their own speeches and display their own accomplishments. Lay aside everything you privately glory in and pick up the towel of servant-hood. And don’t wait for others. Somebody at your table needs to start a trend. Today let it be you!
