Missions Sunday
Topic: Working in God’s Harvest Field
Text: Luke 10:1-3 (NIV)
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters!
Today is our Missions Sunday. June is our missions month here at MGC, and we’ve heard sermons on missions for the past 3 weeks. So this morning, we will conclude our missions month with a topic “Working in God’s Harvest Field.” Our text comes from the Gospel of Luke 10:1-3.
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
Here, we see that Jesus is appointing and sending 72 people out for ministry. This is the only place in the Bible where we read about Jesus sending a specific number of people aside from the 12 disciples. And the number of people here seems to be little confusing. Some translations of the Bible have 70, while others have 72 people that Jesus appointed and sent out. Whether 70 or 72; the number is not the major thing here. The major thing is the appointment with instruction that Jesus gave, to send them out.
So, He ‘sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.’ Jesus sent them in twos for mutual encouragement and accountability. He knew that His public ministry was coming to an end very soon. But, there were still so many places that He had not yet visited with the Good News of God’s Kingdom. So, He is sending out these 72 people to those places where He was about to go.
Now, let’s look at the actual words of Jesus to these 72 people, as He was about to send them on their mission. He told them:
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
This morning, I would like to share with you three key principles on how you can be a worker in God’s harvest field: The first principle is -
1. Seeing the harvest from God’s perspective (2a).
What kind of harvest is Jesus talking about here? Jesus was not talking about a physical harvesting of fruit or grain. He was talking about spiritual harvesting of people. He was talking about the harvest of souls for salvation. Matthew 9:36 says, “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus saw their need, that’s why He had compassion for them. Compassion means to be emotionally moved by what we see around us. Jesus was moved to compassion. His heart was broken when He saw the crowds harassed and helpless. Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision International says, "Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart"
The world's population today is 7.5 billion. Only 2.3 billion are Christians. 5.2 billion people in the world today are without Christ. The harvest is really plentiful. If we are going to see the crowds as Jesus did, we must open our eyes. The world is full of people who are not like us. So, the first step is to see them. Jesus said to his followers in John 4:35, "Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." The harvest is waiting to be harvested. And the time to harvest is now.
But, “The workers are few.” Now, the question is, why are there only few workers in the harvest field? The workers are few, because there are a lot of people who do not follow Jesus. The workers are few, because people love all that is in the world, than they love God. And the workers are few, because even among those who follow Jesus, there are some who are not working in the harvest field. And the main reason why there are only few workers in the harvest field is because; we don’t see the harvest like God does. It does not mean that everyone has to go to far way places to serve in mission. But, everyone has a role to fulfill in God’s harvest field. If we just lift our eyes and look at school, at work, at the gym, at the sports event, at the neighborhood or at home, we will see that harvest is waiting to be harvested.
Tony Abram said, “The greatest joy next to the joy of your own salvation is winning another soul to Christ. The Bible teaches us that there is GREAT JOY in heaven over one sinner that repents.”
According to a survey on how people come to know the Lord:
.0001% .........TV or Crusade
1-2% ............. Street evangelism
2-4% ............. Church program
3-6% ............. Sunday School
4-6% ............. Walk-in
6-8% ............. Pastor or Minister
74% ............. Friends and relatives
Application
Think of all the people you see everyday: family, friends, neighbors, work associates. Brothers and sisters, that is our mission field, and we are responsible for them. When was the last time you shared the gospel with a friend, co-worker or neighbor? We will never have a sense of urgency until we realize that we are responsible for them. We need to take responsibility for our field that God has entrusted to us. We need to see the lost people around us through God’s perspective.
Now, you may be thinking, with such a great task of harvesting and so few workers, how do we go about it? That brings us to our second principle:
2. Praying for workers in the harvest field (2b).
Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus did not ask them to think about strategy and ways to be an effective worker in the harvest field. He simply asked them to pray. He is setting a pattern and priority for them. Prayer is the means that God has established to get workers into His harvest field. Therefore, Jesus does not ask us if we have a burden for the harvest. Instead, He asks us to pray for the harvest. And that’s how we develop a burden for the harvest. Now, the question is, “Do we ask God to raise up and send out more workers into His harvest field?” We pray for the things that matter the most to us. But, “Does the Lord’s harvest matter enough to us to motivate us to pray for it?”
We are working in a spiritual harvest field, so we work with spiritual tools. And the most powerful tool in harvesting souls is ‘prayer’. We pray for the Holy Spirit to open their hearts for the gospel. We also pray for ourselves for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Because it’s only in the power of the Holy Spirit that we can participate in the spiritual harvest. A. J. Gordon said it very well, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” So, what happened when they prayed for God to send out workers into His harvest field? God answered their prayer! And they themselves were the answer!
Application
Brothers and sisters, we need to pray for God to send out workers into His field. And prayer is the start. Prayer is the turning of a key, starting up the engine. And once you pray for God to send out workers, don’t be surprised if you are the very person who will be sent. At times, just to be obedient, we pray, “Lord, please, send out workers into Your harvest field.” But, what we’re thinking is that, young people will dedicate themselves to missions. Young people will feel called to pastor the church or to go into full-time ministry.
Well, it is true that young people may be called to be missionaries and pastors. But, every believer is to be a worker in God’s harvest field. Every believer is to be a witness of Jesus Christ to others in his or her sphere of influence. And every believer is to pray for workers in God’s harvest field.
Now, the first two principles set the stage for our final principle:
3. Going into God’s harvest field (3).
Right after asking them to pray for the workers, in vs. 3 Jesus says, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” Jesus’ approach in sending the workers to the harvest field is very simple, He just said, “Go.” If Jesus had not said “Go” we would not be here today. But, going like lambs among wolves is not easy. What happens when lambs are among wolves? Wolves will devour them. So, why did Jesus tell the 72 people that they will be like lambs among wolves? He was warning them of the difficulty of the task. One reason why the workers are few is because the work is difficult.
What defense does a lamb have against a wolf? Not much. But, if the Great Shepherd is the one sending the lambs out, they will have a lot of defense. Brothers and sisters, working in God’s harvest field will be difficult. It will be challenging. But, the reward is worth. And the Great Shepherd will be with us. He will not ask us to do anything that we are incapable of doing. Therefore, we can trust Him and go to proclaim the good news.
Out of 7.5 billion people, only 2.3 billion are on the road to heaven. How about the 5.2 billion people? When we look about that huge number, we think that there’s nothing we can really do about it. What can I do? I’m just one person. Well, Jesus was just one person. He worked tirelessly to bring the message of salvation to the lost. And as a result of that, we are here today. But, 2,000 years later, the fields are still ripe, and the harvest is still waiting.
They are waiting for the workers to harvest them. But, the workers are few. So, God is calling all believers to be involved in His harvest field. Christ has made it very clear in the Great Commission: “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Therefore, every Christian is a missionary. Every believer is to share Christ with others. Some are called by God to serve in another country and culture, while others are called serve in their own family, neighborhood and circle of influence. Whether near or far, God wants us to go into His harvest field.
Application
Brothers and sisters, the harvest will not be reaped unless there are workers to reap it. And we can't bring in the harvest without first going into the harvest field. When we go to the field, our job is not to save the harvest - that's God's work. Our job is to tell people about the Lord of the harvest. We must be willing to go to the harvest field God has prepared for us. God is looking for workers to send out into His harvest field because people need the Lord.
The 3 principles we have learned today, in order for us to become the worker in God’s harvest field are:
1. Seeing the harvest from God’s perspective.
2. Praying for workers in God’s harvest field.
3. Going into God’s harvest field.
Let us Pray!
