Matthew 9:35-10:8
“Are We the Answer to This Prayer?”
Last weekend a Hixson man admitted to shooting and killing his 15-year-old son.
According to records, the teen was shot multiple times as well as the family dog.
According to a report released last week Tennessee just broke its all-time record for drug-overdose deaths, and the suicide rate is breaking records as well.
Recently, a Colorado man murdered his family—his pregnant wife and two daughters.
Another man got into an 18-wheel truck and intentionally drove over several police cruisers before being arrested.
These kinds of stories aren’t unusual.
They are happening every day.
And it makes me want to do something about it.
How about you?
When I meet a child who doesn’t seem to fit in, or is neglected, malnourished, or abused…
…I want to do something about it.
When I am on my way to church, Sunday mornings, and I see folks headed off to a lake pulling a boat or jogging or kids riding bikes instead of heading to Sunday school…
…it makes me want to do something about it…
When I look into the faces of people who are on drugs, living on the streets—I hurt, I ache…
…I want to do something about it.
…how about you?
I mean, we have this Great News.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
And He has the ability to transform lives—to give lives meaning--to turn sad, lost people into folks with passion, love and a skip in their step.
I know it because I have experienced it and I’ve seen it happen time and time again in the lives of others.
And I am part of a Church that knows the Shepherd.
I am part of a church that, if folks become involved in it…
…their lives will begin to be transformed as well.
I have seen this happen hundreds upon hundreds of times in the churches I have served.
And I see it happening here.
So, I want to bring people in.
I want to build the Kingdom for the sake of God and neighbor—for the sake this lost and hurting world—for the sake of LOVE.
But what do I do?
How do I go about it?
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, we get a beautiful description—a beautiful glimpse of what motivates Jesus to do what Jesus does.
Jesus has been moving from town to town teaching and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom and healing the sick and diseased.
And we are told that when Jesus “saw the crowds,” when Jesus looked at the faces of the people He came across “He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The description of “harassed and helpless” paints a picture of a predator and its prey, where the prey is continually mangled by the predator until it gives up and just lies down and takes it.
Does this sound like our world to you?
Jesus sees folk who are without a shepherd—without a knowledge of God in this world.
They are wandering around aimlessly, not knowing where they are headed or where they might go to be healed.
And so they try this; they try that; they find this doesn’t work—they move on to another lie; they fall into yet another trap.
They are powerless to change their own lives, and there is no one who will step in to show them the way.
Do you know people like that?
Do you see people like that in your daily life?
Who is it?
Is it the person working the cash register at Burger King, McDonalds or Walmart?
Is it the man or woman sitting with their head in their hands near a busy highway exit ramp?
Is it the father or mother who works 80 or 90 hours a week at a high paying job, but spends no time with his or her children?
Is it the youngster who is struggling in school and about to drop out?
Is it the drug addicted?
Is it the alcoholic?
Is it the cranky neighbor?
Is it a family member?
Who are the “harassed and helpless” in our community?
Jesus sees a mass of humanity in great need.
And what is His response?
His response is “compassion.”
This is what motivates Jesus to do what He does—compassion.
Compassion is “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for the plight of another, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”
This is what Jesus experiences when He sees our world.
This is what our God is like.
Compassion is the opposite of indifference.
When we are helping someone in need we are said to be “showing them compassion.”
Compassion is not a spectator sport.
It requires action.
But in the face of so much need, it is easy to shut down or be confused about where to begin as we try to take care of peoples’ problems.
I don’t know about you, but I love to go and watch baseball or college basketball or football.
Avid sports fans arrive at stadiums hours before the game, carrying coolers and wearing team shirts and hats.
Many of these fans probably haven’t played sports themselves for many years—but they love to watch.
And watching sports involves a lot of eating and standing in lines for the bathrooms.
Occasionally something happens on the field or on the court, and people spill beer or popcorn or coke as they stand and cheer for the player who has just scored one for the team.
But as Christians, are we supposed to be spectators or players—fans or followers?
Being a fan of Jesus is not the same as being a follower.
Being a fan is a spectator sport.
Being a follower is being in relationship—working with Jesus on the front lines—whatever it takes.
Being a follower is being a Christian.
And boy is it exciting.
(Pause)
The needs are great, but as Jesus points out in verse 37 the workers are few.
Jesus quickly shifts from the imagery of lost and harassed sheep to the imagery of a harvest.
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
I love going to apple orchards in the Fall—at the height of the season when the apples are so ready to be picked they are practically ready to jump off the tree into your hand.
In my opinion, there is nothing better than biting into an apple that is fresh off the tree.
But what if there is no one to pick those apples?
They will just die, fall to the ground, be eaten by worms and rot.
They will be completely wasted.
It’s similar with people.
What will happen to the folks in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our workplaces if no one models the love of Christ to them, and invites them to be part of a Church where they can come into a saving relationship with Jesus?
People are wandering around aimlessly, searching for something—Someone—whom they have not yet met.
Who will introduce them?
I love how Paul puts it in Romans Chapter 10: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus instructs the disciples to “Ask the Lord of the harvest…to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Clearly, the answer to their prayer, is the disciples themselves.
They are the ones they are praying for.
For in the very next Chapter Jesus sends them.
And look who they are!!!
Simon, Andrew and James are uneducated fishermen.
Matthew is a former crooked tax collector.
And Judas Iscariot ends up being the one who betrays Jesus to the authorities.
These are not the model image of your perfect Christian evangelists.
But, then, is there such a thing?
We are all fallen.
We are all sinners.
We are all just saved by grace.
We are all on the journey.
God isn’t finished with any of us yet.
But God can and will use imperfect people to reach the world with the saving message of the Kingdom.
If we wait until we are perfect to go out and tell the good news, invite people to church, love them into the Kingdom—there never will be any workers at all.
That gives me a lot of encouragement.
How about you?
We are the Church.
And Scripture makes it clear that the Church is meant to be “those who are sent out” into our communities proclaiming the message of Jesus, healing the sick, raising the dead, driving out demons.
And we don’t do this alone.
We don’t do this through our power.
Jesus does it through us—if we are willing--if Christ’s compassion compels us to action.
Beginning September 5 from 6:15 p.m.-7:15 p.m. we will be experiencing and offering a brand-new worship experience.
And it’s not just for us—it’s for this entire community.
It’s called “The Fountain” because it will be Holy Spirit infused.
It will be a time for intercessory prayer, praise, music, Holy Communion and the laying on of hands and the anointing with oil for healing.
This is an awesome opportunity to invite people to come.
We all need healing, we all need prayer.
It’s also extremely important that all of us are actively involved in this worship service.
After-all, if the church isn’t interested in prayer and healing—why should we expect the world to believe in it and become a part?
We must model what we say we believe.
For “freely [we] have received: freely give.”
Also, beginning September 22 we will be going out to the homes surrounding this church building.
We will be meeting our neighbors, meeting the crowds in our town, meeting the “harassed and helpless,” going out into the “harvest field.”
We will be sent out in two’s and each will be assigned a street.
We will offer folks a gift, such as a loaf of bread or homemade cookies.
Some of you might want to be the ones who bake the cookies or the bread or whatever we take.
We will ask our neighbors what we can do for them, and if we can pray for them.
Then we will return the next month and the next and the next.
For this church is here for this community—it’s not the other way around.
We are called to serve, not to be served.
And Jesus has instructed us to pray for workers to go out into His harvest field.
And clearly, we are to be the answer to this prayer.
If not us, then who?
At this time, I want to invite everyone in this room to come forward to the Chancel rails.
I want to pray over you—anoint your head with oil—and ask you if you are willing to fulfill God’s call on your life.
Will you pray for workers to go out into the harvest field?
Will you be the answer to your own prayer?
Are you willing to be “sent” by Jesus?
