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.
With careful consideration of the text we find -- JESUS DOES NOT JUST IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM, HE ALSO OFFERS THE SOLUTION TO THIS SHORTAGE – PRAY. Pray for more workers to be raised up, that more people would go out to the sheep who are in need of a shepherd. it is easy for us to forget the power of prayer for these sorts of challenges.
• We either move to various “practical” challenges that we think will mobilize people into the fields of harvest
• Or we do it without really believing that it makes a difference
• Are we earnestly praying for God to send out more people into the harvest?
o We pray for the nation
o We pray for our leaders
o We pray for our health and health of others
o We pray for forgiveness
• Do we remember the importance of praying that the Lord will send more people to increase His Kingdom?
• Sometimes we need a Gentle Reminder because there are so many other things that require our prayers
For a long time, I thought this just meant more missionaries and pastors – that more people would be called to vocational ministry. Maybe it would also apply to getting more people to volunteer in Children’s Ministry or Youth Ministries as well. Fact of the matter and staying true to the text, God calls every Christian as an ambassador for Christ to serve him --
• In their homes
• At their work
• In the schools
• In the communities
• And wherever else they find themselves
In Jesus' day the population of the world was approximately 150 million people.
• Today's world population grows 150 million every two years
• The world's population exceeds 7 billion people
• The population of the United States over 300 million
The harvest now in our day is as plentiful as it ever has been. There are almost seven-and-a-half billion people in this world, most of whom have either never heard about Jesus or don't know that Jesus lived and died to save them. Some of them –
• Live in indigenous lands
• Speak different languages
• Live in totally different cultures than us
Others of them are people whom you see every day, to whom you speak, and who dress and eat just like you.
• How many people are there in this world, who aren't going to heaven because they don't know about Jesus?
• How many people do you know who are on the path to hell because nobody has told them that they have a Savior from their sins?
The task of telling those who don't know and haven't heard is huge. That's why Jesus asks you to help. Jesus tells us that there are many ways for Christians to help.
• He calls workers into the full-time harvest field
• Pastors and Christian teachers, whose full-time work it is to proclaim his Word to people
• He calls other Christians to serve equally important part-time roles
• He has called our congregation's elected leaders, who work in the harvest either by overseeing and taking part in the proclaiming of the Gospel or by taking care of other jobs that need to get done around the Church
• Making sure that we have a functioning building in which to meet and proclaim the Gospel
• Keeping the finances of the congregation in order so that we can use our money in such a way that serves the spreading of the Gospel
• Our sound ministry beautifully handling our worship as we proclaim what the Lord has done for us in our songs
• Our Sunday School Teachers that lead us through the truths of the Bible
• Our IROC ministry teaching and leading our children how to develop a strong relationship with the Lord
Our Lord also invites us to proclaim the Gospel to people when we haven't been issued a divine call through our congregation to do it, speaking his words whenever we have the opportunity – at work - in the neighborhood - with our children and grandchildren.
• Jesus invites us to give our offerings to our congregation so that we can continue the work of proclaiming the Gospel in our community
• Jesus invites us to give offerings to our national level, so that we can continue to support missionaries to proclaim God's Word to people who will otherwise never hear it
We can encourage our congregation's young people to study to be pastors or Christian teachers, so that the Lord might call some of them into ministry. There are great opportunities for our young people to get a full ride in college for sports. What a great opportunity to earn a College Education. For most players, however, going pro will never be more than a fantasy. fewer than 2% of college student-athletes ever play professional sports at any level for any amount of time.
• The first thing Jesus told the seventy-two workers to do was to pray that the Lord would send out workers into the harvest field
• Each and every one of us can pray that the Lord would send people to proclaim his Gospel to others
• The harvest is huge, and the opportunities to take part in the work are endless!
Sometimes we hear Jesus invite us, and that's all it takes; we're ready to go. Other times, we hear his invitation to work in the harvest, but we don't quite feel like it. I have to admit that's true of me. There are times when I would rather do something easier than work for him.
• It's easier not to put in the hard hours to do the job that God has assigned to me at church
• And it's definitely easier not to speak up and proclaim God's Word to that person who needs to hear it
• It's easier not to give a generous offering
• And it's easier not to take the time to pray for his harvest
• Are you like me?
• Are there times when you would rather do what's easier for you instead of the Lord's work?
When I have a task that is unfamiliar to me or may cause me some difficulty, my normal human reaction is to first do other things that I enjoy.
• I have spent days procrastinating before I will begin an important task
• Jesus is saying, don't fall into that trap
• Your mission is urgent
• You can't afford to consume time in lesser activities
Purely out of his undeserved love, Jesus has made us a part of his harvest. And purely out of his undeserved love, Jesus has invited us to join in the work of his harvest.
• The task is daunting, but he promises that he will provide everything that we need
• The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
• The Lord invites you to join in the work
• The Lord promises he will provide the harvest
When the Lord Jesus called the seventy-two disciples to work in the harvest, did you notice the strange instructions he gave them?
• He told them not to take extra money, a suitcase, or extra shoes
• He told them that he was sending them out like lambs among wolves
• Why the strange instructions?
• Because the Lord wanted them to know that he was going to provide everything
When the Lord invites us to join him in his work, he makes all the same promises.
• He promises to provide for all our needs as we work for him
• He promises to protect us from every danger from his enemies in this world and from Satan
• He provides us with people who need to hear the message with which he sends us
• He provides us with the only tool that we will ever need so that they may join the glorious harvest, his Gospel in the Word and the sacraments
Through this tool he will work to create and strengthen faith in the hearts of those who hear and will bring them to eternal life. So often we look at people with natural eyes; Jesus looks at their spiritual readiness and sees the people of Judea as if they are a huge harvest almost ready to be harvested. nearly ripe.
• Fields are typically planted so that the whole field will become ripe about the same time
• Seldom would you go into a field or orchard for selective picking
• Rather, when the field is ripe you would bring in harvesters and reap the whole field at one time
If you were to look at the average Christian congregation, how many of the members are actually involved in the church's harvesting activities? In America, at least, it seems that many are involved in what meets their needs and their children's needs, but shy away from a mission to meet others' needs. We have an abundance of churches, but few workers -- and perhaps few actual disciples.
Jesus describes the region into which he is sending the seventy as a harvest field. What are we disciples intended to learn from Jesus' words in this passage? I believe he wants his disciples to look at the big picture, to humanity as a ripe harvest, waiting only sufficient workers to bring it in.
• We are to see ourselves as willing workers in this harvest, not to shy away or make excuses why we are unwilling to undertake hard labor
• We are to pray for more workers, we are to petition the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into his harvest
of the 7 billion people in the world, it is estimated that over forty million people worldwide will die without Christ this year. And of the over 300 million people in this country, it is estimated that 41 percent of the people are radically unchurched.
• That means they don't go to church at all
• Not at Easter
• Not at Christmas
• Not at weddings or funerals
• They do not darken the doors of a church at anytime in the year
• And if they were to die they would go to eternal punishment without knowing the love of Christ
• There is always a sense of urgency to bringing in the harvest
--The old preacher VANCE HAVNER used to say, "The tragedy of our time is that the situation is desperate but the saints are not"
--We are living in desperate times
--And desperate times demand action
--We are living in a time when little boys kill little girls
--Teenagers take out their revenge on other teenagers
--People steal and cheat and kill because they simply demand their own way
--We live in a lost and broken world that is desperate for the good news of Jesus Christ
--Herein lies one of the great truths of the Christian faith -- The harvest will never be reaped unless there are reapers to reap it
--Jesus Christ needs men and women to bring in the harvest
--Jesus' followers today need to see people as Jesus saw them - as Plentiful – Precious - Perplexed – Perishing
--The Harvest is Plentiful but the Labors are Few
--Let us begin praying here at ‘First Church’ that the Lord will stir us up and begin Praying and Working in the Harvest
