What a privilege and honor to be called and used by God to do His will. Our calling is not to put our focus on this earth, nor is it to make the world a better place. Our calling is to follow Jesus Christ on a pilgrimage to heaven. In doing so, we will also fulfill God’s purpose for our life along the journey. If the church fulfills this role, our communities and world will benefit greatly and will be a better place, but our focus is always ahead where God is leading. The greatest challenge is walking by faith and laying our life down for the purpose of the cross. This is also the most rewarding part of the Christian life. No one can be satisfied without laying down their life and walking in obedience. The one who trusts God and willingly sacrifices whatever it takes will always be satisfied even if they even if they lack in this world. Only when our hope and desire is eternal can we cling to the promise and command of Luke 9:
23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
From the outside, the Christian life is always foolish. Only a fool would lose his life for the promise that God will one day restore it beyond what we can imagine. Only the person who has the desire to come after Jesus Christ will be able to deny themselves and take up that cross. It is not a one-time commitment, but a lifestyle of surrendering all. God is our reward. The world is dependent on things and circumstances, but the one who follows God will have peace and fulfillment regardless of what life throws. One day we will all look back down the road we have traveled. Those who have walked with God will be glad. I have said this before and I believe it is crucial to understand this – God does not call us to succeed, achieve or accomplish anything. God calls us to walk by faith so that we live in obedience. Faith, obedience and faithfulness belongs to me, the results of my labors belong solely to God.
One thing we can be sure of is that if we are following God’s will, we will succeed. The problem with achievement driven work is that I measure success on my terms instead of on God’s terms. We don’t know God’s plan. Sometimes we can’t see what God is doing with our labors but we can always be sure that God will fulfill His plan in our life if we are faithful. Christians get discouraged because they are looking for God to fulfill their plans. Success, labor and strength are designed to be a part of every Christian’s life that follows Christ. We are not guaranteed an easy ride – in fact, it is just the opposite. We are guaranteed that God has a plan for our life and will use us to accomplish His will and we will be rewarded for our faithfulness and labor.
Our success comes from abiding in Him.
Everything centers around our relationship with God. Look at John 15
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
A vibrant, abiding relationship with Christ is the lifeblood of the Christian life. No one can neglect their relationship with God and fulfill God’s will in their life. We were created to have an intimate relationship with God and to glorify Him. Nothing else matters. Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. It is through our relationship with God that He shapes our heart and kindles our desire to do His will. Once our desires are from God and not centered around ourselves, God can then bless our desires because we are standing in the promise. If we don’t have a desire to do ministry, the problem is in our relationship with Christ. You cannot grow close to God and grow in faith without gaining the desire to serve God. We don’t labor to please God; we labor because we desire what God desires because we are conforming to His image.
The whole purpose of petitioning God and having our requests granted is to glorify God and bear fruit. When we have that close relationship with God, we will bear fruit. If there is no fruit in our life, we need to cultivate our relationship with Christ. Jesus made it clear that if we abide in Him and He in us, we will bear much fruit. That is to say that God will bless our labor because we are desiring and doing what He has called us to do. Even the best worker will accomplish nothing on the eternal level without this relationship. We are not called to pursue labor, we are called to love God and through that loving relationship our labor is born. Prayer, study and obedience are essentials for an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.
Our call is to enter His labors
Once our relationship is growing, we will hear God’s call to join His labor. The focus still remains on our relationship. One of the challenges in any type of ministry is our tendency to lose this focus. It is so easy to take our eyes off of God and begin to pursue ministry. When ministry is our pursuit, the work will demand our allegiance and instead of freedom to serve, we are bound by our obligation to serve. We are all called to serve with the special gifts and talents God has equipped us with. Many people want to preach, teach and lead, but quiet service is often neglected. I believe the reason for this is that people are focused on self rather than God. If God has called someone to be a leader, they are required to lead or they are in disobedience. In the same sense, if God has equipped someone with the gift of helps, administration or a behind the scenes gift or talent, God will only honor their labor if they serve in His ordained role for them. Many administrators and nursery workers will share in equal honor with the great evangelists who set the world on fire. God doesn’t measure anyone based on their gifts, only on faithfulness. You have no option in what God has equipped you to do, and there are no lowly workers that God will not exalt because of their faithfulness. Look at Luke 9:
37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
…
43 "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
44 "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
The key is that we will be found faithful when we are doing as we have been called. It is a shame that in most churches people are more interested in jockeying for positions than obeying God. I would rather be a janitor in the will of God than a pastor out of God’s will. There is no reward forcing yourself into a role God has not called you to fill. However, we are all called to see the urgency of the need before us. Look at John 4
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 "Do you not say, ’There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 "And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
In Luke 10, we are told to pray for labors for the harvest. One thing to keep in mind is that we are not called to wait until we are ready for ministry. God rarely sends equipped workers into the battle. God sends those who are dependent on Him. Humility and faith in God are more important than experience and talent. Jesus taught His disciples about the kingdom and then sent them into to field. They returned and rejoiced – not in their own power – but in the power of His name. He then was able to teach them and send them again.
Most churches get trapped inside the box as do most individual Christians. There is a belief that we must be equipped before we do. We need a relationship with God and His calling, but the equipping for the work comes by obedience. The people who depend on training rarely get beyond the classroom. Training is good, but our dependence is not on training. Look at Amos. Amos was a shepherd and a farmer. God called him and commanded him to go the people and proclaim the word of God. When confronted by the critics of Israel, Amos said, “I was no prophet and was not the son of a prophet. But the Lord took me as I tended the flock and sent me to prophesy”. What credentials did Amos have? None. Where did Amos get his experience? By going and doing what God called him to do.
It is a small thing for God to equip us to obey, but it will not happen until you take that step into the darkness with only God’s direction as your light. The task of equipping is too great for any class, seminary or educator to fulfill. Education is good, but it cannot replace obedience. God’s grace is sufficient. I believe that if someone is called by God to preach, they should begin to preach as God opens the door. Seminary has benefits, but we can’t put God on hold for 4 years while we equip ourselves. God never calls us without equipping with the abilities to fulfill His call.
If we wait until our comfort zone expands, we will also drift outside of God’s will. Unfortunate to our human nature, God almost always calls us outside of our comfort zone. By nature, I want to see where this path is leading before I take a step into the darkness. One of the hardest things we will ever do is stand firm when God commands even when we don’t feel ready. I don’t know how many times I have felt like running when I looked into a congregation knowing there are men who were more experienced and better equipped than I, yet I had to stand before them and proclaim His Word. God makes us vulnerable to stretch us, shape us and make us depend upon Him. God always calls us to go where we cannot go by our own strength; do what we cannot do; and become what we cannot become. If we wait until we are comfortable and confident, we will never accomplish His will. Luke 10:3 says:
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
That is not a comfortable place to be, but if God is there, it is where you want to be.
Our strength must come from His will.
Look at Matthew 11:
28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
How can Jesus say, “I will give you rest” and “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”, when the tasks He puts before us is beyond our abilities to accomplish? If God calls us to a work that is bigger than we are, is that a light burden? I believe it is when our perspective is as it should be. The first thing we should take note of is that it is His yoke. A yoke is a curved piece of wood that harnesses two oxen together to plow a field. The word picture here is that we are yoked together with Jesus to accomplish the work He has called us to. When we look at a work that needs to be done, we tend to take the yoke alone and try to accomplish by our strength. This is not what we are called to do. We are called to join Jesus in what He is doing. It is light because His strength becomes our strength. We aren’t called to drag the plow, but rather to harness ourselves to Jesus and work in dependence of Him. If we are going where He is not calling, we bear the yoke alone. If we neglect our primary focus of our relationship with Him, we bear the yoke alone. Jesus said, take my yoke – not your yoke. Jesus said, learn from Me. Knowing Him and following His word are essential principles in the Christian walk. Why do Christians get burned out? Because they are either doing what God has not called them to do, or they are depending on their own strength.
Also notice that this is a call to those who labor. This promise is not to those who have not entered into the harvest. By default, we are bearing the weight of the world around us, but those who enter His work will take off the yoke of the world and join themselves to His yoke. It is God’s will that becomes our strength and encouragement. Look again at John 4:
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 "Do you not say, ’There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 "And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
When I know that I am in God’s work, I will be encouraged and will have confidence. Jesus taught the disciples that His strength came from fulfilling the work He came to do and then taught the disciples to do the same. He showed that now is the time to work, not after everything was in its proper place. We will be encouraged, strengthened and refreshed when we have that eternal perspective and see how our lives fit into God’s plan. It is when we get our focus drawn away that we begin to feel worn and discouraged. The devil will do anything he can to draw your attention away from God and onto people, circumstances and anything else that will lead you off course. Where your eyes are, your feet will follow. Once our eyes are off of our relationship with God, we will begin to drift off course. Anytime we do the work of God, people will rise up and stand against us. However, God will use people to direct us. Even those with ungodly intentions can and will be used by God unknowingly. God will use them for our good as long as we keep the course. When we get down, that is the time to re-evaluate our focus.
The Bible tells us that the call of God is without repentance. If I don’t enter into God’s call, I am in disobedience. In the same sense, I also do not have the right to resign from God’s work. I have seen teachers resign because someone pressured them after they taught an unpopular truth that God laid on their heart. Teaching is not a chosen position. Teaching is a calling. If God has called us to teach, we don’t have the right to resign. That does not mean it will be easy. Our biggest challenge is human nature. Our human nature looks for personal comfort and feel good circumstances. Human nature also causes people to rise up and resist when God’s word challenges their purposes. We always need to pray for wisdom and try to keep emotions from becoming the focus. God is ultimately in control and it is God’s job to put people in their place. Our job is to disciple, pray for and love others regardless of their reaction. The only right a leader has to resign is if they are called by God to another work and have equipped others to replace them or if they are removed against their will. Another exception is when a leader falls into sin. If removed, God’s call remains. One closed door becomes God’s call to another open door.
We have the honor and privilege of the call of God. We stand on the promise that the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. We are the church. A gate is a defensive barrier to protect against attacks. The implication is clear. Our job is not to sit idly and wait for something to happen. Our call is to take the battle to the enemy. The harvest is often protected behind enemy lines, but we have been given the power to bring down every stronghold and bring those under satan’s domain to Christ where they can be free and join us in our pilgrimage of labor.
*******
To download this as an Acrobat file, go to http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/the_harvest.shtml
*******
