INTRODUCTION
JOKE OF TEXAS A & M
A young man graduates from Texas A&M,
with his degree in agriculture,
and sets out to start his own chicken farm.
First week he bought 1000 chicks, plowed 100 acres of land,
planted the chicks feet first and watered them daily.
To his surprise they died.
Realizing his mistake he went out again and bought 1000 chicks,
planted them head first this time,
and watered them with Miracle Grow.
Once again they died.
He was very upset, and sent an angry letter to his alma matter,
explaining all his work, and how his 2000 chicks had died.
He wanted them to explain this failure.
Finally he go his reply, and opened the letter. It said
Dear alumnus,
We are amazed that one of our graduates
could make such a glaring and stupid mistake.
We cannot possibly help you
until you first send us a soil sample.
We may think this is a funny joke.
We would never be that backward about sowing and harvesting.
But there is a harvest we know very little about.
Watching our work some may wonder about us.
Jesus said THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL
In a news report on the drought in the west
one farmer said his grandfather worked hard
and was proud when he could harvest 100 acres.
Now he and his brother are each able to harvest
over 25,000 acres.
One of the elders at the Benton Christian Church in Benton Pennsylvania is a dairy farmer.
He says that when his grandfather was a young man
there were over 30 dairy farms in the area.
Today there are only 3,
yet they produce the same quantity of milk
they did 50 years ago.
Yet modern technology doesn’t come close
to the image Jesus is trying to give to us.
Jesus is creating an image
of a harvest so great that it boggles our mind.
The harvest is all around us,
bountiful, overflowing, ripe and ready to
pick.
Imagine someone planting a garden without paths
just scattering seeds over every inch
and everything grew, every plant bore fruit.
You couldn’t reach the fruits and vegetables
in the center of the garden
without stepping on and crushing others to get to it.
More than you could imagine harvesting.
But everything doesn’t come up at once,
there’s always something coming up,
some ready to pick,
some just setting,
but there’s always something to harvest.
This is the image Jesus is trying to express when he says
The Harvest is Plentiful
But we must ask “ What is the Harvest”?
That it is abundant we understand,
but what is it?
When Jesus called a fisherman named Peter from his nets
he said
“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men?”
The harvest is the harvest of human souls.
Peter spoke of this work in his second letter where he said
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.”
As Paul puts it
“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses against them. and
entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through
us.”
The harvest is out there,
it is right in front of our eyes.
All we have to do is look around to see lost souls looking for
hope reassurance comfort peace
They are so desperate they will seek it anyplace they can
work money power prestige
even alcohol and drugs addiction and prostitution
But it never satisfies them
No matter where they seek to plant themselves
its barren land.
Yet they
keep trying, keep looking,
keep striving to answer that longing.
It is these Jesus said are ripe for the kingdom.
Example Cuba
Communism was touted as paradise for the masses,
that the new state would meet their needs,
and religion would be seen for what it is “the opium of the
masses”
But when Pope John Paul II visited a few years ago
people came out in thousands
to hear what he had to say
to seek what he had to bestow
to receive what he had to offer
The thousands repented of their sin
and received Jesus Christ in to their lives.
Baptisms were done by the 100s during the week.
From that time they began to return to the churches,
and to fill the pews
not just of the Catholic church,
but also of the Baptists
and the Methodists,
and the Pentecostals... All the churches of Cuba.
In the one short week of his visit,
the Pope had more impact on that island nation
than Castro had all his life as its dictator.
Why? Because people were hungry, and they were fed
they were thirsty, and they were given drink
But it was not earthly things they sought,
they hungered and thirsted for heavenly things.
The Pope offered them what Castro couldn’t,
he fed them and quenched their thirst
with the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Even today around our world there are those who hunger and thirst
for those things that
communism, democracy, or a monarchy cannot offer them.
No job, no achievement, no relationship can ever take the place
of forgiveness of sin,
of the peace which passes understanding,
of love which has no limits
of the God who knows us through and through
and still calls us “my beloved.”
Jesus says THIS HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL,
YET THE LABORERS ARE FEW
If there are so many out there
longing, seeking, hungering for those things
only God can give,
don’t you think God would be sending out laborers
into every field, every corner, to knock on every door,
seeking out those who are themselves seeking,
finding those who are longing to be found,
calling to those who are hoping to hear their name.
But he says the laborers are few.
Why, if the need is so great are the laborers so few?
One reason that might come to mind,
is that we might think so few are willing to go.
We call ourselves Christians,
we say we are disciples of Jesus Christ,
Yet many of us are caught up,
consumed with living our own lives,
making ends meet, raising kids, paying taxes,
managing the chaos in our lives.
We may feel we are not able to labor in God’s fields.
Or is it because we are unwilling?
In a vision, Isaiah saw God sitting on his throne,
and he heard God say
“Who will I send, and who will go for us?”
And Isaiah stepped forward and said “Here am I, send me.”
But many have do desire for such a vision
many do not want to hear God’s question
many do not want to go, they do not want to be called.
We are more like Moses.
When God appeared to him out of a fiery bush
and said “I am sending you...”
And Moses replied,
who me?!
but what if they ask me questions I can’t answer?
but what if they don’t believe me?
But God I’m terrible at preaching, I can’t speak!
Send someone else.
And God said, “I’ll send Aaron with you,
BUT YOU ARE GOING!
We’re an awful lot like Moses.
We resist God’s call.
We’re afraid. We live with a fear
that keeps us unavailable
to the presence and power of God.
So we keep ourselves
too busy to listen,
to blind to see,
to occupied to labor.
But then there is a third possibility,
one that is not easy for us to hear, but one we must hear.
Do you realize every armed forced in the U.S.
is suffering a major shortage of manpower except one?
The Marine Corp.
A short while ago a news report
found every other branch of service
(the Army, Navy, and Air Force)
focused it’s recruiting advertisement on
the personal benefits an individual could get,
such as money or an education, or world travel.
The Marine Corp, on the other hand,
focused their advertising on Honor, Duty, Country -
on everything an individual would be asked to give up.
And every commercial would conclude
“we’re looking for a few good men.”
Other branches would joke -
that’s all they could find - just a few good men.
(but who’s got the recruitment problem?)
This is the third possibility
of why there are so few laborers in God’s harvest field.
God has looked out on his Church
and found only a few He is willing to send.
Jesus himself said
“MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.”
Do you realize
God brings many opportunities for you to labor in his fields.
Those tasks start out small,
with little to do,
and little demand upon you.
But He does this to test you,
that He might assess your spirit,
determine the mettle of your soul and heart.
He looks to see if you are willing,
if you are open to carry out His will in that moment.
He is looking for a few who are
steadfast, courageous, and trusting.
And if you are faithful in those little things
God promises to give you more.
That is what the parable of the talents is all about.
It is through the little things that God determines
if you are capable to handle greater things
The goal of these charges is to lead us
to a place where we become
more responsive to God’s will,
and more dependent upon His Spirit.
If the harvest field is the world of human souls
what we are called to is spiritual work.
It cannot be done by
Human Abilities, Human Strength, Human Wisdom
It takes a person who is
God reliant, Christ centered, and Spirit Filled.
And so God is sifting our souls
seeking those that can withstand and stand up to God’s call.
Sadly many are called, but few are chosen.
PRAY THEREFORE, Jesus says,
THE LORD OF THE HARVEST
TO SEND OUT LABORERS INTO HIS HARVEST.
Now wait a minute, Jesus just said
“the Harvest is Plentiful, but the Laborers are Few”,
don’t you think his next comment should be “GO!”?
Or seeing such an abundant harvest,
and knowing the laborers are few,
shouldn’t we just get up and get to work?
Why does he say instead “Pray”?
Maybe it’s because although we may all be called,
it is God who chooses who will labor in his fields,
both where and how.
Prayer is an issue of the heart.
To pray to God is to open our hearts to God.
To pray to God about the Harvest and the Laborers
is an invitation to God to come and sift our souls.
It is a request, filled with fear and trembling,
because in praying we are declaring
“here am I, send me.’
You know you are called,
Are you willing to be chosen?
You know you are called
you have come to respond to faith in Jesus Christ.
You know you are called
for it says “There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope when you were
called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of us all, who is above all and through all
and in all.
But are you willing to be chosen
for it also says “but grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift. And his gifts
were that some should be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ...
God has not just called apostle, prophets and teachers
God seeks laborers -
common everyday folks
doing common everyday work,
in a common everyday world,
reaching common everyday souls for the kingdom.
God is calling folks just like you
you know it in the depth of your soul,
you’ve heard Him call you.
The only question is whether you will let yourself be chosen.
THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL
BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW,
NOW WILL YOU PRAY?