Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)

2011-07-01 / 7-8. szám

6

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

Joining the Harvest

In Matthew 9, beginning in verse thirty-five we have a marvelous disclosure of what motivated the ministry of Jesus. He came to heal, and to reach out to sinful people who deserved only the judgment of God. But such is the heart of the Savior that he reached out in love to the undeserving. He is still doing that today, and he is inviting us to join Him in reaching our world with the good news of the Gospel.

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

FIRST, WE MUST SEE WHAT JESUS SEES

It says “but ” when Jesus “saw the multitudes. He was moved with “compassion. ” In other words, he did not see them but he saw their need. There are now 6.2 billion people in the world today. Jesus compared the multitudes to “weary and scattered. ” “sheep having no shepherd, ” He saw their lost condition. He saw them as sheep who are lost without a shepherd. Those who should have been their shepherds were largely responsible for their confusion and hopelessness. The religious leaders of their day added burdens instead of lifting them. I have witnessed people walking on their knees done the aisle of a cathedral trying to gain God’s attention. I have seen people beating themselves with whips to prove their sincerity of their repentance. I have even seen people allow themselves to be crucified to gain God’s forgiveness. I want to shout, “Get up, get up, Jesus has paid it all. What you want God ’s offering to you, all you must do is accept it. ”

Jesus saw the multitude and was moved with compassion for them. May we do likewise.

One of my most favorite New Testament word pictures is the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) which shows the compassionate heart of God. The Prodigal son was walking home with his head bowed low with shame. His father sees his son, who has spent all his money, ran with the wrong crowd, and miserably failed his family. The loving father looks past the sin and despair and sees the son that he loves and rushes down the road to put his arms around him.

On another occasion reported in John 4: 35 after having a conversation with the Samarian woman at the well Jesus spoke to his disciples. “Do you not say, there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold 1 say to you lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. ” It has the sound of a rebuke. Had the disciples regarded Samaria as a most unlikely field? Had they failed to see the harvest all around them? Jesus did not pity and do nothing but he said get the sickle and harvest them. Jesus did not see them as always being in

that situation but he saw them being transformed into a different sphere. He saw the lost being saved. He saw sinners becoming saints. He saw the guilty being set free. He saw the un-forgiven being forgiven. He saw those deserving of hell getting grace. Instead of moaning and groaning about the bad state of affairs he magnified the expectancy and hopefulness that is anticipated in the harvest.

Do we see those around us as potential saints? We see so much getting worse and worse, that we never see the potential in the world. But where there is a lost soul and where grace still reigns supreme, there is hope and there is a potential saint. No matter how “good” or how “bad” they are, there is potential.

He cautions his disciples to lift up their eyes from their own personal limitations. What are the limitations that keep you from being a part of reaching the world for Christ? It is amazing to me that we are always either to young or too old to do something for God. Is Educational limitations? Jesus wants us to lift our eyes away from those things that would limit us and look at how enormous the harvest is.

He reminds them that there is urgency to the task. “Don’t say that there is plenty of time. ” People are dying everyday, and going to a Christ-less eternity. The challenge to the church of today is that there that untold millions out there, that need to find God. We must not only see what Jesus sees but

SECOND, WE MUST FEEL WHAT JESUS FEELS

“He was moved with compassion for them. ” The word “compassion,” means to feel the pain of another person in your own heart. Jesus was sick at heart, burdened and broken over his lost city and nation. In Luke 19:41 that as Jesus looked over Jerusalem he was moved by their spiritual condition. “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,..” Oh how we need brokenhearted people who will weep over their lost neighbors, friends and family. How desperately we need people who will weep over their cities and communities.

We must not only feel what Jesus feels but,

THIRD, WE MUST DO WHAT JESUS DID

We are told in verse thirty-six, “He was moved with compassion for them,.. ” That compassion led to action.

First, he asked them to pray for laborers. “Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." The first thing to do is pray. Why must we pray? Because this is the Lord’s work. What is impossible with men is possible with God. If there is going to be a great reaping of the harvest it will because of God. The harvest we want is impossible with us. It is based on God’s power.

Next he asked them to go as laborers. It is through prayer we will gain the compassion we need to see the harvest as they truly are and it is through prayer that we will see that there is great potential in the harvest and it is through prayer that we will ask for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.

In the days of Christ’s ministry on the earth the laborers were “few ” and they still are today. How can we ask God to send forth