Boys and girls, I’ve got a question for you today. What would you like to do when you grow up? Maybe some of you would like to be a police officer, or work for the fire service. Maybe you’d like to be a journalist or a sports star. Maybe you’d like to be a doctor or a nurse.
This morning I want to challenge everyone here - boys and girls, mums and dads, grannies and grandas and everybody - to become a harvest worker. You can’t be too young for the job; and you’re never too old for the job - you can start today; and you don’t even have to give up whatever job you already do.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself - what’s involved in this job as a harvest worker? What would I have to do? What are the hours like? What’s the pay like? And I have to be upfront with you - it’s a fulltime commitment, but the rewards are out of this world. So let’s look at the job advert from this morning’s Bible reading.
In Matthew 9, we find that Jesus has been travelling through all the towns and villages. And what has he been doing in all these places? ‘Teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.’ (35) Jesus has been teaching, and preaching, and healing. He’s sharing the good news about his kingdom; he’s putting wrong things right. And as he goes about the country, Matthew tells us what Jesus sees:
‘When he saw the crowds...’ (36)
What do you see when you see a big crowd of people? When you walk into the school assembly hall full of teachers and pupils, what do you see? When you walk up the street in Portadown or Armagh or Belfast, what do you see? You might know a few people: you normally bump into someone you know; but even the people you know, never mind the people you don’t know - what do you see?
Jesus sees the crowds of people, and he feels something:
‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.’
Jesus sees the crowds of people, and he cares about them. He feels for them. He had compassion on them. That word compassion means to suffer alongside. Jesus sees the people, he knows what they’re going through, and he has compassion for them. He’s concerned for them. He enters into their situations and their suffering, and cares about them - because he loves them.
And why does Jesus feel this way?
‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ (36)
When Jesus sees the crowds, he sees their situations, he sees their hearts, and he sees that they are ‘harassed and helpless.’ Perhaps you feel this way today. Perhaps you know what it’s like to be harassed and helpless. You’re stressed out; feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders; knocked down or knocked out; and you don’t know what to do, or where to turn; feeling all alone, without any flicker of hope.
Matthew gives us a picture of what being harassed and helpless is like - ‘like sheep without a shepherd.’ Normally the sheep follow the shepherd, and are protected by the shepherd, and are provided for by the shepherd; but if they have no shepherd, then they’re lost. They feel harassed and helpless and don’t know where to turn.
And that’s how people are when they’re not following the Lord who is our shepherd. And so Jesus sees the crowds, he sees their situations, and he has compassion for them. Do we see people the way Jesus sees them? Do we care for people who don’t know Jesus? Do we care that they’re harassed and helpless, that they don’t know the shepherd Lord?
And what Jesus sees leads him to say something. Do you see what Jesus says:
‘Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”’ (37-38)
He says that there’s a big job to do, but there aren’t enough people to do the job. There’s loads to do, but not loads of people to do it. There’s a big harvest to gather in - it’s plentiful; but there are a small number of harvest workers. Do you see the problem?
A plentiful harvest but few workers. So what needs to happen? What do you need if there’s more work than there are workers? You need more workers! Do you see what Jesus says next? ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’
Jesus tells the disciples to ask for more harvest workers. And who is the Lord of the harvest? Who is the person who owns the field, that we have to ask? It’s Jesus!
Jesus tells us to ask him for more harvest workers - to pray for more people to go out and gather in the harvest, as they share the good news of Jesus the king. To be a harvest worker is to tell people about Jesus, and to bring them to Jesus. And there is more work to be done. More people who are harassed and helpless need to be brought to Jesus. And so we need to pray for harvest workers - people who will share the gospel wherever they are, or wherever God sends them. Because here in Richhill and in Northern Ireland and right around the world there is a harvest to be gathered in.
So Jesus sees the need; and he says to ask him for harvest workers; and finally, Jesus sends out the workers. The disciples are told to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. And the very next thing that happens is that their prayer is answered. The Lord of the harvest does send out workers - and who does he send? He sends the disciples! The disciples were the answer to their own prayers.
That’s sometimes how God works. We might see a particular need; something that needs to be done. And so we pray to God, asking for more people to work with young people; or for someone to start a seniors outreach; or whatever it is - and we find that we are the answer to our own prayers, as God sends us to do the thing that is on our hearts.
Today is Vocations Sunday in the Church of Ireland. It’s a reminder that every Christian is called to ministry. Each of us is called to use the gifts God has given us to serve him and other people. Each of us is called to be harvest workers, as we point people to Jesus and bring them to Jesus. So pray for harvest workers - for people to go out into God’s harvest field at home or away - and then see where God sends you to work in his harvest field.
It may be that God is calling you to ordained ministry. Consider it seriously, and carefully, and prayerfully. I’d love to chat with you about it.
Jesus sees the need - people who are harassed and helpless - and he feels compassion for them. Jesus says to pray to him, asking for harvest workers because the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. And as we pray to the Lord of the harvest, we’ll find that Jesus sends us to be harvest workers. Let’s pray now to the Lord of the harvest, as we ask, and offer ourselves in his service.
This sermon was preached at the Family Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 15th September 2019.
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