6/8/08 - Pentecost 4 - Matthew 9:35-10:8

HIS FIELDS AWAIT
- There is much to harvest
- Faithful workers are needed

Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Indiana are the 5 largest corn-producing states in this country. And so, not surprisingly, entire sections of those states are completely covered with corn fields. If you have ever been off the interstate or highway in those areas, in the middle of one of those large expanses of corn, you can look north, south, east, and west and see nothing but green fields. Rolling hills of vegetation. Miles and miles of 8, 9, 10 foot high corn plants. It’s an amazing thing to see thousands of acres of nothing but gravel roads and fertile fields. And it’s just as impressive to see an aerial view of those parts of the country. Perfectly circled corn fields set in gravel road squares, half a mile in diameter and symmetrically aligned block by block, row by row, column by column. There are so many corn fields in those areas that within those five states alone, 49 million acres of corn was planted last year. That’s a lot of corn planted in just a few states. And that’s a lot of corn to be harvested in such a short period of time.
Have you ever seen an aerial view of the city of Montrose? You’ve at least seen a map of the city which is, of course, drawn from an aerial view point. It’s nothing too impressive. A couple highways intersect, there a few other main roads, a handful of side streets, and that’s about it. In fact, you’ve seen a map of Montrose or maps in general often enough that you don’t even give the layout of the city a second thought. But may I suggest that every time you look at a map of Montrose, you are looking at a field ready for the harvest. It may not be millions of acres. It may not be as symmetrically pleasing to the eye as thousands of fields of corn, but it is much more important. Because this is God’s field. And his field awaits. There is much to harvest and little time. And so faithful workers are needed.
“The harvest is plentiful,” Jesus said, “but the workers are few.” Whenever you look at a Montrose area map, or whenever you drive through town, know that the harvest here is plentiful. There is much to gather in! And I know that it might not seem that way at times. We are continually confronted with unbelievers, we know many who call themselves “Christians” but don’t come to worship him, and we see many more who belong to denominations that do not teach Christ as the Savior. And on top of that, our evangelism efforts don’t always produce a lot of results; and the time and the effort and the money that we put into spreading the word about our congregation doesn’t usually sway many people to stop by. But there are souls out there. Plenty of souls. There are many souls in this city who have no hope because they have no Savior. There are many souls here who have been stuck in congregations that are filled with people but void of truth. There are many souls around us that need encouraging and prodding and patience. Souls that need harvesting. Even though we might not know who they are yet.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Even though we might not know who these souls are or exactly where they’re at, God does. Because they are in his field! He knows exactly which souls need to be harvested. He knows exactly which souls will be brought to faith through his Word. And he longs for them. He desperately and eagerly seeks their repentance and salvation, just as he did with those when he was physically on this earth. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.’” Jesus’ heart goes out to those in need. He aches to see his wandering sheep without a knowledge of their Shepherd and he desires that they are found and led to him.
But these souls, precious to the Lord, will only be found with his Word. No other “machinery” is needed for this harvest. Because since this is the Lord’s field, no other equipment is necessary. We don’t have to trick people into coming or lure them in with special programs or stunning facilities. Because even if people would come for those things, those things wouldn’t convince them to stay. Only the Lord’s Word works in the Lord’s harvest field. And he wants those souls in his field to hear his Word or read it or be reminded of it or be encouraged by it in some way. In every way. And his field awaits. And it is waiting for us. There is much to harvest and so faithful workers are needed.
“Ask the Lord, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” And although Jesus is asking you to pray for workers to be sent out into his harvest field, when Jesus originally said these words, he didn’t say them about his disciples, he said these words to his disciples. They were supposed to pray that the Lord would send out more workers into his harvest field. And so these workers that the Lord wants to harvest souls in his field are not restricted to official “called workers” of the church, such as pastor and teachers. They are included, without a doubt, but they are not alone. You are a worker in God’s harvest field as well. You have been called to get your hands dirty, to put in some time, to gather those who need to hear the precious gospel that you have come to believe. And you know that. You know that you are a worker in God’s harvest field. That’s why so many of you are involved with our evangelism efforts. That’s part of being a worker in God’s harvest field. Canvassing, door hanging, stuffing, letter writing are all ways in which we venture out into the fields in hopes of finding souls to bring back in. Personally witnessing to your friends and relatives and neighbors is another way to work in God’s harvest field. Encouraging and inviting those you meet and see is yet another way to work in God’s harvest field. There is much the Lord has given us to harvest here and so very faithful workers are needed to the work.
How faithful a worker have you been during these years of harvest? Not how faithful you’d like to be. Not how faithful you try to be or should be. But how faithful have you proved yourself to be in your life? I can’t speak for you, but personally, I’ve been so unfaithful during the harvest that I probably shouldn’t even be considered a “worker” in God’s field. There have been many friends that I never invited, friends that I never encouraged, friends I spent years with but now might not spend eternity with. There have been neighbors I have left in their unbelief without caring so much as to try to reach out. There have been co-workers who never knew who I was or what I believed because I never told them. I have been in many of the Lord’s harvest fields in many different parts of the country, but I have done little harvesting. I have not been a faithful worker and even now, in this harvest field at this point of my life, I am no different. I am a lazy worker. A careless worker. And a distracted worker. Aren’t you?
We tend to be lazy and careless and easily distracted when it comes to working in God’s harvest field. We find it too much work, too difficult of work, and too time-consuming and so we always, always find other things to do instead. We are living in and around and among God’s harvest fields but we usually keep our hands in our pockets, fix our eyes straight ahead, and try to walk as fast as we can and try not to think about it. We walk past countless souls and lose countless opportunities all the time. And God is watching. It’s his harvest field and you are his workers in it and so he is always watching. He knows what you are doing. He knows what you haven’t done. And he even knows why - because he can look at your thoughts and into the deepest most secret parts of your heart. He has given us a place in his harvest field. He has given us the tools to work in it. But we have been anything but faithful. We have really been faithless.
Normally, when a supervisor sees workers not working, on a regular basis, time and time again, even after multiple warnings and clear reprimands, the workers will finally be fired because they are not workers at all. They are wasting the supervisor’s money and resources and have tried his patience one too many times. And so it is absolutely amazing that we have not been fired! It’s incredible that the Lord, who has seen everything we’ve been up to in his harvest field, hasn’t already kicked us out! We waste his time and brush off his commands and test his patience and yet he doesn’t get rid of us. Instead he forgives us! And then he forgives us again and again and again. After catching us doing other things on the clock rather than the work he has called us to do, he gathers us together and says, “I know you what you have done. I am not happy with your performance, but I will not fire you for it. I am not happy with you, but I will not punish you for it either. Because I have already done what you cannot.” In fact, at the beginning of our sermon text this morning Matthew writes, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” Jesus was constantly working the harvest fields. He was continually reaching out to the lost, preaching to them, teaching them, healing them, encouraging them, helping them, and praying for them. He dedicated every waking moment to the lost - us included. And he not only dedicated every waking moment to his people, but his Dying Moment as well. That’s why he will not punish us for our misbehavior. He has already taken that punishment for us. There is no punishment left to be given. There is no consequence remaining for our sins. Just forgiveness every time.
And that’s our motivation. The cross of Christ is our motivation to faithfully work in his harvest field. Because we know it won’t always be easy, it won’t always be pleasant, it won’t always be fun or visibly rewarding or outwardly gratifying. And so there needs to be something that snaps us out of our laziness and brings us back from our carelessness and pushes us through our distractions. That “something” is the cross and only the cross. If we have the cross in our minds at all time, working in God’s harvest field will not seem like work. It will be a joy. It will be yet another opportunity to please our Lord and thank him for what he has done. And we will see the work in his harvest field as it really is: a chance to gather together wandering souls so that they too can see that this same cross of Christ - the cross that has saved us - has saved them as well.
And his fields await. God’s fields that contain these lost souls are waiting. Fields that are right out our front door. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of people in this small town who do not yet know there Savior. Wandering sheep. Eventual lambs in the Lord’s flock. And the time to gather them in won’t last forever. There is much to harvest, my faithful co-workers. Much more than we now know. May the Lord keep us faithful in this harvest work - for his sake and theirs.
Amen.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” - Rev. 11:15