Workers and harvesting

We're going to read from Matthew 9, verse 35, all the way through to Matthew 10, verse 16.

Matthew 9:35 Matthew 10:16

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues

and healing every disease and every affliction.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to

cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.

The names of the twelve apostles are these.

First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother.

James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother.

Philip and Bartholomew.

Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector.

James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus.

Simon, the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them,

go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,

but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.

You received without paying, give without pay.

Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts,

no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff,

for the laborer deserves his food.

In whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it

and stay there until you depart.

As you enter the house, greet it.

And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it.

But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words,

shake off the dust from your feet when you leave the house or town.

Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment

for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.

So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Well, it was a long time ago, a different life really,

but I well remember harvest time on the farm growing up

and then in a later life working for a seed breeding company,

a wheat breeding company.

Harvest always brought mixed emotions.

On the one hand, it was incredibly exciting

because harvest was the end for which you worked all year.

That's what you did, that was what you had in mind

when you were doing the plowing, when you were planting,

when you were spraying, when you were watering,

and when you were waiting nervously for the crop to come ready.

So harvest time was the culmination of a whole year's worth of work,

or at least a good part of the year's worth of work.

But it always brought that mixed emotion.

It was a high energy time.

Harvest meant all that work had been worthwhile.

But as I say, it was a mixed emotion because it was also a daunting time.

Hot summer days, hard, heavy, dangerous work because it was all with machines.

Long hours, because there's lots to do,

and it just never quite seemed as if there was enough helpers to actually do it.

And sometimes harvest was just purely heartbreaking.

It might be one of those harvests this year.

You finally get a good crop, there's a good price,

and then the weather beats you.

So that's harvesting, a real mix of emotions.

Well, in verses 37 and 38 of the passage before this morning,

Jesus changes his language to describe his mission,

and he starts to use the language of harvesting.

But before we get into the details,

and both the exciting and the daunting aspects of this harvest of Jesus,

I want to remind you again of the bigger context,

which I think helps us understand these verses properly.

The bigger context is Jesus' authority and priority in his mission.

Matthew himself reminds us again in chapter 9, verse 35.

Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages,

teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,

and healing every disease and every affliction.

Now that's one of those word brackets that I've spoken about before.

And it pushes us right back to chapter 4 in verses 14 to 17,

where Jesus begins his ministry.

And from that very point, Jesus presents himself as Messiah.

That is, the Old Testament promised king and savior.

The one who would come to reestablish the kingdom or rule of God.

And Matthew in chapters 4 to 9

emphasizes Jesus' authority and priority in mission.

And he does that by using these bookend verses, these bracket verses.

So chapter 4, verse 23, you'll see,

is almost an identical verse to chapter 9, verse 35.

It talks about Jesus' mission as proclaiming, teaching, and healing.

He would proclaim the good news of Messiah's arrival.

He would teach what the kingdom rule would look like.

And in line with Isaiah's prediction,

he would heal every disease and illness among the people.

And that, if you go back and read through Isaiah,

was a very particular thing because that event,

those happenings, Isaiah said,

they would mark the arrival of Messiah and the age of salvation,

the long-promised age of salvation.

So Jesus does that as a sense to tell us

that that which Isaiah predicted has now come.

But it also illustrates his authority and priority

in undoing the effects of sin

and restoring God's image bearers to the character of God

and to relationship with God.

So chapter 9, verse 35,

brings that first section of 49 to a close,

but also then links into the next section,

which we're going to look at over the next three weeks,

which runs through to the end of chapter 10,

a section in which Jesus details by another sermon.

So we've had the Sermon on the Mount in the first section.

Now we're going to get the Sermon on Mission

in this section through to the end of verse 10.

And again, Jesus is developing his authority and priority

in mission in a different way,

using different language, different pictures.

And he now describes, as I said before,

his mission in terms of harvesting and shepherding in verse 36.

Now, harvesting and shepherding,

both metaphors, and they are metaphors,

they're picture words,

both are used in the Old Testament by the prophets.

And again, each of them describes the coming age of salvation

and the mission of Messiah or Jesus.

And Jesus used them as the basis, as I said, of another sermon,

teaching how his mission of kingdom building

would actually develop and happen,

how it would work out in practice.

And here's the first of the big points in this new section.

And it's a bit confronting, really,

but we'll dig into it over the next three weeks.

His disciples would share in the mission of Messiah.

His disciples would actually share in his mission

of proclaiming, teaching,

and we'll have a look in a minute of healing.

And that, we'll come back to that healing a bit.

So Isaiah 52 and Ezekiel 34

are the two chapters predominantly that lie behind these verses.

And those two chapters picture the joy

of God's salvation coming to God's people.

And it's a familiar verse that Paul also uses in Romans chapter 10,

Romans 10 · chapter mention

talking about the same sort of thing.

And the verse says,

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him,

or those who bring good news of happiness,

who publish salvation,

who say to Zion,

Your God reigns.

The Old Testament prophets envisaged this time of salvation

when people would, with Messiah,

proclaim God as Savior and King.

And Ezekiel 34 pictures the day

when God will replace false shepherds

who abused God's people.

And I think that's a reference here back to verse 34,

the Jewish religious leaders.

Ezekiel 34 contrasts the false shepherds

that abuse and harass God's people

and were self-interested,

were caring for themselves rather than God's people,

with the true shepherd,

the Messiah,

who would come to rescue his sheep

and point them back to his grace and mercy.

And so, I want to stop here

and press upon you the principle again

that we'll dig into over the next three weeks.

That is,

Jesus invites his followers,

his disciples,

that is,

you and me,

if you're a Christian this morning,

Jesus invites his followers,

or his disciples,

to share in the mission of Messiah.

To share in that kingdom-building mission.

It's quite an incredible thought, really,

when you think about it.

And that means both harvesting

and shepherding

or caring for God's people.

Not only does Jesus invite you,

it's actually stronger than that

in these verses.

Jesus expects you,

as a believer,

to share in his rescue mission.

How will you do that?

We'll see in more detail,

but at this point,

how do you do it?

By imitating what Jesus does.

Follow the leader.

Proclaiming the good news.

Teaching what the kingdom of God looks like.

And we'll see in a minute

how the healing fits in.

So, friends,

it's an incredible privilege

that's on show here.

That we should be brought in

to that very, very fundamental,

important mission of Messiah.

An incredible privilege,

but it's also a great responsibility.

And so, like the harvest I remember

as a young bloke,

it's both exciting and daunting.

So, the question I want to spend

the rest of the morning on this morning

is,

what will motivate you and me, then,

to throw ourselves into this hard work?

The hard work of harvesting

and the hard work of shepherding.

Well, I've got four points.

You'll see them on the outline

if you've got it in front of you there.

The first one is that

seeing people with the compassion

and love of Jesus.

It's an attitude to start with.

Now, given the events

of chapters 8 and 9,

which I've been looking at

over the last four weeks,

I think we could really easily

understand Jesus

feeling a real sense of frustration.

He hasn't been recognized

like he should have been recognized.

Or perhaps even resentment.

He's been used by the crowd

as just a very nice Mr. Fix-It.

But people haven't really wanted

to worship him as God.

Or maybe even anger.

He's been bad-mouthed

by the Jewish religious leaders.

They, of all people,

should have recognized him

and been his strongest supporters.

It's not frustration,

resentment, or anger

that we see in Jesus

when he looks at the crowds.

Verse 36.

It's compassion.

When he looked at the crowds,

he had compassion for them.

Why?

Because they were harassed

and helpless

like sheep

without a shepherd.

Jesus looks at the crowd

and he sees people

individually

and corporately

as a group.

People who are lost.

And if you know

anything in farming

and sheep management,

what you have with sheep herd

is you've got a whole

big number of sheep

and they're all

very, very happily

going together

as long as they're together.

But not one of them

know where they're going.

Not one of them

actually know where they are.

They're just all

going together

and there's some security

in that.

And that's what Jesus sees.

This massive crowd

in front of them.

They're all sort of

finding some security

in being in that crowd

together,

but Jesus sees

that none of them

really know where they're going.

None of them know

who they are.

They're just following

each other blindly,

hoping that the person

of the sheep next to them

knows where they're going.

My friends,

what a sad picture

of despair

and aimlessness

in life.

And Jesus looks

at this crowd

and he knows

their need for rescue.

He knows

they need to be delivered

from their own

foolish thinking.

Determined thinking,

no doubt.

They need rescued

from their lifestyle

that they may

think is quite successful.

They need rescue.

They need redirection,

new direction

and purpose in life.

So friends,

the first point

of challenge

for you this morning

is,

is that how

you see people?

Every day

we rub shoulders

with lots of different

people,

don't we?

Neighbors,

wider family,

workmates,

sportsmates

that we play

sport with,

just down the shops

as we go around

our daily business.

Neighbors,

I mean there's a whole

list of people

that just on a daily

basis we rub shoulders

with.

How do you see them?

Do you look past

the veneer?

Are you moved

by their lostness?

Now I'm talking

about people

who might present

really,

really nicely.

Most of our friends

and families

and workmates

do.

But are you moved

by their lostness

because you see

past what you're

seeing and you

see them chasing

security and meaning

and purpose

in endless

entertainment,

in fads of fashion,

in the latest

gadgets,

in the latest

relationship

and so on

the list could go.

Do you delight

to tell them

of the rescue

and the new life

that you've experienced

in Jesus?

Or are you

simply happy

to engage

with them

at face value?

as one nice

person

to another

nice person?

And if we do

that,

you know what

it means?

It means

that we

privately

enjoy

and delight

in the benefits

of our salvation

in Jesus

and don't really

care too much

about those

we mix with.

That's a harsh

way of putting it

but I guess

when you take

all the frills

away,

that's what

it boils down

to.

Second point

then is

the second

motivation

is to see

my part

in meeting

this need.

How does

Jesus intend

us to share

or get involved

in his mission

of harvesting

or saving

people from

their lostness?

Well,

it's very interesting

verse,

verse 38.

Praying,

by praying.

Now,

I don't know

about you

but that

seemed to me

to be

a strange

strategy.

See,

I'm an activist.

I look and think

there's so much

to do,

so few people

to do it.

Let's get cracking,

let's get mobile.

What does

Jesus say?

He said,

yeah,

there is a lot

to do,

very few people

to do it,

so let's pray.

Let's pray.

Pray urgently

that the Lord

of the harvest

will send out

laborers

into his harvest.

Now,

we might have

expected directions

to employ

expert evangelists

with specialized

theological training

because this work

of harvesting

is a specialized

gig.

Or we might have

expected directions

to plan all sorts

of evangelistic events,

all sorts of

church-sponsored events,

formal events,

appeals to raise funds

for these sort of things.

Now,

no doubt

these things

have their place,

but the first

and most urgent

part of mission

is always going

to be prayer.

Why?

Because harvesting

is a spiritual work

and it requires

spiritual weapons.

See,

salvation

or bringing

somebody into the kingdom

from darkness

into light,

it requires

a complete

reformatting

of a person

from the inside out.

Total change.

And of course,

once we see that,

then we know

that we can't do it.

I can't change

a single attitude

in somebody else.

Only the Lord

of the harvest

can do that.

So we pray.

But as well as praying,

we get on with

the ordinary business

of gossiping

the gospel.

Harvesting's

a two-sided coin.

We pray

and we get on

with the job

of telling people

the gospel.

That's what Jesus did.

That's our job.

That's our brief.

And then as we move

into chapter 10,

we see

that in this early stage

of Jesus' mission,

it's the band

of 12

whom he commissions

for a short-term

mission

into surrounding

Jews' villages

and homes

in Galilee.

But as we look

across the whole

spectrum of Mark's

record of the life

of Jesus,

by the time we get

to the end,

we see that things

have changed.

And after the resurrection,

it's clear

that the principle

is that all Christ's

people are to be

involved in proclaiming

the good news

of the gospel.

So therefore,

my friends,

what it means is this,

again,

come back to that

principle.

Being a disciple

is what qualifies

and mandates you

to be involved

in mission.

Simply by being

a Christian,

you're expected

and invited

to be involved

in the mission

of Messiah.

And that's a really

important thing

to grasp

because, you see,

confidence for success

in this mission

of harvesting

is not in the ability

or the qualifications

necessarily,

educational or otherwise,

of the laborers.

Confidence for success

lies with the Lord

of the harvest.

harvest.

What a ragtag bunch

Jesus commissions here

for the work

of harvest.

Most were fishermen.

We know from other

parts of the scriptures

that they were

uneducated,

some of them

uncouth,

and all of them

are not ordinary.

Then in the middle

of the list,

you've got Matthew.

He comes along

unable to shake

his reputation

as a despicable

man in a past life,

a tax collector.

And blow me down,

you've got Judas,

a disciple at this

point,

who later was

seen to lose

his way in a

really,

really awful way.

Yet he's included.

I tell you,

it's a ragtag bunch.

And they're the ones

commissioned

as the forerunners

and therefore the model

for all of us

here this morning

to proclaim the gospel,

to teach.

And there's something

really lovely about that,

isn't there?

Because as Jesus

invites us

and expects us

to be involved

in his mission,

so he's also telling us

that the outcome

doesn't rest

on us alone.

We're given the job

of gossiping the gospel.

He's the Lord

of the harvest.

He'll do what only

he can do

if we'll do

what he asks us to do.

Our confidence

for mission

is not our abilities.

It's not our eloquence.

It's not even

the depth

of our understanding

of scriptures

as a whole.

It's in the Lord

of the harvest

supernaturally

using

the words

that we speak

as we're

rubbing shoulders

with people

in a myriad

of opportunities

every single day.

So my friends,

second challenge

this morning.

Are you praying

this dangerous prayer?

Have you been praying

this dangerous prayer?

And it is a dangerous prayer.

Are you praying

that the Lord

might cause you

to overflow

with compassion

such that you're

compelled

when you bump

shoulders

with myriad

people every day

that you're compelled

as you see

their lostness

to speak

the words of life?

Amen.

Amen.

Are you praying

that the Lord

of the harvest

might change

those that you

see regularly

in all sorts

of circumstances?

Are you praying

that the Lord

of the harvest

might go before you

so that the words

you speak

might be made

effective in their lives?

The Lord of the harvest

might actually

change their hearts

and renew

their minds.

And I think

we've got to ask

this as a church.

Is this

what we're

known for

as a church family?

Is this a priority?

Is this an urgency

for us?

Or have we just

settled into

a nice

comfortable

club?

If we're not

praying,

if you're not

praying individually

and if we're not

praying as a church

family together,

if we're not

doing that,

if we're not

taking the

opportunities

in everyday life,

and my friend,

I'm telling you,

there's opportunities

every time you

engage with a person.

We're not talking

formal evangelistic

opportunities,

as sometimes I think

we set it up

so we can

actually say,

well,

this isn't

the right time.

So we sort of

set it up in a way

that we can

excuse ourselves.

No,

this is just

gossiping the gospel.

This is just

overflowing.

As we engage

in any sort

of conversation,

the lostness

and the hopelessness

comes out

really quickly.

People pin

their hopes

in this

and frame

their lives

by that.

It's a wonderful

opportunity,

many,

many times,

just for those

few words.

words of life.

So if we're

not praying,

it seems to me

there's only

limited options.

Perhaps we're

not praying

those prayers

because we're

actually caught

up in the

lifestyle

that I'm

talking about

here,

and therefore,

in a sense,

drawn to that

lifestyle

ourselves,

rather than

seeing it

as a statement

of lostness.

or if it's

not that,

then if we're

not praying,

that's perhaps

we think that

their lostness

might be

addressed in

some other

way apart

from salvation

in Jesus.

Jesus.

There aren't

too many more

options I

could come

up with.

Third point

of confidence

and motivation

for us

is having

confidence then

in the tools

that Christ

provides.

Jesus sends

out this

ragtag

bunch of

disciples

on a

mission

which,

humanly

speaking,

is impossible.

But the

key here is

that he

sends them

out with

his full

authority.

And that

means they've

got all the

tools they

need to do

the job he

asked them

to do.

What are

those tools?

Well, they

have the

simple message,

verse 7.

The kingdom

of heaven is

at hand.

Now, we

can fill

that out a

little bit

more,

but there's

essentially the

message,

the simple

message that

Jesus had

come to

save his

people from

their sin

and establish

the long

awaited rule

of God.

He'd come to

rescue people

from lostness

and give

them meaning

and purpose

in life.

And they

delegated

authority of

Jesus to

add weight

to their

words.

Now, this

is where I'm

going to touch

down again

on this

notion of

healing.

Can we

expect this

healing,

ordinarily,

to be part

of our

gospel ministry

and gospel

mission?

Well, if you

look at verse

1 and

verse 8,

we pick up

the notion

of those

two verses.

And clearly,

Jesus gives

them the ability

to heal,

including raising

the dead.

This is extreme

power he's

given these

guys.

What are we

to make of it?

well, at

this point,

their ability

to heal

in the

extremity is

tied with

their authority.

It was given

them as a

point of

authority, a

confirmation

that they

were ambassadors

of Jesus,

ambassadors of

Messiah,

engaged in

exactly the

same work as

Messiah was

engaged in.

Now, that

this power

was a special

feature for a

special time,

limited, and

not an enduring

principle,

becomes clear by

the end of

Matthew's record.

By the end of

Matthew's record,

we move to

what's called the

Great Commission

in Matthew

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28.

And when Jesus

gives that Great

Commission, we

find that the

delegated authority

of Jesus,

now resides in

his word, in

his written

word.

And there's no

longer a mention

of healing at

that point.

And so, from

there, we can

say the delegated

authority and

power of Jesus

to believers

today, where

Jesus says,

lo, I'll be

with you always,

is in his

written word,

what we call

the Bible.

It is that

word which is

powerful to

save as the

Holy Spirit

takes that

word and

applies it to

the hearts of

those we

speak to.

And finally,

the final tool,

the weapon for

the disciples,

was the tool of

radically changed

lives.

Now, this is my

attempt to deal

with verses 8

and 9, or

8b, 9 and

10.

This strange

travel log

direction, not to

take any extra

stuff with you.

So, folk have

labored over these

verses for years

looking for some

sort of deep,

significant meeting.

I think the point

might be rather

simple.

I think it might

come from the

passages in

Isaiah I've just

referred to earlier

on, Isaiah 52

particularly.

That is, it's

aligned with what

Isaiah predicted

as a mark of

the edge of

God's outpouring

of grace and

salvation.

And back then,

in Isaiah's day,

he said that the

mark of that

would be that

you receive

God's salvation

as a free

gift and you

hand it on as

a free gift.

That's the

essence of how

God deals with

people, in

grace.

And so I

think this here

is just a

confirmation

again, or

a direction

again, that

the approach

of the

disciples on

mission was

to reflect the

grace of the

gospel as they

had experienced

it.

the changing

power of

Jesus is

free, and

Jesus wanted

to be clear

that it was

the gospel

message which

motivated these

guys to be on

mission, and

not the idea of

personal benefit

or gain.

In the day,

there were a lot

of traveling

rabbis, and

they were like

sort of theological

buskers.

They would go

around the

neighborhood, and

quite literally,

they would

present themselves

in splendor to

attract the

crowd, and

then they

literally would

sell their

wisdom.

Jesus doesn't

want his

disciples to be

even close to

that.

So, friends,

the question

again now is

then, are you

confident in the

tools provided?

See, this is how

it works.

we might

understand the

invitation and

expectation to be

involved in the

mission of Jesus,

and then we

start to say,

well, heck, I

can't do that.

Well, you can

do it if you

get confidence in

the tools that

Jesus provided

you with.

Words of

grace, words

of salvation for

the worst of

sinners.

the words are

here.

We just have

to share

them.

We don't

have to make

them up.

We just

share them.

The awesome

power of the

Holy Spirit

behind those

words, making

them real in

the hearts of

the people to

whom we

speak.

We don't

even have to

make the

words impact.

We just have

to state them

clearly, and

the Holy Spirit

will look after

that aspect of

things.

things.

And all

that reinforced

with the

compelling

evidence and

witness and

testimony of

changed lives.

And believe you

me, my

friends, that is

a compelling

witness.

People in our

society today are

actually asking the

question, does it

work?

That's what they

want to know in

anything of life.

Does it work?

The radically

changed life is a

compelling addition

to the words we

speak, and a

necessary addition

to the words we

speak, or a

compliment, rather

than an addition

to the words we

speak.

I think, again,

perhaps the real

problem that keeps

many of us from

throwing ourselves

into harvest is

that we have lost

confidence in the

tools provided.

These tools don't

look or sound

impressive.

especially given

the enormity of

the task.

But that

pushes me to my

last point of

motivation, and

that is understanding

the success of

harvest is

guaranteed.

So in the last

few verses, Jesus

doesn't hide the

fact that just as

opposition to him

was becoming more

frequent and more

vicious, so his

harvesters would

experience the

similar sort of

things.

And so I think

Jesus here gives

a perspective to

get his mission

workers through

these tough times.

Verses 11 through

to 15 has this

strange thing about

going into

somebody's house,

and then if they

don't respond, then

just walk away.

then I think what's

happening here is a

picture of what they

were familiar with in

the day, symbolically.

So Jesus is saying,

okay, if you take the

words of the gospel to

a particular house, a

particular village, a

particular person, and

they aren't interested in

Jesus ultimately, then

you should leave and

symbolically shake the

dust of that home or

city off your feet.

Now, again, there was a

common religious

practice among the

Pharisees and

Orthodox Jews.

When they returned to

Israel, they quite

literally would shake the

dust from their feet and

their clothes.

And it was a symbol of

leaving behind everything

that was defiled and

unclean and Gentile,

everything that was

opposed to God, in

other words.

I think what Matthew's

saying here, what Jesus

is saying here through

Matthew is that he's

taking that same symbol

and applying it a

slightly different way.

If you go into a house

or speak to a person or

a village and they

refuse Jesus, the words

of Jesus, then

symbolically leave,

symbolically shaking off

the dust of that village

from you.

In other words, Jesus

is saying, warn them

that rejecting the words

of Jesus, rejecting the

ambassador of Jesus, is

the same as rejecting

Jesus himself.

So, out of all that,

what's the perspective

we should hang on to as

harvesters?

Well, I think what Jesus

is saying here is, we

must be content to do

what Jesus has asked us

to do and let God do

what only he can do.

We, practically that

means we plead with

people as much as

possible.

We plead with them to

hear the offer of

salvation in Jesus.

We even go as far as

to warn them if they're

totally disinterested

and dismissing the

offer of salvation in

Jesus.

But then, having done

all that, which is all

we're asked to do, then

we leave it to Jesus.

We walk away in a

sense and we leave it

to Jesus.

We leave it to the

Lord of the harvest to

do what only he can do

and that is either apply

our words savingly into

their lives or leave

those people in their

unbelief.

And that's, again, a

wonderful relief for us.

It's not our

responsibility to get

conversions.

It's our responsibility to

speak the word.

And when we've done that

as best we can, then we

should be relaxed and, in

sense, walk away from

the situation and let

God do with that word

what only he can do

with it.

And verse 16, I'm just

going to touch down on

because it belongs to

next week's section, but

it sort of links.

Jesus anticipates it's

going to be even worse

than just mild rejection.

So at times it's going to

feel like you're going in

the midst of a pack of

wolves trying to convince

them to be vegetarians.

And it's not going to

end well.

There's going to be

serious physical danger

ahead.

What perspective can take

us into that sort of

scenario?

Well, again, the Lord of

the harvest will guarantee

the harvest is brought

in.

Not even that sort of

opposition will stop

Jesus harvesting those

he intends to harvest

into his kingdom.

And going back to

chapter 9, verse 37,

it's going to be a

plentiful harvest, a

huge harvest.

So friends, in the light

of those four motivations,

and I hope you find them

motivating, I'll just

finish on this.

We all need to respond in

prayer.

I think we need to direct,

at least, and I'm speaking

about myself here, but I

think it probably applies to

lots more than me.

We need to direct our prayer

in two ways.

I think we need to be

praying in repentance and

asking forgiveness for our

self-interested indulgence in

the gospel.

We need to be doing that

individually and also

together as a church

family.

And what do I mean by

self-interested

indulgence?

Well, I think this is

again for me, but if it

applies to you, then make

sure you wear the cap of

it.

I think we can easily

delight in the joy of new

life in Christ.

We can delight in the

security that gives us, the

hope of heaven for the

future.

we can delight in it at

every point that we've been

rescued into new

relationship with the

Lord, new hope of heaven.

We can do all that and not

be engaged in the task of

trying to make sure that

others around us find that

similar delight.

And that's what I mean by

indulgence.

I think we do need to pray

in repentance and ask

forgiveness for that.

I certainly do.

And then we need to pray

also at the same time that

the Lord of the harvest will

make us overflow with

compassion.

Compassion for people that

we see in such lostness.

Remember, we're rubbing

shoulders every day in our

family, in our street, with

our neighbours, workmates.

We're rubbing shoulders with

people who present really,

really nicely.

They've got their life in

order, it appears.

They've got all the things

that they like.

They're set up for the

future, for their

retirement.

They've got nice wives and

husbands and nice children

and nice houses and nice

yards.

And it's so deceptive.

we need to be praying that the

Lord would help us see past

all that, see through all

that, and see people who are

lost, even in their niceness.

And that we might be so

overflowing with compassion for

them that we'll take the risk

and we'll open our mouths and

we'll say to them, well, you

know, you can have all that

stuff that can be taken away in

a minute.

It's not real good to build a

life on that.

I want to tell you that there's

a better way.

Speak of the Lord Jesus.

So pray with me now.

Lord, we have been indulgent,

self-indulgent in enjoying you.

Lord, it's right and proper that

we should enjoy you, that we

should delight in you, should see

your beauty.

And we know the sweetness of

new life and relationship with

you.

We know the freedom from guilt

that comes in knowing that our

sins have been forgiven.

But Lord, our indulgence is that

we've just been happy to have

that for ourselves and we've not

had that urgency, that compassion

that would force us to speak to

those around us.

So help us, Lord, to see people

around us as you see them.

And respond, Lord, with the same

overwhelming compassion that you

do.

I pray, Lord, that you might

help us to trust in the tools

you've given us.

Help us to trust in your spoken

word.

Help us to trust in your spirit

applying that word.

Help us, Lord, just to be content

to have a model of a changed life

that goes with us as we speak to

people.

Help us, we pray, Lord, in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.