Field Notes From the Harvest - Luke 10:1-24

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Well, so this morning we're continuing our study in the Gospel according to Luke.

We're going to be doing the first, studying through the first 24 verses of chapter 10, and I am calling our study today Field Notes from the Harvest.

I don't know if you guys like the little Field Notes journals.

I am a big fan.

Well, here's a question for you.

What do you think of when I say the word evangelism?

Just think about that for just a second.

This is not Mission Sunday, it's not evangelism Sunday.

It's just where we are in the text.

But what do you think about when I say that word evangelism?

Does it bring to mind a certain type of person or a certain type of event?

You know, somebody yelling really loudly in a tent revival or yelling loudly on a street corner in a crowded city?

Someone trying to notch up as many saves on his or her evangelical belt as possible.

What's that look like to you?

You know, I don't know about you, but I've got to say I've experienced evangelism done poorly for a lot of years.

And for a long time, my opinion of evangelism and evangelists, it was actually pretty negative based on my response.

You know, I had seen evangelism done poorly.

I'd seen people hurt and manipulated.

And so I just had a pretty negative view of it, and I thought it was rather like this want ad placed by renowned British Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton in hopes of hiring sailors.

Just my view of evangelism for a long time.

Men wanted for a hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.

Well, okay.

My very first class at seminary completely changed what I thought about evangelism.

It was called Apologetics and Outreach.

Was that your first class too?

Were we in that class together?

I can't remember.

A little bit of an aside, sorry, folks.

But he was taught by this professor named Jerem Barr who worked with Francis Schaefer at Labris.

He was a professor at Covenant Seminary, and then he ended up being head of the Schaefer Institute in the United States.

And he helped us see evangelism the way Jesus sees it.

And this quote's not up on a slide, but he says in his book, Learning Evangelism from Jesus, as we read the four Gospels, we learn that Jesus is the best example of how we are to relate to those we meet.

Whatever their views, whatever their way of life, He is the best example of how we are to live before unbelievers and how we are to love them, serve them, and speak truth to them.

Does that resonate with you at all?

Does that kind of pique your curiosity?

Oh, maybe evangelism means something entirely different.

So my next question for us to think about today is there is there another way to do evangelism?

How does God want us to look at that?

You know, what does God want to accomplish in the world?

What is his mission?

And how does he want to use us in his mission?

Our friend Chris Wright puts it like this in his book, The Mission of God.

He says, it's not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, but that God has a church for his mission in the world.

What about that?

That's some good stuff to chew on.

Maybe we've kind of been looking at it just a little bit backwards.

So let's let's pray, church, and then let's read our text.

Lord, you are so good to us.

You come running after us when we don't deserve it.

You invite us in, you give us new life, and then you ask us to go with you to participate and go do the same for other people.

Lord, I pray that you'd speak to our hearts today of your love for us and for all creation.

Open our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to your word and your will.

And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, so let's start in chapter 10.

And remember where we are in the story.

Jesus has finished his ministry season up in Galilee, and he's turned and headed towards Jerusalem and the cross.

And this will be about a six-month trip in total.

Last week, Jim taught and Jesus and the disciples were in Samaria.

They're going to continue winding their way south.

Eventually, they'll go through Jericho, they'll go through Bethany, and then they'll enter Jerusalem in what we call Palm Sunday.

So let's pick up on the journey.

Verse 1 of chapter 10.

After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

And he said to them, 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.

Go your way.

Behold, I'm sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

Well, so it starts out with after this, and this follows on the heels of the conversations that Jesus had at the end of the last chapter, where he had been telling the disciples to count the cost, to pick up your cross and follow after me.

And then there were three conversations at the very end of the chapter where men claimed they wanted to follow Jesus, but they had their own priorities and they were wanting to delay when they chose to follow him.

And so there was all this conversation about priority, commitment.

Following that conversation, this is where Jesus calls these 72.

So if you think about it, uh Jim talked about this last week, these concentric circles.

He was close with Peter, he was close with Peter, James, and John, then he had the 12, then he had a multitude of other followers, and so the 72 that we read about today were chosen from that bigger group of followers.

And he's created an advanced team here to go out into all of these villages and towns that he's going to visit on his way to Jerusalem.

Some translations say 72, some say 70, and it's mostly based on which of the earlier manuscripts were used for the translation, and I would encourage us not to get too hung up on the number 72 or 70.

All that means is there were either 35 or 36 teams that went out ahead of Jesus.

And then the next verse, verse 2, we read, we get such a picture of the heart of Christ.

He says, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

You know, Jesus is acutely aware of the need for the gospel.

He's acutely aware that there are so many people in need and they are just ripe to turn towards the Lord if someone brings them the good news and ministers to them.

Do we have any gardeners in here?

Anyone?

Ah, yes, there's one brave hand.

I guess it's early in the year.

Nobody's willing to commit yet.

I don't know if I'm a gardener yet or not.

Talk to me in May.

But for anybody that is a gardener, you know that there's certain times in the year where it seems all of your fruit and your vegetables, everything is ripening at once, right?

And there is an urgency to the harvest.

And I think that's what Jesus is sensing here.

There is an urgency to the harvest.

And so he's telling his disciples, man, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that he's going to raise up more laborers to go out into the fields and minister to people.

And I love that right after he prays that and explains that to the disciples, right after he says, pray to the Lord of the harvest, he immediately says, Go.

I just love that.

And then what does he tell them?

He tells them, I'm sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

And you can just see some of the 70 go, uh, well, wait a minute.

Is there an option?

Can I go out as a lion among the wolves?

Nope.

What about a gladiator?

Nope.

What about Delta team, Green Beret, seal team?

Nope.

What about at least like a big ram, but still a sheep?

Nope.

No, boys, I'm sending you out as lambs among the wolves.

And furthermore, I don't want you to take any provisions with you.

I don't want you to take a wallet, a purse, no, no rollerbag, no extra pair of sneakers, nothing, because Jesus wants them to know about potential danger, about the risks, and he wants them dependent on him because he's the Lord of the harvest, and the outcome of the harvest is up to Jesus.

And he wants the disciples to know this on the front end.

Okay, let's continue on, verse five.

Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him, but if not, it will return to you, and remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.

Do not go from house to house.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

Heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.

But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you.

Nevertheless, know this that the kingdom of God has come near.

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Well, here Jesus is giving instructions on how to fulfill their mission, right?

He says, okay, some towns are going to receive you, some won't.

If they do receive you, here's what you do.

Where you lodge, stay there the whole time.

Eat what they offer you, be grateful.

Don't try to go from house to house to house and get more comfy accommodations.

Go to this house, stay there the whole time, accept their hospitality, heal the sick, and then tell them the good news.

The kingdom of God has come near you.

And then in contrast, he says, But those cities that don't receive you, that are unrepentant, that they don't receive the gospel, here's what you do: you publicly go out in the street and you say, Even the dust of your town, we are shaking off the bottoms of our sandals.

And then what else do they say?

Nevertheless, the kingdom of God has come near you.

Wait a minute, isn't that the same message they're supposed to say to the towns that received them?

It's the same message, but a different response and way different results, because Jesus says, those town who reject the good news that they're in worse shape than the city of Sodom, which was well known for its wickedness.

Verse 13.

And he said, Woe to you, Corazine, woe to you, Beth Seda, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?

You shall be brought down to Hades.

The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.

So Jesus is calling out three specific cities in Galilee, Corazine, Beth Seda, and Capernaum.

And this was his home turf during this part of his earthly ministry, especially Capernaum, which was his hometown.

And when he's pronouncing these woes against them, it is a lament.

He's saying, alas, if only, but he's also being very pointed about the severity of the consequences.

He's saying that in the coming judgment, Tyre and Sidon, which are two Gentile cities up to the northwest, he's saying they'll find more favor in the judgment than these three Jewish cities because of the unrepentant unbelievers in those towns.

And then verse 16: the one who hears you hears me.

Who bears the weight of the harvest?

Jesus is extremely clear here.

He's saying the full weight of the gospel invitation rests on God alone.

Accept it or reject it, the results of the harvest are up to God.

And we're just called to be faithful and follow him.

So let's read in verse 17.

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

So what's the posture of these disciples, not the twelve apostles, but these disciples when they return?

Remember, these are relatively newbies in terms of being sent out.

This is their first time out in the field, and they return overjoyed because this fact that even the demons are subject to them in Jesus' name was a bit of an unexpected surprise.

You know, they're saying, wow, we we knew we were gonna go out and heal the sick, we knew we were gonna go out and preach the good news of the kingdom, but this, wow, this is amazing.

Well, and then what is Jesus, how does he respond to them?

He he wants to point them to what really, really matters here.

And when he tells them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, I think he's he's letting them in on three things.

Number one, Jesus admits to the presence of a real personal devil whose name is Satan.

A lot of people do not believe in demons or devils, but Jesus indicates here that is what he believes, and frankly, I'm gonna go with Jesus here.

Secondly, when he says that he saw Satan fall from heaven, I think he is claiming that he is from everlasting and he was in existence back at the beginning of time before creation when Satan was booted out of heaven.

That's a pretty strong claim.

And then thirdly, I think he's encouraging the disciples that no matter how you feel about what's going on with your evangelism, whether it's awkward or messy or uncomfortable, know that there's something going on behind behind the curtain, so to speak.

That there is a battle going on, and you are encroaching on the kingdom of Satan and helping boot him out when you undertake evangelism, no matter how awkward you feel about it.

And then he goes on and he puts all of this into perspective.

He says, All of this stuff is great that you're doing, but that's not the most important thing.

The very most important thing is that your name is written in the book of life and rejoice about that.

And friends, I hope today, through the day and tonight, as we're going to bed, that we have a better sense of that right there.

If you have said yes to Jesus, man, rejoice because your name is written in the book of life.

It is written in heaven.

That's astounding.

Okay, let's continue on.

Uh verse 21.

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your Gracious will, all things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

This is so cool.

This is the only place in the New Testament where we read that Jesus is rejoicing.

I don't think he was dour, I don't think he was unfriendly or unhappy or anything like that.

I just think this is this is such an important thing that is just happening.

Means so much.

This is why the only time we read that Jesus rejoices, and he is rejoicing in souls that have been saved.

He is rejoicing in people turning to God with the posture of a child.

Childlike, not childish.

And what a beautiful picture of the perfect love in the Trinity.

He rejoices in the Holy Spirit, and then he talks about the Father has given him everything, and that he reveals the Father to those whom he chooses.

There's just this picture of a beautiful love between the Trinity here.

And let's close it out with the last two verses, verse 23 and 24.

He turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

So Jesus has been praying and speaking to the larger group up to this point, but now he turns aside privately to the disciples and says, Look, this is such a privilege.

People have been aching to see and hear these things for centuries, and you all have the opportunity to see this.

My first takeaway from this is that Jesus has made the church for mission.

The church is the body of Christ in this world, and when we understand what Jesus wants to accomplish in the world, it helps clarify the mission of the church.

Colossians chapter 1 tells us that God through Jesus wants to reconcile to himself all things, and boy, that's a pretty good little two-word phrase, isn't it?

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

All things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

God's goal is to reconcile all things back to him.

In his book, As Far as the Curse is Found, Michael Williams says, the goal of redemption is nothing less than the restoration of the entire cosmos.

That's a big goal, but he is a big God, right?

So, friends, our call as believers, no matter who we are, no matter what we do, our call is to participate in this mission of God to restore all of creation.

He's inviting us to participate in this.

Part of that call is evangelism, sharing the good news of Christ with those who are lost, who are looking for hope, for direction, for purpose.

So, how do we do that?

How do we share the good news from Christ's perspective?

And one way that we do that is what can be called relational evangelism.

In other words, be in relationship with your friends and neighbors, especially the unbelievers.

You know what might look like just hanging out, having coffee, or watching a game together.

That's actually evangelism.

That can be a great way to build relationship and build common ground.

Jerem Barris used to say, find one thing about your neighbor that is good and true and beautiful and reflects the image of the Creator.

Build a bridge to your neighbor with that one thing and begin to build a relationship.

And he had countless stories of people that he did that with, that he was in relationship with for years, sometimes decades, that he led to the Lord out of just being willing to love them and to be patient in that relationship.

So allow the Holy Spirit to grow those relationships.

And we're not the goal is not to put a saved notch on our belts, right?

We're following Jesus' example and we're loving our neighbor.

And when he says, love your neighbor as yourself, he means loving your actual neighbor.

What a concept that is.

Authors Jay Pathick and Dave Runyon put it this way: we don't love our neighbors to convert them.

We love our neighbors because we are converted.

Come on.

That's good, isn't it?

When we start to view evangelism through that lens of being in relationship with people and loving them because our hearts have been changed, man, we're gonna be amazed at who God brings into our lives.

He's actually bringing the harvest to us.

Like Doordash, Uber Eats, hashtag Uber Harvest.

Well, so okay, our second takeaway from this passage, it's because it's Jesus who made the church for mission, right?

Therefore, the outcome of the mission rests on Jesus.

And man, I hope we can grab hold of that and hang on to it.

Because whose harvest is it?

It's the Lord's harvest.

All of this talk about mission, calling, evangelism, purpose, I know that it can make us feel pressured to perform, that the outcome is up to us.

You know, are we enough?

Do we have the right word?

Are we loving well enough?

Are we saying too much, too little?

Are we being patient enough?

You know, there is a harvest.

We just read about it.

And yeah, there's an urgency there, but the harvest belongs to Jesus, and he is in charge.

The planting, the growing, the tending, the watering, the harvesting, the outcome, it all rests on Jesus.

And that is really comforting to know.

Michael Wilcock, in his commentary on Luke, he puts this into focus for us.

He says, the marching orders for the 70 are by their very nature applicable to every Christian.

Exceptional people are not required.

I don't know if that's comforting or not or not.

It is the message they carry and the driving power that carries them, which are exceptional.

And amen indeed, yes.

It's the message that we carry that is so exceptional.

And I'll keep saying this no matter who we are, no matter what we do, no matter what our life looks like, we're called to participate in the mission of God, which is to restore all creation.

And each of us carries that little treasure with us, the love of Christ for all creation.

And we can trust God to curate the how and the when and with whom we share that.

You know, when it when is the right time?

He's trustworthy, and he intimately knows all of us.

And so we can trust how he prompts us to move or not move.

We can trust him as he moves when to speak or when to refrain from speaking.

He's the Lord of the harvest, the master gardener.

And he's also Lord and Maker of the laborers, which I want to convince you that's what we are.

We're part of this.

And the harvest is as plentiful today as it ever has been.

The need for laborers is as plentiful as it ever has been.

There's an urgency to the harvest.

And so we pray, we pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to provide more laborers because the harvest is plentiful.

J.

C.

Ryle talks about this need to pray for laborers in his commentary on Luke.

He says, Colleges may educate men, bishops may ordain them, patrons may give them livings, but God alone can raise up and send forth laborers who will do work among souls.

For a constant supply of such laborers, let us daily pray.

Amen.

We should be praying for that.

Just as a general rule, praying for each other, praying for the church, praying for our leaders, praying for the laborers of the harvest.

So here's a question for you.

Okay, what if you're anxious about how you fit in as a laborer?

You know?

Man, I'm too quiet, I'm too loud, I vote the wrong way, I'm too serious, I'm too brush, too me to be of any use.

And you know what?

Uh-uh.

Sorry.

I do want to encourage and exhort you that the best ability in terms of evangelism is availability.

The best ability is availability.

Here I am, Lord, send me.

I want to do something for you.

Open my eyes.

Use me to love my neighbor with a yappy dog in the overgrown lawn.

You know, we can trust that the Holy Spirit is going to guide and move us through every circumstance.

And there ends up being such freedom in this.

We call it the freedom of dependence.

Because Jesus is the Lord of the harvest, the outcome of the mission is up to him.

Man, there is freedom in that.

Man, we can let go, we can depend on God to care for the mission.

The results are not up to us.

It's not up to us to make the seeds grow.

Not everyone's going to receive the gospel.

Not everyone is going to respond to us.

We have a responsibility to act on what Jesus calls us to do.

But it's a dependent responsibility.

It's not up to us.

The results are up to God.

Not everyone, like I said, is going to receive the gospel when we hope they will.

Maybe we're just there to plant the seeds and somebody else is going to water it.

Or maybe somebody else is planted the seed in our neighbor's life and we're just there to water it for a time.

We're just a stepping stone to Jesus.

The one to make the harvest.

We don't have to do everything all at once.

We just do what we're called to do in the moment and allow Jesus, trust him with the results.

And this is not a slide, but Warren Wearsby said ministry takes place when divine resources, God, meets human needs, our neighbor, through loving channels, us to the glory of God.

And our last takeaway from this passage: because the outcome of the mission rests on him, we can lean in, we can trust him with the results, because we know that Jesus rejoices in every soul saved.

That's his posture.

That is why he came.

Save every soul that he could.

We can trust our friends and neighbors to Jesus because we know that he rejoices over every saved soul.

Luke chapter 15, which we'll get to in a few weeks, you know, it's the lovely parable about the shepherd with the hundred sheep.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

One of them gets lost, so he leaves the 99, and he rescues the one, and he comes home rejoicing because what was lost had been found.

And verse 7 says of chapter 15 says, There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

Man.

Jesus delights in and rejoices over every saved soul.

Heaven does a little snoopy happy dance over every saved soul.

That's what he's calling us to do, to be out in the field, to be in relationship with people, and then trust him where he's going to offer them the gospel.

You know, we we've lost a number of our hens to hawks over the winter.

It's the bane of my existence, I gotta tell you.

And I don't know, a couple of weeks ago, right before I left to come into the office, there was a hawk flying around outside.

And that night when I was closing up the chicken coop, I always count the chickens.

Don't count the eggs.

You know, not don't count your eggs before the hatch.

Anyway, I count the chickens every night, and I was too down, and man, I was so mad.

And so the next morning, go out to feed the horses, and I lift this tarp where the hay is covered up, and I hear this squawking.

One of the hens had gotten under the tarp to get away from the hawk and was there.

Man, I rejoiced over that hen.

Right?

The story gets better because the next day I'm out there, you know, open up the chicken coop, and I open up this other little coop shed thing where I had some shavings in there to get them out for the chickens, and out wanders the other lost hen that had been in there for two days.

And oh my gosh, I was so happy.

I was so happy that the hens were found.

And that's what Jesus does.

He is He's his delight is when sinners are saved.

That is what delights him, not um burdening us with rules and regulation, not with filling us with shame.

He delights in souls that are saved.

He loves our loved ones and our neighbors even more than we do.

This is why he came into the world, right?

For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son.

Well, when the harvest seems slow in coming, we can still trust our loved ones to Jesus.

God's so patient, he's waiting for just the right time.

And again, you gardeners know what I'm talking about.

Sometimes a plant, a tomato plant or whatever, blueberry bush, it just they take their own time to bud, to blossom, for the fruit to ripen.

A good gardener knows this and patiently waits.

2 Peter 3, 9 explains this, says, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises, some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

And that is the heart of Christ towards mankind.

Not wishing that any should perish, wanting all to reach repentance.

I know I've said this several times already, but as believers, no matter who we are, no matter what we do, we're called to participate with God in that mission of restoring and reconciling all of creation.

And that's what this passage is about.

But here's another thought.

Before we're called to be laborers of the harvest, it is the love of Christ that calls us.

We are called to be loved by Jesus.

He has this amazing love for all of us, for the laborers, for the grain of the harvest.

Extravagant, unimaginable, unending love by the Lord of the harvest.

Zephaniah tells us about this love.

Zephaniah 3.17, boy, this is one of my favorite verses.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.

He will rejoice over you with gladness.

That's amazing.

He will quiet you by his love.

He will exult over you with loud singing.

That's good news.

I'm gonna close.

Two more slides, and we'll be on our way.

First one, it's my favorite quote.

I know I talk about it all the time.

I only let myself use it once a year, but boy, I think it's just about the best definite definition of evangelism that I can think of.

It's only February, but anyway, I'm using it.

So this Madeline Langle, if I understand the gospel, it tells us that we're to spread the good news to all four corners of the world.

Not limiting the giving of light to people who have already seen the light.

But we draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong we are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.

Man, that's the evangelism that Jesus is calling us to.

And this last quote was a nice little nudge to get us off the couch from J.I.

Packer.

In light of all this, trust God and get going, right?

Let's do that, church.

Trust God and get going.

Let's pray.

Lord, you you are good.

Your love for us, oh my goodness.

Help us get a better picture of your love for us and your love for all creation.

Lord, help us depend on you, no matter how we're wired, no matter who we are, help us depend on you to love and serve those around us.

To show them your light, a light so lovely that they want to know the source of us.

Help us love our neighbors patiently and deeply as you would love them.

Thank you for loving us, Lord.

We lift this up in your name.

Amen.