Matthew 9:35-38 The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

We are living in the times of the harvest. Christ’s harvest. What does it mean to live in the times of the harvest? It means that we are living in times when the fruit is ready to be picked up because it is ripe. There is a season to sow and there is a season to water, but now is the season to reap! The fruit the Scripture is referring to is people. All kinds of people regardless of ethnicity, color, socioeconomic status, gender, even religion. Every man, woman and child!

What is it particularly that makes them ripe? What is it that makes them ready to be picked up? The ripeness refers to the spiritual condition of people. People are ready to listen to the message of the Gospel because they are hungry and thirsty for God. Just like the people in the Scriptures, people today are harassed, helpless, and like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw the people as harrassed. Harrassed by the religious leaders who would place great burdens upon them and did not want to move it themselves (Luk.11:46). People are disillusioned with every form of religion, but there is a spiritual hunger in their souls. Jesus saw them as helpless. They did not have the knowledge or resources to escape the legalism that was imposed upon them. They did not have the power to be set free. People today have opted for no religion or to make up a religion for themselves to satisfy their yearning, but the truth is that there is no satisfaction.

Jesus saw them as sheep without a shepherd. The leaders of Israel had gone astray and could not serve as guides to the people. This fulfills Ezekiel 34  where the Lord tells of the wicked shepherds who would use and abuse Israel (Ez.34:2-6). But the Lord promises to be our shepherd! (Ez.34:15).            The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the good shepherd who would lay down his life for the sheep (Jn.10:14). People who are in relationship with God can exclaim like David in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” God wants to gather all the peoples of the world into his kingdom and he began the work through his Son Jesus Christ while he was on this earth.

What are the means to gather the harvest?

1.              Proclaiming the Gospel

We are all responsible to proclaim. (The priesthood of all believers 1Pe.2:9). While preaching is definitely one way to proclaim the good news, it is not the only one. We proclaim through our rituals and ceremonies (1Cor.11:26). More importantly, we proclaim through our personal witness (Acts 1:8).

2. Performing good works We’ve been created for good works! (Eph.2:10). How seriously are we to take good works? We are to be devoted to them (Titus 3:8). Good works are for others to see and give glory to God (Mat.5:16). 3. With compassion But before moving into action, we must be moved in our inner being. The word translated compassion is a form of splagcni÷zomai, which means “properly, to be moved as to one’s bowels, hence, to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity).” This sympathetic pity is a necessary precursor to good works.

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel while performing good works moved by compassion. And so should we. God has given us example on how to work in the harvest. He has chosen you and me as the means to accomplish this great task of gathering people into his kingdom. It is not optional! It is a must! We are all laborers in the kingdom of God. It is not the job of the pastor. It is not the job of the evangelist. It is the job of the whole body of Christ. To follow Jesus is to be a laborer in his harvest proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom while performing good works moved by compassion.

Father, grant me to be a good laborer in the harvest of your Son. Fill me with compassion to do good works and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 The Parable of the Weeds

Kingdom business is difficult because I have a king who is righteous and demands righteousness from all his servants (me included), yet I know I am flawed, imperfect due to my sinful nature. Doing business in the kingdom demands that we deal with one another's sins. The disciplines of confession, repentance, and forgiveness are a must in order to succeed in our service. People who have difficulty exercising or refuse to exercise any of these disciplines don't understand the kingdom of God at all.

Now let's add to the personal sinfulness of each servant in the kingdom the fact that we serve in an evil world. There are other people in the world who do not care for the kingdom at all. These are the sons of the evil one. Jesus explains in his Parable of the Weeds that there is a work of the enemy in the world; people who reject and even persecute God's servants.  When asked about uprooting the weeds, Jesus is against it lest the wheat is uprooted along with the weeds. Kingdom business is not about leading a crusade to eliminate infidels. It is about enduring the hatred and persecution of those infidels with the love that God can only give until the end of the age.

Moreover, I can't avoid the thought that if we have weeds in the field (the world), there are some trying to infiltrate the ranks of the faithful in the local church. There is plenty of warning in the Scriptures against false teachers who set themselves against the teaching of the apostles and silently slip into the congregation to spread their teachings. Jesus' teaching to let the wheat and the weeds grow together applies to the world, but not to the church. The counsel of the apostles is that we must keep on eye on these wolves and keep them from harming the flock by whatever means: Membership classes, Supervision of the teachings, especially in Small Groups, and Church Discipline that includes excommunication.

Kingdom business is performed in a hostile environment. I may sit in a neat and tidy office, but spiritually I am in the depths of a battlefield. The battle is being waged on multiple fronts: relationships among brothers and sisters within the church, relationships with the world that surrounds us, and the dealings with wolves that step into the local church to harm it. How can I survive? The hope that Christ offers keeps me going. One day, I will shine like the sun in the kingdom of my Father.

Father, give me strength to stand firm until the end of times. Fill my heart with the hope of your return. Don't let my heart grow weary in the work of the harvest.