Pray for Some Workers

St Paul's United Methodist Church Pray for Some Workers Delivered by Prentis Harris III Second Sunday after Pentecost June 14, 2020 35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." 10 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. 2 Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter's brother),James (son of Zebedee), John (James's brother),3 Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus,[b] 4 Simon (the zealot[c]), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him). 5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: "Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel-God's lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[d] 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! (Matthew 9:35-10:8) NLT Workers are needed! Help wanted. Have you ever noticed these signs outside of businesses and wonder exactly what kind of help do they need? Have you ever applied for a job because you say a sign saying workers are needed, or hiring? In today's message Jesus is saying to the disciples that the laborers are few, meaning we need more workers, more disciples. Most of us would agree that there is a lot of lost people in need of Jesus as their shepherd. But have any of you thought that you maybe the missing piece for someone to being found? As Spurgeon once said, "You have never found Jesus if you do not tell others about him." As you read the countless encounters in the Gospels when someone came close to Jesus they would run and tell someone else about him. Today we have many encounters with Jesus, and yet never tell anyone about him. Since being in Burlington for three years now, I have wrestled with the question "How can we have more impact on our community?" I know that with this crisis we are in, we can't go door to door to evangelize, but I do believe we can still do something, and that is pray. Jesus charges his disciples to do something and that is "pray to the Lord for more workers in the fields." Being a pastor, most would assume I am one of those workers in the field. But if you look at it from a pastor's perspective, not so much. In my 7 years of pastoral ministry, I have prayed that God would use me to lead others to Christ daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly. I have several books on evangelism, I have read many articles of how to be a better church leader or how to grow the church in the 21st century. But I often fail when opportunities to share Christ come up. I usually think of what I could have said about two hours too late! Also, I'm so busy with the work of the church that I lack contacts with lost people. But even when I have tried in the past, my attempts at evangelism have been colossal failures. But I want to keep trying because I know that is what we are supposed to do as Christian disciples. If we want to be effective channels for the good news, we need to ask God to give us the heart that Jesus had for lost people. We see His heart in Matthew 9:36, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus goes on to say that the harvest is great, but the workers are few; thus (v. 38) the disciples should pray for the Lord to send workers into the harvest. We need to see as Jesus saw and feel as Jesus felt so that we will do as Jesus did. Verse 35 gives us a summary of Jesus' ministry at that time. He was going through all the villages, teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. Then, verses 36-38 report a specific incident on one of those occasions, when Jesus saw the crowds, perhaps as they approached Him, felt compassion for them, and then gave this charge to His disciples. The first lesson is we need to see as Jesus saw. Presumably, Jesus and the disciples saw the same scene: the approaching crowd of people. But Jesus saw them with different eyes than the disciples did. JESUS SAW THE GREAT NEED OF LOST PEOPLE (9:36). Probably there was nothing unusual about the crowd that approached Jesus and the disciples that day. There may have been a few more sick and disabled people than in a normal crowd, but no more than there had been on previous days. But the disciples probably thought, as they did on another occasion when the needs were overwhelming (Matt. 14:15), "Send them away!" But Jesus saw them differently and He felt compassion for them. Years ago, some researchers decided to find out if seminary students are Good Samaritans. They met individually with 40 ministerial students under the pretense of doing a study of careers in the church. Each student was instructed to walk to a nearby building to deliver an impromptu talk into a tape recorder. Some were told to talk on the Good Samaritan parable, while others were told to talk about their career concerns. Meanwhile, the researchers planted an actor along the path who, as a seminarian approached, groaned, and slumped to the ground. They found that more than half of the students walked right on by! The researchers noted, "Some who were planning their dissertation on the Good Samaritan, literally stepped over the slumped body as they hurried along." (Cited by William McRae, The Dynamics of Spiritual Gifts [Zondervan], p. 54.) Probably your first reaction to that story, as mine was, is to think, "How could these students be so hard-hearted as to ignore this hurting man? I would never do that!" But my hunch is that those students are most of us. They were so preoccupied with themselves and the immediate pressure that they faced (to deliver a talk) that they did not see the obvious need of this man in their path. And so, they did not stop to help him. They did not see him as Jesus would have seen him. How did Jesus see people? Jesus saw lost people as distressed. The word means "troubled" or "vexed." It points to the load of problems that people apart from Christ bear. Do you ever look carefully into people's faces when you're in public? If you do, you'll see a lot of troubled people. Jesus saw lost people as dispirited. It points to the utterly helpless and forsaken condition of people who are lost in sin without the Savior. There are many who outwardly may look calm and comfortable. They may be successful in worldly terms. But Jesus sees their hearts before God. They are downcast or dispirited. They may look normal outwardly, but inwardly they are, as Paul describes them (Eph. 2:12), without "hope and without God in the world." Jesus saw lost people as sheep without a shepherd. The Jewish leaders should have been shepherding these people, pointing them to God. But instead they were self-righteous and self-seeking, looking down on the common people as sinners (John 9:24-34). They were fleecing the flock, not shepherding them with compassion (Ezekiel 34; Matthew 23). They viewed the people as a bother. But Jesus viewed them as sheep needing a shepherd. The next point is this then JESUS SAW THE GREAT HARVEST OF LOST PEOPLE (9:37). He said, "The harvest is plentiful." This was an important concept that Jesus wanted His disciples to grasp. On another occasion, after speaking with the Samaritan woman by the well, He told the disciples (John 4:35), "lift up your eyes and look on the fields, they are white for harvest." He repeated it again as He sent out the seventy for ministry (Luke 10:2). And He told the fearful apostle Paul to go on preaching in Corinth, explaining (Acts 18:10), "for I have many people in this city." There was a harvest waiting to be reaped. Friends the harvest does not depend on our techniques, but on God's sovereign purpose. He has planned a harvest and He call us to get involved as workers. Now Jesus is not looking for a professional class of harvesters. He is searching for those who will answer the call and make themselves available. That is why it is important for all of you to see yourselves as workers for the gospel, and why we need to be on our knees praying for more workers! "The workers are few." Jesus has changed metaphors here. First, He used the metaphor of sheep. But, now, it's a harvest. These two metaphors show two sides of the matter: The sheep and the shepherd show man's need met by God. The good shepherd seeks out lost sheep and ministers to them. The harvest and the workers show God's "need" met by man: God uses saved people to save other people. As I close, I want to remind you that these disciples were imperfect, they included betrayers, Zealots, tax collectors, and fishermen, yet they are called and commissioned by the Compassionate One to do service in the world. The Lord of the harvest empowers them and equips them for what is to be done. The authority the disciples have is the authority of Jesus; thus, Jesus is the one meeting the needs of the people through his disciples. We do not meet needs; God does. God does not leave the church alone in her mission but equips the saints for ministry in the world. Our mission is going to look different from every other congregation because the needs of this community is different. But we are the ones to be sent out by God on a mission. What is this overall mission? The mission appears to be the proclamation that the kingdom of heaven is near in word and deed. All Jesus desires is that the lost be found. What God is looking for is some no-excuses harvesters who will answer the call. What is the greatest form of compassion? The greatest form of compassion is being concerned with a person's eternal well-being. Compassion is also being concerned with a person's physical well-being. Take an inventory on your compassion level. How compassionate are you? Jesus felt compassion for the lost and he served them with the good news of salvation. Love lost people for Jesus' sake.