ABUNDANT HARVEST, FEW WORKERS, Luke 10:1-20

We find the Lord in our text passing on the mission.  Up until this point he has been traveling around calling people to follow him and teaching them about the kingdom of God.  His followers up until this time have been spectators.  They have watched from the sidelines as Jesus carried out his mission on earth, glad to be part of the scene but not active participants in the action

I love to be a part of the crowd at large events.  I am an events person.  If something is happening and a crowd gathers you can find me in the middle.  My great fear is that something is happening somewhere and I’m missing it.  Some people avoid crowds at all cost, but not me.  I’m the opposite.  I love nothing more than to be in the middle of a mass of humanity as some event.  I would have been part of the crowd that followed Jesus around.  Just glad to be part of what was happening, not really interested in doing anything but watch the master at work.

Church can be like that sometimes.  We gather each Sunday to watch God at work.  We gather with the people of God to sing the hymns of faith, to be touched by the hand of the master, to hear him speak to us in the reading and preaching of the Word, to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, to just be part of the crowd that gathers to be in the presence of Jesus.  This is worth doing and it is a privilege just to be able to be a part.

The crowds following Jesus must have had the same feeling.  How great is it to see Jesus in person, to feeling his healing touch, to listen to him teach and to watch him go to work.  After all we are unworthy to even stand before him.  We bring nothing to the table so humbly we gather at his feet, just glad to be there.

Jesus had other plans for his followers.  He does not call us to be spectators who stand in awe at what he does.  Jesus calls us to be partakers of his ministry with him.  The disciples were not called to watch Jesus build the kingdom; they were called to be fishers of men.  They were from the beginning called to work for Jesus.  The disciples were going to pick up the ministry when Jesus ascended to the Father.

Jesus appoints seventy-two people from the crowd who was following him and sends them out into the community to spread the kingdom of God.  We are talking mission, evangelism, spreading the word.  Call it what you like but it is taking the gospel to the streets in order to spread the kingdom and win people for Jesus.

Jesus sends these people ahead to prepare the way for him.  They are sent out two by two to every town and village that Jesus is about to enter.  They are given a mission.

We have also been given a mission.  Throughout the last year we have been looking at our church and community, we have been in prayer and planning about what we are to be about as a church and we have come to the consensus that the Holy Spirit has called us to minister to the arts community.  We have been called out by the Holy Spirit to minister to the artist and those who follow them with the express purpose of sharing the love of Christ with them.  They are our village, our community to which we have been sent by Jesus.  In coming up with a vision statement we have moved from just being part of the crowd to being part of the seventy-two.  We are the called and the sent.

After Jesus separates the seventy-two and gives them their marching orders he tells them some things that are very important.  He tells them two things that we need to take heed of.  The first thing is that the harvest is plentiful.  The second is that the laborers, the workers are few.  Let look at the implication that has for us this morning.

The harvest is plentiful.  If we are to be people of faith we need to look first at the word of God and then at the world and not the other way around.  We have taken the easy way out by reversing the order.  We look at the city and we see an overwhelming number of unsaved people all around us.  Instead of seeing a ripe plentiful harvest we see an unmanageable resistant city that is set against the church.  We don’t see opportunity we see a struggle.  We long to see change but we don’t recognize our part in that change.

Jesus tells us here and in other places in the gospels that what lies before us is a harvest that is ripe unto gathering.  Jesus sees opportunity and invites us to participate.  He does not make reference to a planted field but to a field ready for harvest.  This reality needs to inform our understanding of this city and it needs to dictate our actions.  If we have been called to minister to the arts community and Jesus is telling us it is a field ripe for harvest we need to step out in faith and go declaring the word of God.

The second thing he tells us is that the workers are few.  We look around and get discouraged by the size of our congregation and the overwhelming demand of the mission.  If we had more workers we could spread the kingdom.  We are just too small to get anything done.  Jesus understands the problem and tells us to pray for more workers.  This we need to always be doing.  Notice what he doesn’t say.  He doesn’t say wait until there are more workers before you go out.  The commission is still the same.  Go and preach.  As you go pray for more workers but nevertheless get going.

We are not only concerned about our numbers.  It is one thing to be short handed but there is another problem that we face.  We are not very good at this.  We are understaffed and under equipped for this ministry that we are sure God has called us to. 

Jesus doesn’t deceive us by giving us a peep talk about how talented we are and how we can do this if we try.  There is no hype in fact Jesus is bluntly honest with us.  “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”  Well that’s encouraging.  If I was a betting man my money would be on the wolves in this contest.  Jesus sends us out knowing that we are totally incapable of doing this on our own.  We do not have the stuff or the resources to make this happen.

It gets worse.  He tells the disciples to carry no money, take no knapsack, no change of shoes.  We are to just go.  He is telling us don’t look at the bank account.  The thought is always if we had more money we could hire the right people, produce the right material, market our efforts correctly, if we had money we could make this happen, but we don’t.  The lack of money becomes the excuse not to act.  Jesus tells us go and take no money with us, because it’s not about the money.  He tells us to take no knapsack, no supplies.  Again we are used to thinking in terms of having the right tools to get the job done.  With the right tools and resources this mission idea would be a piece of cake.  Jesus reminds us it is not about resources.  No change of clothes.  It’s a call to go as you are.  We are not to alter our appearance our persona we are just to go.  Go called us just as we are and just as we are we are to go into the community that he sent us to declare his word.

He tells us not to be discouraged by the fact that not everyone will listen to us.  We are to lead with the peace of the Lord.  We are to be up front about what we are about.  We are the people of God and we are reaching out to the arts community as the people of God offering the peace of God.  If they accept us great we enter into their lives and minister the love of Christ to them.  If they reject us, and some if not many will, we are to move one.  The weeds are growing with the wheat.  We are not harvesting weeds.  When rejected don’t be discouraged move on.  The harvest is ripe unto gathering, don’t waste time and most of all don’t be crippled by rejection.

We have been given our message; heal the sick and announce the kingdom of God has come near.  We live in a sick broken city.  The gospel brings healing and we have been given the power to speak words of healing to a broken world.  In the midst of all the sin and brokenness all around us we are aware of the mystery of God.  That mystery is that the kingdom of God has come down among us.  When God took on flesh and dwelt among us the kingdom came down.  When the Holy Spirit entered the church, entered each one of us, the kingdom came down.  As we enter into the arts community and begin to share the love of Christ with them the kingdom of God draws near to them.

Listen to the promise that Jesus makes to us.  “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects me rejects him who sent me.”  It is not about you and me it is about Jesus.  When we speak we speak for Jesus.  When we act we act on his behalf.  However they treat us they are in fact treating Jesus.  We are not going off on our own, trying to impress God with our good deeds.  We are going forth as representatives of the Jesus.  We stand on his behalf and declare his word to the lost and hurting of this city.  What a privilege to be called to go.

The story ends with the seventy-two returning with joy at the success of their mission.  They went out as lambs among wolves to reap the ripe harvest.  Jesus said he saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.  He saw the kingdom of the enemy crash and burn.

We are sent out into a mission field where the gospel is virtually unknown.  The kingdom of Satan is strong and we are like lambs among wolves.  But if we are faithful to the mission and to the savior we too will come back rejoicing at the defeat of the enemy of the church.  The gates of Hell cannot and will not prevail against us.  Will you join me in the call and announce to this place that the kingdom of God has drawn near?