Laborers Wanted

Matthew 9:35-38

And 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.  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.”

As Jesus went from city to city he not only offended the Pharisees with his teachings but also with his practice of mingling with tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus’ response to the Pharisees was, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”   Jesus “saw the crowds” in a way in which the Pharisees did not.  He saw them with compassion.  He cared deeply for them because of their helpless condition.  They were “like sheep without a shepherd.”  Jesus knew that no external form of religiosity could save them.  He knew their heart.  His heart, being perfect in love, was broken for the lost sheep.  This is why he had come in the first place and this is why he was fulfilling the Father’s will and this why he would go to the cross and bear the punishment for sin in his body.  No man had greater understanding of man’s sinful heart or greater love than Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.  As Jesus considered with compassion the helplessness of the crowd, he turns to his disciples and speaks again metaphorically of these lost sheep this time as a plentiful harvest.  Jesus saw tax collectors and sinners as wheat in the fields of time waiting to be harvested.  The problem Jesus presents is not the lack of work to be done but the lack of laborers to do the work.  Jesus then charges his disciples to first pray and then go into all the world and make disciples. 

Jesus came and accomplished his mission.  Now he extends that mission to all those who have called on his name for salvation.  He does not beam us up into heaven at the moment of conversion.  He leaves us here as his hands and feet to labor in the fields.  As his disciples, we have a mission to make disciples.  We are commanded to share the good news of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, and to educate, train, and equip the saints for further disciple making.  This is not just a job for those in vocational ministry but a mission given to all Christians.  Even as the Father sent the Son and the Son sent the Holy Spirit so the Father sends us following in the steps of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

How do we view the lost souls that we come into contact with everyday?  Do we see them with eyes of compassion or contempt?  Do we look for opportunities show brotherly love to people in need?  Could this be an avenue for sharing the gospel?  Have we sought the Lord in prayer for guidance, wisdom, and power?  Are we praying for more laborers?  Are we hearers of the Word and not doers?  Do we view certain types of people to be beyond God’s saving?  Are we making disciples or converts?

Romans 10:13-15

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”