Laborers For The Harvest
Matthew 9:27-31;35-38
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The following is a rough manuscript of the sermon:
Chocolate Or Vanilla?
That’s a question I assume most of us have been asked before whether it’s referring to ice cream or cake.
Chocolate Or Vanilla?
And it sounds like a simple question and it is a simple question, but did you know that both chocolate (as in cocoa) and vanilla are two of the most difficult to obtain ingredients in the world?
We might think they are plain, simple ingredients, but it takes a ton of work to produce legitimate (not-artificial) vanilla and chocolate.
As one article explains: “Many people have called vanilla one of the most labor-intensive food products the world over… Vanilla beans are actually the fruit of an orchid. That orchid flowers only once a year and has to be hand-pollinated… After it’s harvested, the bean has to be cooked, sweated, dried and cured. The entire process from pollination to processed bean can take up to a year and a half.”
The article goes on to say: “Like vanilla, the cacao bean that eventually gets turned into chocolate originates inside a pod. But cacao pods are big and have to be hacked open with machetes or clubs. Once the beans are out, they have to be cleaned, dried and fermented before they can be ground up and processed into cocoa… some cacao farmers in the Ivory Coast had never even tried chocolate.” “These 5 Crops Are Still Hand-Harvested, And It’s Hard Work”
So, let it be known, when someone asks you “Chocolate or vanilla?” that it’s a simple question, but these products actually take a long time and a lot of work to get here.
Why do I bring this up? Well, let me ask you another seemingly simple question: Why is Christianity in the United States of America?
Why is it that when you woke up this morning you had the option of going to tens of hundreds of different churches in the north metro area?
Yes, the Sunday school answer of “Jesus” does count, but just think about it:
So far Jesus and the message of the kingdom has been in Israel for most of the story, one specific part of Israel, one specific city in Israel.
That Sea of Galilee is 6,155 miles away from here. You have to cross an entire ocean and travel through at least a dozen countries plus the Mediterranean Sea in order to get to Israel.
How did the gospel of the Kingdom make it to Minnesota?
The answer, like chocolate and vanilla, is way more work than we realize.
The answer to how Christianity got to the United States and to Minnesota and to every part of the world outside of Israel is missions.
Sweat-soaked, back-breaking, sleep-depriving, bank account-emptying, blood-spilling missions and the missionaries that go on them.
You woke up this morning with an abundance of church options because a follower of Jesus or a few of them at a certain point in history decided: That land and those people 6000 miles away who look, speak, and act nothing like me are going to go to hell if I don’t do something.
That’s why you and I are here this morning.
Our spiritual ancestry in America (and everywhere else outside of Israel) can be traced back to the painful yet eternity-changing work of missions and missionaries.
And if there is one weight or message I can put on your soul this morning it’s this: The job is not done.
How do I know that?
It’s estimated a little more than 100 people die every minute, which means by the end of the sermon today more than 4000 people around the world will have died and entered eternity.
Where did they go?
The most optimistic estimate, based on current stats, assuming everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian (weeding out the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses who reject the divinity of Jesus) is that only 1 in 4 are dying and going to be with King Jesus.
By the end of this 40-minute sermon, almost 3000 people will have entered hell.
The job of missions is not done. And the consequence of that job not being done are eternal.
Which is why Jesus tells us in Matthew 9: 38 “Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
That word “earnestly” shows up in other places as beseech, implore, beg.
Which I take to mean two things:
1. We are called to pray — that’s obvious.
2. We are called to be amongst the laborers in harvest in some capacity.
Cause If I stood before you and said, “Please pray that God would give Centennial Church more coffee volunteers,” you don’t think there’s a calling in there to help with coffee?
Now, let me be clear: Not every Christian is called to cross-cultural mission work.
I’m not saying you need to order airline tickets to India where roughly 1.3 billion people are on their way to hell.
But we must ask the question, with so many people on the pathway to perdition: What is our calling as believers at Centennial Church when it comes to missions?
And really, this is a theme we are going to be thinking about for the rest of this year: How are we called to be laborers for the harvest?
And based on this passage (hopefully by the Spirit) I’ve come up with 8 ways on how to be a part of the harvest.
How we can help increase the number of lost people being saved, rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son?
1. (Practicing) Lowliness
2. Opening Our Eyes
3. Report Rightly
4. Do Good Deeds
5. Sympathize With Unbelievers
6. Harvest Expectantly
7. Increase Laborers
8. Pray
And in doing these things, friends, we will proclaim the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ to a dying world — as dying men to dying men.
But before we get to all that, let me by start by acknowledging why we’re skipping verses 32-34
32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
So slammed in between the blind men being healed and the harvest is this story of a demon being cast out of a guy.
But of course, everybody’s focus turns to verse 34: 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
And if you aren’t familiar, that is the language that Jesus confronts and says: “Be careful that you are not committing the unpardonable sin.
There is a sin that God doesn’t forgive…
And since a discussion on the unpardonable sin would cause us to lose momentum in our conversation about the Harvest — not to mention that’s an issue that requires great pastoral care — I’m going to skip over this today.
But I’ll quickly say two things:
1. We’re not skipping this forever, in chapter 12 we’ll get a similar story: 22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw… 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them… 32 “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
So we will cover this topic later on.
2. If you are worried you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, you have not committed the unpardonable sin.
And that’s all I’ll say because we have a lot to get to today,
What does it look like for Centennial Church to participate in the harvest?
Let’s go to verse 27 and consider firrstly our need for LOWLINESS …
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
What do I mean by lowliness?
Well (let’s do a little exercise) can we say the words of the blind men together?
“Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
OK, show of hands: How many of you feel like really impressive, imposing people after saying, “Have mercy on me?”
No, asking for mercy by the very nature of the question is to take the posture of a beggar, of someone in debt, of a weakling.
If you have to cry aloud or beg for mercy, you are not in a position of authority or power, you’re in a position of need.
Now, why do I bring this up?
Well, let me first just remind us: This is all of us.
Every single person in this room (I don’t care how long you’ve been a Christian) is completely dependent on the mercy of God.
And Every single one of us, left to our own devices and our sinful self, is blind.
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God… 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Point being: We were all, at one point, blind.
And it is only by the sheer mercy of Jesus Christ to us that any of us can see.
You didn’t open your eyes, God did.
Every single one us can relate and identify with these blind guys trying follow Jesus asking for mercy because this was at one time all of us.
Now, you say, what does this have to do with missions?
Lifeway Research published an article a couple of weeks ago called “The Hidden Apologetic of Humility” and wrote this:
“According to Lifeway Research’s study of religiously unaffiliated Americans or ‘nones’, 66% say they are more willing to hear about a Christian’s faith if they don’t act like they have all the answers… Peter tells us to be “ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15, CSB). But he tells us to do this “with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience” (1 Peter 3:16).”
“The unfortunate truth is we can defend Christian beliefs in ways that offend our hearers and Christ. Our culture is filled with arrogant certainty. Everyone is always loudly right about every possible subject in every moment… [so] A humble Christian who can confidently but not arrogantly express their beliefs and engage in a healthy conversation with a non-believer will stand out in our culture and cause others to ask about that hope that is in us.”
And you wanna know a good way to humble yourself? Remember that you were a blind beggar — totally reliant on the mercy of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine a cancer survivor being arrogant toward someone who currently is battling cancer?
Because that’s what it looks like for a Christian to be arrogant toward a non-Christian.
“Can’t believe you’re struggling with cancer” … You just had cancer! You only ‘beat’ it by the grace of God!
We have nothing to boast about, it’s all Jesus.
And if we are going to be successful missionally, we need lowliness like our gentle and lowly savior.
Secondly, we need opened eyes (and mouths).
28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened.
So, presumably, Jesus pulled off the road (so to speak) and went into the house so he and the blind guys can have some privacy.
But here’s what I want you to meditate on that we so often miss in the miracle stories:
Imagine having your eyes opened for the first time.
Think of all the colors rushing in, the loved ones you can finally see instead of just hearing their voices, the grandeur of the beauty of creation that you can now experience.
Can you imagine going to the Grand Canyon or Grand Teton when you’re blind? It would be a wasted trip, but now they can see it!
And let me ask you something: If that happened to you, do you think you’d shrug your shoulders and go, “Sweet, thanks Jesus,” and walk away quietly?
Do you think the next time you saw someone who knew you’re blind, like your parents, you’d be casually like, “Oh by the way, almost forgot, I can see now.”
No, you’d be like, “GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? I CAN SEE NOW!”
“HAVE YOU SEEN THE COLOR BLUE BEFORE? IT’S INCREDIBLE!”
“THAT GUY OVER THERE, HE OPENED MY EYES AND CURED MY BLINDNESS!”
And that’s exactly how these guys react: 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
We’ll come back to verse 30 and Jesus’ command to be silent in a second.
For now just focus on the fact: these guys can’t help but speak about what happened to them.
And that’s the thing: I think a lot of us (me included) think evangelism, sharing the gospel, sharing our story that it’s just another thing we are commanded to do — another box to be checked.
But friends, evangelism is just a natural (or supernatural) reaction to something big happening to us.
Christian or not, human beings naturally talk about what we love or what we’ve experienced.
So you ask the question: How can I be more evangelistic, missional (whatever word you want to use)?
Just open your eyes! And then tell people what you’re seeing.
God opened your eyes to see glory, so what do you see?
And let me emphasize to you that you don’t need a full Romans road presentation, you don’t even need the right words, you just report what you see.
You wanna know what promise I cling to every time I preach? Isaiah 55: 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven… 11 so shall my word be that goes out… it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
That promise tells us there is not a single word said for the cause of Christ that has gone without fruit.
Charles Spurgeon was converted, as he tells it, by one of the worst sermons he’s ever heard.
And then, when he got into ministry, there’s a story of Charles Spurgeon rehearsing a sermon and the unbelieving janitor was cleaning up in the other room and all Spurgeon said was: John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
And the janitor was apparently converted.
That’s not some power of Spurgeon, that’s the power of God’s word.
Friends I’m here today (in part) because a friend of mine simply told me lust was a sin.
You have no idea what a simple report can do in the life of someone else. And God promises it goes out and doesn’t return void.
Open your eyes and tell people what you see.
Thirdly, be people who report rightly.
30 And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”
Alright, so now we come to the tension of the passage:
On the one hand, Jesus says “Don’t talk about this,” but then four verses later:
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…
So why would Jesus tell these guys, “Don’t do it,” but then he’s literally telling everybody four verses later?
And commentators go back and forth on how we should think about this, but probably the most likely reason Jesus said “Don’t talk about me” is actually found in verse 27: 27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
If you didn’t know, “Son of David” was an incredibly loaded term in ancient Israel.
Because this is a reference, obviously, to the long awaited Messiah, the true heir of King David’s throne.
But a lot of people only associated the “Son of David” as a political revolutionary.
As in, many people thought the purpose of the Christ was to bring down the Romans, bring the nation of Israel back to greatness, and reign as their political King — that Jesus was there primarily to restore the Davidic monarchy…
And so what Jesus “sternly” warns these guys is, “If you go out and tell people, ‘The Son of David has the power to heal the blind,’ they are going to misunderstand what I’m here to do. Therefore, remain silent.”
And it’s a reminder to us friends that we ought to make clear and right in our missions, as we engage with non-believers who exactly Jesus is and what he’s primarily here to do.
He’s primarily here to save sinners. He’s here to defeat sin and death. He’s here to be worshiped as the Cosmic King and true Son of God.
He is here to inaugurate a kingdom but it’s God’s kingdom, not Israel’s or any other nations.
And our king will be worshiped by all nations, not just one, so may we represent him rightly.
Fourthly, in our labor for the harvest: We are to do Good deeds.
So, notice, alongside of the proclamation, Jesus is healing every disease and every affliction.
This is why things like us doing the food shelf, doing Angel Tree, helping people off the street — this is why those things matter.
Good deeds are supposed to accompany the proclamation of the gospel.
And if we are not doing good deeds alongside our proclamation of the gospel, it will actually be a hindrance to our witness.
Consider Paul’s words in Romans 2:
17 If you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent… 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children… 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
People are currently blaspheming God because of someone’s hypocritical preaching.
One of the greatest tragedies of our current age is there are a great many people, especially in the American Church, whose evangelism and ministry is so devoid of good and godly work that it is not leading to more belief but more blasphemy.
Because people will turn around and say:
You who say don’t commit homosexuality, did you not just get caught in adultery and divorce your wife?
You who say liars will burn forever, aren’t you yourself an unrepentant liar?
And so the power is gone from the message because of the work (or lackthereof) behind it.
Good deeds and integrity-based godliness must (non-negotiable) accompany our work in the mission field.
Otherwise we are creating blasphemers of God instead of believers in Him.
Fifthly: We must sympathize with non-believers.
36 When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them…
Merriam-Webster actually has a beautiful definition of compassion: “Compassion: Sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”
That’s how Jesus felt about the crowds that followed him around:
Conscious of their distress and He had a desire and mission to alleviate it.
And if we are going to be a people laboring for the harvest, this must become our heart as well.
And what drove Jesus’ compassion?
They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Think of all the unbelievers in your life: this applies to them.
Other translations use words like “distressed, dispirited, weary, scattered” even “confused.”
In short, they were sheep without a shepherd.
They were people who had no one to look to for help, guidance, purpose, or protection.
And that’s what drove Jesus’ compassion toward them even in their unbelieving states.
In fact, “sheep without a shepherd” is more than likely a reference to Ezekiel 34 where God gives a scathing rebuke to the leaders of Israel:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered… 6 with none to search or seek for them.
But then God goes on to promise this:
11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out… and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness… 14 I will feed them with good pasture… There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”
That’s God’s promise.
If you’re here this morning and your not a Christian, this is God’s posture toward you.
He’s conscious of your distress and has a desire to alleviate it…
And the way he alleviates it is with Jesus: John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
And the question becomes for us, friends — those of us who have heard his call and follow him as our shepherd — do we share Christ’s compassion?
I think part of the reason the witness of the church is dying in America is because we’ve stopped having compassion for unbelievers and started just hating them.
There’s this us vs them dynamic that’s formed and it makes us say, “The people of the world are evil and I and my family need to get away from them.”
Friends, Jesus not only hung out with tax collectors and sinners, He had compassion for them.
And you say, how do I have compassion on evil people?
God had compassion on you, didn’t he?
Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
If not for the grace of God, it would be you and I out there flying the rainbow flags or doing as many drugs as we could get our hands on or worshiping Allah or Buddha or some other idol.
We’re all here by God’s grace and that’s the only difference between you and your unbelieving neighbor.
Actually what might be the only difference between you and your unbelieving neighbor is you and I opening our mouths and telling them about Jesus.
Which brings me to my next point (a quick point): Harvest Expectantly.
As in what? As in we should have confidence as we go out into the harvest.
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful…”
I don’t think that’s Jesus just making an observation about how many unbelievers are in the world.
I think that’s Jesus telling us, not only are there a lot of unbelievers but there is plenty of fruit out there to be had. It’s not all chaff and dead branches, there’s wheat and good fruit!
We should not go out into the world thinking, “Man, maybe one person I meet today might be possibly interested in debating about a cursory issue related to Christianity…”
No the harvest is plentiful. A whole crop is waiting.
There’s more people in your life, your sphere of influence willing to repent and believe the gospel than you realize.
However, seventh point, the laborers are FEW, which means part of our calling is to Increase Laborers.
In fact, you could argue “increasing laborers” is one of the goals of Jesus’ ministry as we’ll talk about his calling the 12 apostles next week.
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…”
Again, if I stood up here and said, “Hey guys, please pray God finds us more coffee volunteers,” you have to assume there’s an implied: “Please volunteer to make coffee” command.
Moreover, there’s also a sense in which there’s a calling to “Please train more coffee volunteers.”
Which is exactly what I’m getting at when I say part of role in the Harvest as a church is to increase laborers in the harvest.
After all Ephesians 4: 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
Every Christian is called to ministry. We meet together to train each other for ministry.
As Paul told Timothy; 2 Timothy 2:2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
Or Titus 1: 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might… appoint elders in every town as I directed you
If we are going to be laborers of the harvest, we need to do our part to increasing laborers and raising up the next generation of laborers
Historically, this meant raising and training and appointing leaders like Kyle Eaton who served as a pastor here and is now of course in Duluth.
Or, John Stromberg who went out with other loved ones of ours to revitalize Elmwood Church.
Or, it means Dakoda Hine, who’s interning with us.
Listen, we don’t have a church intern just because we want someone to yell at, we have internships because we want to train up the next generation of laborers for the harvest.
And they are trained in community, which we’re all apart of.
But I also think there’s this aspect of not just training leaders, but supporting them and other churches financially.
As Paul told the church in Corinth:
1 Corinthians 9:7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? … 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
And in the next letter he writes:
2 Corinthians 9:10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
So, I promise I’m not a wacko prosperity, sow-your-seed preacher, but notice what Paul is saying:
He says our financial giving to other churches will increase our harvest and will result in more thanksgivings to God.
Part of our role in the harvest is not just training leaders, but GIVING to them, blessing them financially.
Alright, I know it’s a long sermon, so here’s my final point:
The final way we participate in the harvest is very simply by praying.
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
We need to be praying friends for God to send out laborers into the harvest.
And again, that starts and ends with us personally. We need to be praying for ourselves.
We all have spheres of influence and you might be the only Christian some people meet.
As we talked about last week: People need to hear something about Jesus in order to believe in him.
And I know it can be scary to engage those conversations, but that’s what prayer is for.
I’m admittedly taking this verse somewhat out of context but consider the words of Paul:
2 Timothy 4:16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me… 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
That’s why we pray: That through our own mouths we might have the capacity to proclaim the message.
But praying for laborers also means praying: “God, we need people.”
We need God to stir in the hearts of his people to say “I don’t care if it’s 6 miles or 6000 miles away…” those people need the gospel. Those people need Christ formed in them and apart from me and God using me, they are going to go to hell.
Based on stats and the time on the clock, 3000 people (almost the population of Columbus, MN) have died since I started talking and they are now eternally separated from God forever.
What will you do to lessen that number?
Would you pray with me for the harvest?