“Workers in the Harvest Field” was preached at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA on June 25, 2023. You can hear/watch this sermon here, starting at 23:50.
--
Scripture text:
Matthew 9:35-10:8
--
Today, we gather to reflect upon Matthew 9:35-10:8.
Up to this point in the Gospel, even with Jesus’ twelve disciples and his many followers including the women and children, Jesus’ ministry has relied on him to be the sole shepherd, missionary, teacher, preacher, and healer. But Jesus’ ministry has grown tremendously; his very presence has been so transformative in the lives of individuals and the community that endless crowds have gathered at his feet in hopes to hear his Word and receive his healing. Those who received his transformative grace knew that the great harvest God promised was now made ready in the presence of Jesus.
But the endless crowds meant more and more people needed Jesus. They needed him to preach and teach and heal. The people of Israel were living under Roman occupation. They were a people who had been oppressed and marginalized for centuries, and they longed for liberation and justice. When Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, a message of hope and liberation for all people, these people prayed that their lives would be changed.
Our passage opens with Jesus looking at the endless crowds and realizing that despite his presence, despite all of his teaching and preaching and healing, despite all the lives that he transformed; the endless crowds were still harassed and helpless.
Jesus, in his infinite wisdom as the Son of God and as God, saw that his work as the sole shepherd was not enough for the needs of the endless crowds. He couldn’t do this alone.
The needs of the people were great. The reward – the harvest – was even greater. But the workers – the ones who brought the harvest to the people – were few. So what did Jesus do in his infinite wisdom?
Jesus calls and commissions more workers!
He starts with his own disciples… but they are not called disciples anymore. They are now the Apostles, or the sent ones. This is the only time in the Gospel of Matthew where the disciples are referred to as Apostles.
The Apostles, through the power of Jesus, now have the authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons. Jesus is sending his newly commissioned apostles out to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to heal the brokenness they encounter.
I love that this radical act of liberation is just pure common sense. The needs are great. The harvest is greater. But the workers are few. So Jesus calls and commissions more workers to bring the great harvest to meet the needs of the people.
But it’s not just anyone that Jesus commissions. It’s the twelve disciples. It’s twelve diverse young men from different walks of life, professions, and backgrounds. Each of them have different stories and gifts, but they have the right gifts to proclaim the good news and to heal those who are hurting. Remember, Jesus called each of the disciples by name – by name – to follow him. And now they are called by name go out and go forth. These are the right kind of workers sent by God to bring God’s harvest to God’s people.
The Rev. Dr. Cleo LaRue, an excellent preacher and theologian and a former professor of mine at Princeton Theological Seminary, modernizes this metaphor. In a commentary on this passage, Dr. LaRue suggests this metaphor, “The game is winnable, but the really good players are few. Therefore, ask the coach to send more good players onto the field.” Or “The burning house is salvageable, but the able firefighters are few. Therefore ask the captain to send more qualified firefighters into the burning rubble.”
First, when God calls any of us for us to do the work necessary, God is calling the right people for the right work. The athlete is not being sent into the burning building, the firefighter is not up here preaching on a regular basis, and this preacher is not winning any games in the Super Bowl anytime soon.
But that also means that when God calls the right people to do the right work, there’s no denying that our gifts do not meet the work God is calling us to do. When God calls you, you are the right person.
But I don’t think this passage needs any metaphors, not a harvest or a game or a burning building.
If you are an active member of a church in the 21st century, then you know this verse in Matthew 9:37 to be all too true: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
God’s grace is plentiful, but the Apostles are few.
Now it’s my turn to tell a parable.
In Lehigh Valley, there was a church on the corner of Cedar Crest and Tilghman, although once upon a time this church was in downtown Allentown but that besides the point. One day, this church went out to the streets and saw the countless people walking around, lost and aimless. The church felt a deep compassion for them and knew that they wanted to do something to help.
The church decided to spread God’s message of hope and love to the people of the city. God asked a faithful group of the church to spread this message, and the reward would be great if they did: God’s Word would be spread.
The group eagerly agreed and set out to spread God’s message. They started by going to the hospitals and comforting the sick. Then, they went to the shelters and fed the hungry. They spoke words of hope to all who would listen!
As the years went on, the church noticed that there were still many people in need of help. So God sent another faithful group of the church to join the first: their reward would also be great if they did: God’s Word would be spread.
The second group started working alongside the first, spreading the message of hope and love throughout the city. They too went to the hospitals, homeless shelters, and those in need.
As the church came out of a devastating pandemic, the church saw there were still people in need; in fact, now more than ever. More people were sick. More people found themselves in poverty and experiencing homelessness. More people needed God’s liberating hope and love. So God sent another group of people, some of which came to this church because of the work of the first and second groups, to join the saints of the first and second groups.
The third group eagerly agreed and set out with the others to spread the message of hope and love. They worked hard, doing all they could to help those in need. They too knew the reward would be great: God’s Word would be spread.
When members of the first and second groups saw this third group join them, some saw it as an opportunity to stop the faithful work God called them to do all those years ago. After all, there was this new group sent by God now to do the same work that they have been sent to do all these years ago. And these people were churched enough to know this modern-day parable is inspired from the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, from Matthew 20, and they knew that no matter if they worked 50 years or 1 year, their reward from God would all be the same… so did it even matter if they stopped their work now and let the new generation take over?
We are living in a time of declining church membership, and many people are turning away from organized religion. One of the laments I hear most often in my role is the lack of children and youth at our church. While we have a considerable amount of children and youth in our church, especially when comparing ourselves to the other presbyterian churches in the valley, these numbers are nothing compared to what they used to be at this church. And I get that; I really do. But while most of us are quick to lament the current numbers of our children & youth, I am lamenting the number of adults who want to work with our children & youth.
While it might make logical sense that with less children & youth, this means that we need less adult support for our children & youth. But I know every single person in this room knows this is not how it works. When our numbers go down, now more than ever do we need more people serving.
Replace children & youth with any other ministry in our church: mission, pledging, serving as elders & deacons, joining a bible study, and this message is still true. When our numbers go down, now more than ever do we need more people serving.
The first group sent by God to spread God’s Word all those years ago is still just as necessary as the third group sent by God this year. And if the first or second group stops their work now because they see this third group now stepping up and serving, then they are doing nothing to meet the needs of the world today. And as we all know, those needs are greater than ever.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. God’s grace is plentiful, but the Apostles are few.
This is a challenge for us as a community. And! This is an opportunity for us to re-envision what it means to be a church today and the presence of First Presbyterian Church of Allentown in Lehigh Valley and in the world today.
Every single person in this room has been called by name by God to be an Apostle; to be a sent one.
How do I know this?
Because not only are you a member or a friend of First Presbyterian Church of Allentown… but because you are God’s.
You have been claimed in the waters of baptism. You have been regularly invited back to this table. You listen and hear and receive God’s Word on the daily. You have been called beloved. You are still called beloved.
Friends, you are called.
If God can call shepherds, who were considered to be among the lowest of the low, to welcome the Christ-child, if God can call women, who at the time were to be seen and not heard, to preach the resurrection of Christ, if God can call a whole bunch of nobodies to be the first very first apostles; then you better believe that God can call you too.
And you are.
The needs are great. The reward is greater. But the Apostles are few.
But today we pray. We pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers into the harvest, to bring the harvest to those in need.
And God must be answering our prayers today because here we are… and in just a few moments, we will be sent out into this world. We leave this place as Apostles. We will proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, and we will heal the brokenness we might encounter.
Listen to the Message translation of Jesus’ words to his disciples at the end of our passage today: “Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.”
That commission is now given to us.
It starts right here, with you and with me.
We are called.
Amen.
--
Pencz, Georg. Christ Speaking With the Disciples, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56411 [retrieved June 25, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Speaking_to_the_Disciples,_from_The_Story_of_Christ_MET_DP855491.jpg.
