Loved and Sent by the Lord of the Harvest
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"Vocation of the Disciples" by Domenico Ghirlandaio
When [Jesus] 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’” (Matthew 9:36–38).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
In his book, Loved and Sent,
Jeff Cloeter tells this story about a young woman and man who meet in a café.
Ava begins by identifying herself.
“I am a lesbian atheist.” As she speaks, her eyes watch for a reaction from the
Christian man on the other side of the table. What will he say? How will he
respond?
Ava and Jacob are
acquaintances. They share mutual friends but don’t know each other well. Jacob
was confused when she asked to have coffee with him. Is this a date? he
wondered. Now, he knows it isn’t.
“I’m a lesbian atheist,” she
repeats, being intentionally provocative. She knows very few Christians. The
religious people she does know annoy her. Jacob is different, at least from
what she has observed. He seems intelligent and generous. Whenever she talks
with him, he acts sincerely interested in her. And she has heard that he
actually believes in Jesus. It is hard for her to reconcile this dichotomy: an
intelligent and generous Christian, and one with genuine conviction.
She pauses for Jacob to react,
but he doesn’t take the bait. “Tell me your story,” he says, hoping to get past
an awkward silence. "We've only hung out a couple of times. Mark's house,
I think." He smiles nervously.
Ava accepts his invitation and
delivers a 20-minute overview of her life. Under the irritable exterior lies the
tragic death of a sister and the sting of her father’s affair when she was a
child. She hints at former substance abuse. He notices some old scars on her
wrists. And when she isn’t looking at him, she glances nervously behind her, as
if she expects someone to attack.
When she concludes, Jacob
responds, “I had no idea, Ava.” He isn’t sure what else to say. This isn’t the
conversation he expected. “Is there anything I can do?” he asks.
“Well, what can you
do?” she asks. “It’s life. It sucks.”
“I’ll pray for you…” Jacob begins
to say, before realizing his offer won’t mean much to an atheist.
“You Christians,” Ava snaps.
“You just push your religion anywhere you can.” Her volume increases. “You want
to legislate your morality. You judge people and preach. But you don’t really
care …” She trails off, like she wants to say more, but restrains herself, as she
realizes that Jacob maybe does care. She stares at him through the silence,
curious to hear his response. She wonders, “Who is the straight, white,
Christian man who’s willing to listen to a lesbian atheist?”
Ava nods toward Jacob. “You
heard my story. It’s your turn. Who are you?”
He takes a deep breath,
thinking to himself, what should I say? Silently praying, “Lord Jesus,
let Your Holy Spirit give me the right words that I might be faithful to You
and Your Word, yet still show compassion to this hurting woman who has also been
redeemed with Your precious blood. May she find her true identity and purpose
in the family of God, Your Church.”
From the beginning, God created man for
community. He spoke creation into existence and formed the first man from the
dust. It was all good, except the man was alone. Then God, who is Himself communal
in His nature as triune, established the first human community by creating the woman
to complement the man. This perfection did not last long. Sin soon drove them
apart, and ever since, the human condition has been a paradox of coming
together and falling apart.[i]
In His plan to restore His creation, God
went back to the communal drawing board.[ii] He sought out an old
couple whose ability to procreate was long gone. He expanded their family as
miraculously as He created the first community. Through this gathered people,
God promised to bless all nations. He would bring together all people under His
gracious rule and reign.[iii]
This is why we should not be surprised
when Jesus, early in His ministry, called together a community of disciples.
Indeed, when God calls someone to be His disciple, He never leaves them alone.
He calls them into a new communal existence with all believers.[iv]
Jesus traveled from town to town,
preaching, teaching, and healing, and the crowds followed Him. As Jesus
surveyed the crowd, He had compassion on the people. He saw them as
shepherdless sheep who were on their way to hell, and He was determined to
rescue as many of them as possible. He also saw them as a field of grain ready
for the harvest. After grain has reached that point, it is “go time.” It must
be harvested quickly, otherwise it will fall to the ground and go to waste.
Jesus asked His disciples, and He also
asks us, to share in His compassion. And He tells us the first thing He wants
us to do to show such compassion “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:39). It is the Lord’s harvest
field, and He will see to it that the necessary workers bring the harvest in.
He assures us that none of His elect will perish. All His sheep will be
gathered into His fold.
Jesus will accomplish this either with us
or without us. He doesn’t need us, but He wants to use us. He graciously wants
to give us the privilege of being involved in this all-important work, work
with blessed results that will last into eternity. And the first thing He asks
us to do is exceedingly simple and will cost us nothing but a little of our
time. He tells us to pray for workers for His harvest field. In response to
such prayers, He will provide them.
In this week’s text, Matthew identifies the
original twelve by name. What precedes and follows the list offers the clearest
direction for your discipleship.[v] Prompted
by love and compassion for the crowds, who were like “sheep without a shepherd”
(Matthew 9:36), Jesus told His newly formed community to pray for God to send
workers (Matthew 9:38).
As we sincerely offer such prayers to our
heavenly Father, we surely are willing to let Him make us the answers to our
own prayers. Our Lord will use us in some way or another in this most blessed
work, for this work is the privilege of all believers in Christ. It is a high
privilege to pray for this work, to support this work, and to be involved in
doing this work personally. Satan wants us to regard it as a grievous burden
that we ought to avoid.
Soon, Jesus made it happen. Perhaps to their
surprise, Jesus sent those same disciples to be the workers He had just
encouraged them to pray for. However, He did not send them unequipped. He gave
them “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every
disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1). The work Jesus had previously
done Himself (Matthew 9:35) was now being given to His followers to do in His
name.
Notice the movement. Jesus loved the crowds. He
told them to pray for workers in the harvest of souls. Then He sent His
disciples to participate in His work among men. He continues the same movement
today.
Christians are loved and sent. We have been loved
by God in Christ. That is the promise of the Gospel. Out of nothing but divine grace,
Jesus came to bring forgiveness, life, and salvation to sinful human beings who
would be lost without Him. His compassion for the crowds (which was also for
His disciples) led Him to preach, heal, and restore.[vi]
Jesus loved His disciples. He also sent them. In this
text, they were sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. That changed after
His resurrection as Jesus extended their mission to include all nations
(Matthew 28:16-20), but the sending remained the same. His mission, to bring
life to all people, would be carried out by those who had already been loved.[vii] God’s
love for His creation moved Him to save His wandering sheep. And God’s love for
His disciples moves them to go where Jesus sends them.
I would like you to consider what it means for you
to be part of a community of disciples. What does this look like in practice?
Who are you? What do you do?
Ava and Jacob sit
across from each other at the diner. Time drags on. It has certainly been
awkward. Why did I have to ask him to have coffee? she thinks to herself.
I bet he thought I was asking him out. Then I told him all these private
things about me. Well, I can’t undo the last 30 minutes. I might as well wait
to hear what he has to say.
At the same moment,
Jacob wonders why he’s sitting here with Ava. But I’m here, he tells
himself. So, I guess I should say something. He feels compassion for the
girl underneath the rough exterior. He hurts as he sees the jagged scars on her
wrists and senses the deeper wounds she has suffered within her heart, mind,
and soul. He says a silent prayer. “God, this girl needs Your love. You've sent
me here. Help me to say something that is good for her.”
For Christians, these
moments are random coincidences. They are divinely serendipitous. Those who are
loved by God are sent by Him. There is no person loved by God who
is not sent. Like Jacob to Ava, or in less dramatic ways, we are all deployed
to a variety of people desperate for God’s love.
The prospect of God
sending you to an Ava probably makes you uncomfortable. But you don't have to
look far. There are "Avas" all around you—in your family, down the
street, at work, and in school. But the Great Commandment and the Great
Commission place us under divine orders: “Love.” “Go.” You cannot escape the
people right in front of you.
As much as loved and
sent provide us with identity and purpose, they also overwhelm us with
their demand. If the “loved” are sent to love the same way God does, we’re in a
world of hurt. None of us naturally love like God. The personal cost is too
high. It’s impossible!
That’s where we need to
remember that these words are passive. It’s not that I love the world,
but “God so loved the world …” We don’t initiate the loving or sending.
The Lord does. Only because we are loved are we able to love. Only
because we are sent are we able to go. God gives the necessary
ability to match the occasion. He speaks to our trembling heart: “You are loved
more than you can imagine and sent with greater purpose than you thought.”
Jesus' ministry was not
only defined by words but also actions, how He dealt with people. Grace and
truth emanated from His earthly life. His Gospel was not a sterile doctrine; it
was a personal reality of sacrificial love. His was, and is, a love that gives
itself and bears our burdens.
“Loved” and “sent” are
not meant to be endlessly lectured. They are not words in a textbook. They have
been done, and they are meant to be done. They are God’s activity done to us.
Then they become God’s directive, done through us.
God’s love must
continually be embodied in the love that seeks lost people. The credibility of
the Church’s message depends on whether the Church will go in response to God’s
sending. Therefore “loved” and “sent” are not divergent activities. Both, in
tandem, are one expression of God’s loving heart.
And so, we’re back at the table in the little
café. Having told Jacob her story, Ava asks, “Well, who are you?” Jacob takes a
deep breath and begins, “Let me tell you my story, who I am and why I’m here. I
am loved by God, and I believe He sent me to you …”
Unless otherwise
indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard
Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[ii] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[iii] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[iv] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[v] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[vi] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
[vii] Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (Pentecost 3: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023.
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