Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
5 sermons cite this verse
I'd like you to have a seat so uh this weekend i i have a sister one of my older sisters is currently actually in the middle of this the weekend she's currently running a 200 mile trail race right now um which is just so cool i just like so difficult so hard um and just i think about this whenever i've been i've been she's been training for it for a really long time and so uh this whole season she's been training for it. I've been bragging on her and everyone, they hear it. They're like, wow, that's crazy. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's fine. But I think it's so cool. I just, I, so difficult. I look at that and I think, man, I could never, and that's what everyone says. The 200 mile trailways, she's running the whole thing. I could never. And I think about this, whenever we come upon something that seems so daunting, so intimidating, someone says, I'm going to run a marathon or, or I'm doing ultra or I'm going to climb, you know, some kind of mountain. We say, I could never do that. Or maybe something like intellectual, that sense of I'm going to learn to do. I'm learning a new language or I'm writing a book. I could never do that. Maybe it's even something that you see. You hear about someone doing something heroic. You know, in the moment, they ran into a burning building or something heroic like over time, they're caring for their …
… care without caring when he looks at a different multitude. He looks at the multitudes and he tells the disciples, the harvest is plentiful. This is in Matthew 9, 37 through 38. I've grown up hearing this all the time. And whenever I hear this text, I always think to myself, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And I hear this as a clarion call for those of us who consider ourselves disciples to go out into the harvest. But this is not what Jesus tells the disciples. Jesus doesn't say the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, so get out into the field. Jesus says in verse 38, he says, therefore pray the Lord of the harvest. Hold on, pray. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Not every problem means that you need to immediately step in and make yourself the solution. Jesus says there is a problem here. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. But don't just make yourself a laborer because you may send yourself in the wrong field. …
… but to feel the weight of that hurt? Same thing, Matthew 9, verse 35-38. When Jesus saw the crowds, He had what on them? He had compassion on them. He didn't just see the need. He felt the gravity of their need. and then to reach down and touch that need. In an age and a day where we can put our iPod in our ears, we can go throughout the busyness of our life day in and day out doing all the things that we find ourselves engrossed in doing and watch Fox News and look on the Internet and see all the needs around us, but never lift a finger to meaningfully engage the needs of those around us. And not just, don't miss the temptation, not just in the world as a whole, but in the church. undoubtedly in this room a variety of physical struggles represented this morning some of you are going through some physical pain emotional struggles different families in this room who are walking through some things whether it's in a marriage or with children that things aren't just working out the way they were supposed to maybe maybe on the verge of divorce maybe feeling the effects of a divorce maybe there's financial struggles uncertainty about the future there Maybe there's spiritual struggles undoubtedly in this room. …
… He was looking at their spiritual condition and they were like sheep without a shepherd. And then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. When Jesus saw the crowd, He knew he was on mission and he saw the people. When he saw the people, he saw their spiritual condition. When he saw their spiritual condition, he had compassion on them. And he said, man, we've got to go to them with the good news of Jesus. We've got to go to them with the gospel. We've got to go to them and meet their needs. He had a missional mindset. And to be a follower of Jesus is to have that same missional mindset. And so why is it important that we include this in the collection today, our relationship with the world? because we're in all kinds of situationships with the world right now. And I want us to be purposeful today. …
… And this is the linchpin. Matthew 9, verse 35 to 38. Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw, he saw vision. Idoin is the Greek word there, seeing. He saw not just with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Here we see the vision of Jesus. First thing is this. You are needed. The need is urgent. He looked out and he saw the crowd. He saw the people. and he saw they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. What do those words mean? Harassed means, the Greek word there, skula means confused, exhausted by life, weary. …