"Here Am I Lord, Send Me" (Matthew 9:35-38)

Work to be Done (v.35-36)

Teaching, Preaching and Healing

Making disciples

This is no new charge.

This was the job description from the very beginning.

Teaching them the things that God has said is righteous and what He has deemed wicked.

Do not compromise on the truth.

What is right is right, what is wrong is wrong.

Bring clarity to their confusion.

Preaching to them the saving grace of God that is in Christ Jesus

Remind them that they are loved and have been shown a love that is unlike anything they have every experienced.

They are sinners and need to repent and believe the Gospel. (Mark 1:15)

Healing their struggles with sin, pain, sorrow and addiction with the power of prayer and the power of His word.

Bring Scripture to them. (Show them the promises of Christ, that He offers a life abundant with joy)

Pray with them. (Lead them to the arms of their Savior and show them that they have continual access to Him.)

Ministry of Compassion

We must not lose patience with them.

How many times He had to say the same things over and over again to His Apostles.

We pray for them, even if it takes years and years of prayer.

Their nature is set against Him, it will be a struggle

We must not see them as a mere project.

Just a number we can brag about.

Something seemingly impossible and we just want to prove ourselves.

These are people in need of salvation and love and how wonderful is the rejoicing in heaven when they surrender to Christ.

Christ had a heart of compassion for the lost and the hurting

He was not annoyed by them/ Did not see them as a burden.

His heart was broken for them because He knows how difficult life is, especially without Him.

He, though being God, in His human nature would at times be moved to tears at the plight of sinners.

The Bible says of the Lord:

His steadfast love never ceases and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3)

Waiting to be gracious toward you. (Isaiah 30:18)

Psalm 103:13 “As a father has compassion on his children, So Yahweh has compassion on those who fear Him.”

Sheep Without a Shepherd

Lost and wandering aimlessly

No hope for direction.

We are to be examples of Christ, Christ was an example of the Light to lead the people, in order that they would follow Him and lead the nations.

“Downcast Sheep” common phrase referring to a sheep that had fallen on its back and couldn’t get back up.

The spiritual leaders of that day were not willing to comfort them, guide them or provide for them.

They were taking advantage of them.

They would place burdens on them that they wouldn’t keep themselves.

Ezekiel 34:2-10 God criticizes the shepherds of Israel for shepherding themselves and not the flock and promises to save His flock from them one day. (Did in Jesus Christ)

Christ is the Good Shepherd

John 10:11–15 ““I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees—and the wolf snatches and scatters them— because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Workers Needed (v.36-37)

Work is Plentiful

There is no shortage on lost and lonely people.

The world working hard to make more people feel lost and lonely.

News fills us with hopelessness and feeds on disaster and pain.

Telling people that there is no life after this, this is it. (How hopeless)

They are looking for answers.

Workers are Few

The majority of the world do not have the “skills” for this work for they are lost and lonely.

“Many” is the word used by our Lord to describe the quantity of those who are lost.

“Few” is the word used by Him to describe those who are on the right path.

And even among the “Few” those who do the work of the Lord is but a few.

Those who do have the “skills” live a life of reluctancy and feel disinclined to work.

“Someone else will do what is needed to be done.”

Why do we leave our Father’s work so short-handed?

Work Neglected

B/C work is being neglected, people do not receive the love and the hope that Christ provided for them.

Those who have hope and have Christ are keeping Him all to themselves and are crippled by fear to say anything about Him.

B/C work has been neglected, people are looking to other sources for hope and not finding it.

Drugs to fix their anxiety

Alcohol to fix their depression

Sex to fix their loneliness

We must always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us. (1 Peter 3:15)

B/C work has been neglected, work is piling up.

God can speed up the process quicker than anyone.

Christ has told us to pray, indicating that our prayers participate in fulfilling God’s plan.

Working for God (v.38)

God is “Hiring”

He is looking for someone who is willing to do what is needed to be done.

Someone willing to surrender themselves and devote themselves to the harvest.

His Son knows the need for hard workers for His Father’s Kingdom and He charges us to pray that hard workers would come and bring forth the harvest He has prepared.

Now is the time. Today is the day. The harvest is ripe!

We are His Children

Who better to take up the family business than those who call upon the God of creation as Father?

He knows our resume, He knows our capabilities in His Son.

He has provided everything we need for the job.

Hearts of flesh, Fruit of the Spirit, Compassion and Patience.

He did not bring us off the streets of unrighteousness just to sit on the couch.

He has given us such an opportunity to work along side His majesty.

He has not given us new life to be lazy and reluctant with.

Having a “Send Me” Attitude

Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!””

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are looking to send someone into their harvest.

Won’t you go and answer the call of the Lord?

Rather than just pray that God would send someone, wouldn’t you rather be the answer to the prayer from our Lord Jesus Christ?

Why wait for someone else to do it? Why wait for a better time for you? Why not get to work for the King of kings and the Lord of lords?

We need that “Send Me” attitude.

Pray, “Father, send workers into Your harvest, and Father, send me!”