Meeting the Challenges of the Harvest

Introduction/Background:

Theme: Evangelism

Reference:

Introduction/Background:

We live around farming in WNY and can somewhat relate to what Jesus is teaching His disciples in our passage for this morning. We know that when there is a bountiful harvest, The farmer cannot just sit back and expect the harvest to come by itself. He knows that if he ignores the crop or is late starting then part, if not all will go bad. He knows that it takes more than just himself to get in all the crops before they go bad. That it takes many workers, working together to bring it in.

One of the problems that we have in this country is that there are not enough Americans willing to work in the fields which are requiring farm owners to hire outside workers to bring in the harvest. This is also happening in the harvesting of the lost. America is now the second largest mission field for foreign missionaries. No longer are we sending more people from this country overseas than they are sending their people here.

(ESV) When he 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.”

The times are not so different as those in which Jesus ministered. There is still the challenge of reaching the lost. The first thing we need to do is to identify the challenges that face us.

The Challenges

The first challenge is to see people as Jesus sees them: with 4-D glasses – vs. 36

1. Desperation – many people in the world today are without hope. They see the future as too bleak to go on. The suicide rate amongst teens is rising. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24. Americans aged 65 and older have the highest suicide rate of any age group. Others are turning to drugs and alcohol to escape.

Our hearts should be moved as we watch this desperation as our friends, neighbors, teammates, coworkers, family try to make it another day without the Savior.

2. Distress – they are worried. What does the future hold? How are they going to pay all the bills? How are they going to feed the family? Are they going to lose their job? Anne and I see this every week at the clothes closet ministry.

3. Dying – I am not talking about just physically, but spiritually. There a people all around us who, if they were to die physically today would spend eternity in hell. Separated from the love of God forever. But because we don't see them as dead, we may see them as religious, successful, likable, decent people, physically strong who seem to “have it all together,” we don't feel compelled to tell them about Jesus. For we only see them through earthly eyes.

4. Directionless – wondering around lost as without a shepherd. There is no direction to their lives. No sense of purpose. They are asking the question, “why am I here?” And when they cannot answer this question it leads them to desperation. The problem is that because of a lack of good shepherds, these people are latching onto anyone who is willing. They are flocking to cults, false teachers, and world religions. These cults, false teachers, and world religions are more than happy to provide direction for their lives.

A. W. Tozer said, “The average person in the world today, without faith and without God and without hope, is engaged in a desperate personal search throughout his lifetime. He does not really know where he has been. He does not really know what he is doing here and now. He does not know where he is going. The sad commentary is that he is doing it all on borrowed time and borrowed money and borrowed strength; and he already knows that in the end he will surely die! Man, made more like God than any other creature, has become less like God than any other creature. Created to reflect the glory of God, he has retreated sullenly into his cave; reflecting only his own sinfulness. Certainly it is a tragedy above all tragedies in this world that man, made with a soul to worship and praise and sing to God's glory, now sulks silently in his cave.”

The second challenge is to see that the crop is plentiful and waiting to be harvested – vs. 37

There are an estimated 160 million unchurched in the US. This does not account for all those who attend other religious institutions or those who call themselves Christians and attend church on a regular basis, but who do not personally know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

It is estimated that 6,000 people die per day in the US; 150,000 per day around the world. How many of them are dying without Christ?

But in a study by Thom Rainer of unchurched people, it was found that 82% said they were likely, or somewhat likely to come to church if asked (and not by a religious professional). They also found that an estimated 17 million are just waiting for someone to share the Gospel with them.

The third challenge is to see that the workers are few – vs. 37

Jesus does not say witnesses are few, but he says laborers are few. Reaping a harvest among sinners is hard work. It will cost effort and time. It is not easy work. You have to roll up your sleeves, you have to sweat a little, and you have to get dirty, but few are willing to do that. So we do things that would attract them. Maybe we can do some things and they will come to us. Have you ever planted a garden and then one morning all the beans in that garden had jumped off the vines and were piled up on you porch? Have you ever planted a garden and one morning all the corn had fallen off the stalk and had walked up and piled itself on your porch? The harvest does not come on its own. It must be reaped and there lies the problem. We are too wrapped up in ourselves to be concerned about anyone else. And while churches all over America sit and do nothing, the potential harvest rots in the field.

Only 5% of Christians have ever led another person to Christ. 95% of Christians believe that it is too difficult to share the Gospel. In other words, those who are in the best position either don't feel responsible or don't feel capable. These are some of the many excuses which I have heard:

● I don't know enough or don't know how

● I am not bold or brave enough

● I am not persuasive enough

● I don't have the gift of evangelism

● I am not the type

Sadly, only 2% ever invite an unchurched person to church. When was the last time you invited an unchurched person to come and hear God's Word. I have heard this too often, “Pastor I hear there is a new family that moved in up the street. You might want to go and see them and invite them to church.” Or the other thing I hear is that “I wish there were more people coming to our church.” The only way that more people are going to come is by each and every one of us inviting someone.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, famous evangelist, said that the New Testament tells of forty people, each suffering from the same disease which was healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends, or He was taken to them. In only six cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance. Of the vast number of people who find their way to Jesus today, most of them reach Him because the friends of Jesus are concerned about the welfare of their souls...they engage in bringing in the harvest!

The urgency to meet the challenge will only come when we start to see people as Jesus sees them, not as we see them; that we see the vast numbers of people who are lost; that we see that the fields are ripe and ready for harvest.

Now that we understand the challenge, how is it that we can meet the challenge?

Meeting the Challenges

First, we need to see that each one of us is being called to be workers in the harvest

We need to realize our negative thinking about sharing the Gospel is nothing but excuses and really disobedience to God's Word. God has called every believer to be an ambassador of Christ. Jesus himself called us all to the Great Commission, to go into all the world and share His message (), to be His witnesses to the lost (). An ambassador is someone who presents and represents the message of his or her sovereign.

Paul answers many of the excuses which we have all heard and maybe even used in his first letter to the Corinthians (2:1-5). Listen to what he says, You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did--Jesus crucified. I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate--I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it-- and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.

● vs. 1 – Paul shared (not preached) a simple message. He did not a lot of theological terms or $100 words. The itinerant philosophers and teachers of the time depended upon their wisdom and eloquent speech to gain followers. Paul simply declared the message of his Lord as a good ambassador would.

● vs. 2 – He kept the message focused on Jesus. His message was: a person – Jesus; a relationship not a religion; a cross – the sacrifice which Jesus made for each one of us. “For there is no other name by which you may be saved.” ()

● vs. 3 – Even the great apostle Paul did not feel adequate enough to share the Gospel.

● vs. 4-5 – It was the not Paul but the power of God and the Holy Spirit which got the message through.

The message of this passage is, as Evangelist R. Larry Moyer says, “God is not asking us to bring the lost to Christ, but to bring Christ to the lost. You don't have to be a brilliant person with a clever mind, but a broken person with a clear message.

Next, we need to have the compassion of Jesus for the lost. To see people through the eyes of Jesus –

Jesus' whole reason for coming to earth was to seek and save the lost ().

Do we see those lost around us as potential saints? We see so much bad stuff, that we never see the potential in the world. But where there is a lost soul and where grace still reigns supreme, there is hope and there is a potential saint. No matter how “good” or how “bad” they are there is potential. Let’s not let the past seasons of fruitfulness cause us to not see the hope in this harvest.

Chip Ingram in his book, Holy Ambition says that if we want to live beyond Christianity 101, beyond the status quo, to accomplish things for God beyond our wildest dream, to see God's agenda fulfilled in this fallen world we need to start with a dislocated heart. A dislocated heart is one which gives us a God-given concern that propels us out of our comfort zone. It is a passionate concern for God's people and God's agenda that supersedes our own personal comfort and prosperity. That we care about things elsewhere when circumstances did not dictate we had to.

Nehemiah had a dislocated heart over the condition of the Jerusalem. He wept and mourned for days overs its broken down condition. Do we have the same emotional response for the lost? Have you ever laid awake at night pondering the question, “How many of the people that I know who are not believers know that Jesus Christ loves them so much that He died for them?” How many times have we honestly asked ourselves, with the Spirit of God prompting our hearts, “Do I really care about others? Do I give a rip? Does the way I use my time show that I care? Do my words indicate that I care?”

Or do we have to admit that living in our American culture we have become so desensitized that we can live our own little Christian life in our own little Christian world and never let the things that bother God bother us. The apostle Paul cared so much for his lost brethren that he was willing to give up his own salvation that they would come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

When you think of an unsaved person, think about all the descriptions in Scripture of a lost person and put them into a heart-rending sentence with their name included, it might sound something like this.

_____________________ (name of the person you care about) is being led away to death. They are separated from you oh God and if they continue down this path they will not see eternal life with You. They are under Your wrath and will be punished with everlasting destruction. They will be shut out from Your presence and on the great day of judgment will be thrown into the lake of fire.

We need to pray the “Three-Open Prayer” –

Ron Hutchcraft uses to provide a model for us to pray when preparing our hearts to reach the lost. praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

1. Pray for an open door – A natural opportunity to talk with someone about Jesus. Having a dislocated heart for the lost requires that each day we pray that God will open the door for an opportunity to share the Gospel with an unsaved person.

2. Pray for an open heart – This is asking God to prepare the soil for the seed you are about to sow. It is a task which God loves to do.

3. Pray for an open mouth – That God will give you the boldness and use you through the power of the Holy Spirit to speak the right words. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul writes, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

We need to connect with lost people

In Jesus went through Samaria to get to Galilee. He did not have to. But He knew that was where lost people where.

We cannot expect lost people to come to us. In today's world the average unchurched person is not going to get up on Sunday morning and say, “I hear that Hillview Baptist Church has a great worship service and their pastor gives a message on par with Billy Graham.” They are more likely to say, “I have been working hard all week and this is my only morning to sleep in and relax. Or mow my lawn. Or go fishing or hunting.”

We need to get connect to their lives. Love them where they are. Be there in the good times and the bad. Show real interest in them. Pray for them and with them. Build intentional relationships.

We need to reach them in their tribe. Their tribe is how people might be identified. Types of tribes might be parents, singles, single parents, sportsmen, youth, seniors, professionals, fire department, legion. We need to get to know and connect with the people of these tribes. Each of us belong to one of these. There may be others which I have not mentioned which you belong to.

Finally, we need the support of other believers.

Jesus did not send out the disciples alone. He sent them out in groups or at the minimum, pairs. Paul called the believers at Philippi to strive, “together for the faith of the Gospel;” (Prayer walk teams)

Conclusion:

God is calling each and every one of us to be laborers in the harvest. It is not an option. We cannot call ourselves disciples of Christ and stand on the sidelines observing the “professionals.” We need to realize our negative thinking about sharing the Gospel is nothing but excuses and really disobedience to God's Word. We need to see ourselves as broken people with a clear message, which God has called us to share.

God is calling each one of us to develop a dislocated heart for the lost. We need to see people as Jesus saw them, desperate, distressed, dying and directionless, and know that we have a solution. That we are beggars who have found bread and want to share the glorious news.

We need to pray the “three-open prayer.” We need to pray for open doors, open hearts, and open mouths.

We need to connect with lost people. We are not going to develop a dislocated heart for the lost when we keep ourselves isolated in our own little Christian world. We need to move out amongst the lost; to be involved in their tribe; learn their needs and develop ways to meet them; and most importantly how to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

And finally, we need to do this together. This church will not grow to be what God wants it to be if you are not all involved. We cannot leave the responsibility to the professionals, or a few. Remember, you may be the one God has called to share Christ with another. Are you ready to take up the call of the Lord of the Harvest and become a worker in His field? It is plentiful and ready for harvest.