A woman goes to her doctor. The doctor verifies that she is pregnant. This is her first pregnancy. The doctor asks her if she has any questions. She replies, “Well, I’m a little worried about the pain. How much will childbirth hurt?”
The doctor thinks for a moment then says, “Well, that varies from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy and besides, it’s difficult to describe pain.”
“I know, but can’t you give me some idea?” she asks.
“Well, he said, “Grab your upper lip and pull it out a little . . .”
“Like this?” the woman asked.
“A little more . . .” he said.
“Like this?” she asked.
“No. A little more . . .”
“Like this?” she asked again.
“Yes.” The doctor said. “Does that hurt?”
“A little bit,” she replied.
“Now,” he said, “stretch your lip over your head!” (1)
Sounds to me like that would hurt. Some of you are nodding as if this doctor knew what he was talking about.
Today, we are not going to talk about those who are in labor, but we are going to talk about laborers. Jesus is looking for laborers, people who will labor for his kingdom.
In Luke 10:1-2 we read these words, “After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” (RSV)
This is an interesting and important chapter. Notice that Jesus appointed seventy disciples to prepare the way for his ministry. Some manuscripts say seventy-two were appointed. It really doesn’t matter which number is correct; the number is probably symbolic. Jesus obviously had a large number of followers. Certainly he had more than the twelve with which we are familiar. On this occasion he sent them out in pairs, undoubtedly for mutual encouragement and help.
Jesus saw a tremendous need, a need so great that a great corps of witnesses was needed. “The harvest is plentiful,” he said, “but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Christ’s words ring just as true in this generation as in that day long ago. The harvest is still plentiful. People today still need what Christ has to offer.
People today are spiritually hungry. Many people in our society are lost . . . however you define that word. People have their lives as messed up as any generation has ever messed up their lives before. The world is crying out to us, “We need a Savior more than we ever have!” Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful.”
Christ’s call for laborers, by the way, is based on human need. It is not based on a desire to build the biggest church in town. It is not based on the desire to cram our values down someone else’s throat. The world desperately needs what only the church can give it a Savior.
Someone has said that the church is not a museum for the saints, but a hospital for the hurting. If you understand that the church above all else is a place for people who have problems, then you can easily see what Jesus meant when he said the harvest is plentiful. Pastor Jeremy Houck put it this way:
The church is designed for the single mother who works two jobs to support her kids. The church is for the drug addict who can’t stop his habit. The church is for the young person who struggles with self esteem. The church is for the young couple who lives together and has never been exposed to the best way to build a home. The church is for the man who does not respect his boss, so he steals from the company and from his coworkers. The church is for the housewife who goes out searching for some excitement in the arms of a man who belongs to someone else. The church is for the alcoholic who is ready to admit he needs help. (2)
You do see, don’t you, why many churches don’t grow? They’re seeking after the wrong audience. They’re looking for people who have got it altogether, not those who are falling apart. They’re looking for the up-and-ins, not the down-and-outs. They’re looking for saints not for sinners. We’re looking right over the great harvest and not even seeing it. What did Jesus say? “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:15). How did we get it so wrong?
“The harvest is plentiful,” if you know where to look.
Many of you are familiar with the Celebrate Recovery programs popping up around the country. Celebrate Recovery services are designed to reach those who have had problems with alcohol or drugs, but also people who are hurting because as children they were abused, or they’re suffering after a divorce or the loss of a spouse.
One man tells about visiting a Celebrate Recovery service in a city in the South on a Thursday evening. He says, “It was a loud service. The band, though, was great. But here’s what impressed me. More than 400 people, primarily younger people in their 20s and 30s were gathered in one place. Some of them had been through rough times. At least half of them were men . . .”
Imagine that! Who says the church can’t reach people in their 20s and 30s? Who says the church can’t reach men?
“In this service,” he reports, “more than 400 young and middle adults, more than half of whom were men were lifting high the name of Jesus.”
Why? Because the church was meeting them at the point of their need.
There are many, many people in the world today who desperately need what Christ has to offer. No, let me amend that. ALL people need what Christ has to offer.
Some people, though, have a buffer zone around them good health, numerous material possessions, people who love them. They still need a Savior. But the good life that our affluent society provides them keeps them from realizing the most important need they have. But don’t kid yourself. They still need Christ. Jesus was speaking directly to our generation when he said, “The harvest is plentiful.”
What Christ needs is laborers who will go out into the fields. Do you understand that? This is the church’s primary reason for being to be reaching out in love as Jesus reached out to a hurting and dying world.
The last thing Jesus did before he left this earth was give us the great commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). That is our primary purpose.
It is not our only purpose to be sure.
We are to be a charitable organization. We are to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves, remembering how Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me” (Matthew 25:42-43).
We are also to be responsible members of our community. We are to support community organizations and to work for peace and justice in the world.
And we are to maintain a house of worship and gather each week to worship God and to teach the sacred Word.
But, as vital as these things are they are not our main business. Our main business is to introduce the world to Jesus to the extent that people become his disciples, living the Christ life in such a way that the whole world is touched. That is not an easy thing for most of us to do particularly if it means sharing our faith with a stranger.
Perhaps you’ve heard the hilarious story about the man who prayed the same prayer every morning: “Lord, if you want me to share my faith with someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is.”
One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our friend who was praying for a sign that he should share his faith. Having this burly man next to him made our friend nervous. He anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he got to the next stop, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. The burly man then cried out with a loud voice, “My life is such a mess. I need to find Christ. I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to know the Master?”
The burly man finally turned to our timid friend and asked, “Can you tell me about Jesus?”
Our nervous friend immediately bowed his head and prayed, “Lord, is this a sign?” (3)
Most of us are not very comfortable sharing our faith with a stranger. It is easier to do if we do it with a friend. Maybe this is why Jesus sent these witnesses out in pairs.
There was a time when churches would send people out two by two to evangelize the community. Our Jehovah’s Witness and Mormon friends still do it that way. It’s not very effective. In fact, it’s a good way to get shot in today’s world. People don’t seem to want strangers knocking on their door.
A woman who worked at home invited a friend over for coffee. She told her, “Ignore the sign on the door. It’s just for drop‑ins and salespeople.”
The sign read, “Bell does not work.” Then penciled underneath were these words, “Knocking won’t, either.” My guess is she didn’t get many visitors.
One guy says there was a knock at his front door one cold and rainy day. He opened it and there stood two Jehovah’s Witnesses, damp and shivering in the cold. They asked if they could come inside. He couldn’t leave them standing there, so he said okay. He brought them into his living room and offered them a chair. They were quiet for a long time so he asked, “What happens now?”
The older one said, “We don’t know. We never got this far before.”
Going out two by two was once an effective strategy for reaching people. It is not today. We need to find new ways of extending the call of Christ to a new generation of seekers.
There are some things we know about this new generation of young adults. We know that they value relationships. As someone has put it, they are not looking for a friendly church; they’re looking for friends. And we know that they despise phoniness. They want people to be genuine. And they like informality, including casual dress.
One writer tells about a friend of his, a woman perhaps 50 years of age. He’s never seen her in anything but blue jeans and a somewhat sloppy blouse which she probably got at Goodwill. That’s because he’s never seen her anywhere but church.
Recently he discovered quite by accident that she comes from a very wealthy family. She grew up living in a prominent family on a multi-million dollar estate.
Why is she so under-dressed? He wondered. Is she that frugal with her money? No, it’s because she doesn’t want anyone to come to her church and feel that they won’t be accepted because they can’t afford nice clothes. This is a commitment she made years ago. She wants everyone to know that you don’t have to belong to a certain economic group to be welcome in the family of God.
It’s a new world, a more casual world. Even the doctor who treats you might be wearing blue jeans. We might look at our church and ask what we can do to make our worship and our life together as a church family more appealing to those who need what Christ has to offer but might have been turned off at some time by the church. Perhaps we need to be more relational, more genuine, less formal, more casual.
Sometimes a simple invitation is all people need. Surveys show that, if you invite a friend to church, 50% of the time they will respond with a “yes.” That percentage goes up substantially with a second, third, or fourth invitation. (4)
The problem is that most of us are reluctant to even ask. Why is that? Are we ashamed of the Gospel? Are we ashamed of our church? Is there something we could do to make you so excited about our church that you would invite a friend to worship with you?
You may know the story of Garrison Keillor, host of the popular program on public radio, Prairie Home Companion.
Keillor was brought up in a fringe group of the Plymouth Brethren Church.
Finding the church’s heavy legalisms and dullness off putting, Keillor stopped going to church. From then on people would ask him, “Do you go to church?” And he would say, “No.” Then they would say, “Why don’t you go to church?” And he would tell them.
That ritual exchange served him well for many years until, sometime back, a Lutheran friend yes, some Lutherans do evangelism engaged him in those same two stock questions, “Do you go to church?” and “Why don’t you go to church?” But then this person surprised him with a third question: “Why don’t you come with us?”
Never having been asked that before, Keillor didn’t have a stock answer. And before he knew it, he found himself saying yes. And that’s all it took and he was back in the fold once again. (5) Wouldn’t it have been a shame if no one had ever asked?
The fields are ready for the harvest. That’s what Christ teaches us. People today need Christ as much as they have ever needed him. Christ’s greatest need is for laborers, people who are willing to share their faith openly and boldly with their friends and neighbors. Christ needs people who are sensitive to the needs of others in this fast-changing world. Sometimes all that is needed is a simple invitation. Can Christ count on you to give that invitation?
“The harvest is plentiful,” says Christ, “but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
1. http://jokes.christiansunite.com/Mothers/Childbirth.shtml.
2. http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/i-want-the-church-to-grow-but-do-i-want-any-more-people 6-jeremy-houck-sermon-on-evangelism-fear-of-55342.asp.
3. Raymond McHenry, Something to Think About (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998).
4. Mike Slaughter, Momentum for Life, Revised Edition (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008).
5. Leonard Sweet, Faithquakes (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994).