Prop: Shofar

I grew up on nursery rhymes. How many of you did too? Today, I want to talk about this one. Say it with me:

“Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn;

But where is the boy
Who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haystack,
He's fast asleep.”

It’s said that in early times, shepherds often carried either horns or wooden flutes that they used to call in their sheep. The “voice” of the shepherd could be his actual physical voice, or it could be the voice of his horn or shofar. Either way, that “voice” would be unique to that shepherd.

Many times a number of shepherds would graze their sheep on the hills of Bethlehem, but when it was time to come in, each shepherd would call the sheep in his own “voice.”

When the horn would sound, the sheep would immediately follow their own shepherd.

Sometimes though a sheep could get distracted and if one went astray, others could follow. Sheep are natural followers. So it was very important to have a shepherd who was paying attention. And not sleeping on the job, as the nursery rhyme suggests little boy blue was.

The shofar is a Jewish instrument. I’ve got one here today. [Blow it if you can and dare.] It is one of the prominent metaphors in our scriptures for the sound of God’s voice. And in fact scripture tells us too that God is the shepherd of all of us.

The shofar was used to call people to worship, to remind people of God’s presence on high holy days. And to sound the alarm if need be. It was the “voice” used to call God’s flock to receive the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai in the Exodus story (19).

The shofar is made from a ram’s horn. Some relate this ram’s horn to the sacrifice of Isaac –or rather God’s saving Isaac from sacrifice by sacrificing a ram instead. Whichever way you look at it, the shofar is a holy instrument, signifying God’s presence, grace, protection, and salvation. It also signifies the call to God’s holy feast.

The shofar was used (and still is today) to sound the celebration of Shavuot –otherwise known as Pentecost—the Feast of the Wheat Harvest. The sounding meant, it was time for people to celebrate the joy of God’s harvest, but also to repent and return to God if you have wandered astray.

When Jesus talks to his disciples about the harvest, he’s saying that the time had come for God’s judgment and salvation. Shavuot would soon be followed by the ingathering at Sukkot.

Harvest was a joyful time. The wheat harvest was the last of the grain offerings. It was a harvest of blessing and feasting, when the harvest was good. It was a time to take notice of all of God’s abundant blessings. But for those who had turned away from God, it was also a time to perk up and shape up, because the threshing floor was near. And the wheat would be soon separated from the chaff. Those who were “dressed” for the wedding, would be taken in to God’s table. Those who thwarted the Master of the Feast would be swept away and burnt with the chaff. It was a time to remain awake, to be ready to receive God’s redemption.

Shavuot is a time of making sure you are keeping your side of the covenant. Harvest time is oath reminder time. And –it’s the time when the Bridegroom (God and in this case the Messiah) comes for his Bride (God’s bethrothed flock).

The Harvest is a fulfillment celebration. The seeds were long planted. They were nurtured, and the waiting began. The wheat is the last grain to mature. Now the waiting is over, and the wheat is harvested. It’s a time for joy, and dancing, and singing, and praise. But it’s also a time of culmination.

A covenant is a two-sided agreement. When God promises the people of Israel that they will come into the promised land, their combined story begins with their Exodus from Egypt. But it is culminated in the giving of the Torah (the ten commandments) at Mt. Sinai before entering the promised land. This is the time when God swears a covenant with the people. And the time when the people agree to serve and worship God and live by God’s commandments.

Shavuot is the culmination of the Passover Feast 50 days before. At Passover, the exodus from Egypt is remembered. It is the beginning of God’s salvation plan. But Shavuot is the fulfillment of it.

For Jesus, Shavuot is also a time when God’s messianic plan comes to fruition. Jesus warned that God’s kingdom had come near. Soon, those who have waited long will see God’s salvation fulfilled. Passover was the betrothal (the time of the planting of God’s seed). And the betrothal has been long. But now it is time for the harvest, the union between God and people.

Shavuot in a sense is a marriage ceremony –a marriage between God (shepherd) and flock. And so the shofar blows, signaling the time of fulfillment.

God’s voice has spoken. All who honor God must come to the Feast. All who love God will know God’s voice. They will know Messiah’s voice too.

As Jesus announces the time for God’s “harvest” in our scripture today, it is no doubt time for Shavuot. Shavuot was one of the three times in Jesus’ day when all Jewish people had to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So people would have come from everywhere throughout Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and beyond to celebrate the harvest festival, bringing their gifts of grain and fruits of the field.

Jesus knew that the “shepherds” of Israel (the sadducees, priests, many of the Pharisees) were not steering the people into the arms of God, but leading them astray in all kinds of ways. He saw them as lost….wandering….needing to be led.

I can imagine him looking out over the crowds, many of them following him, many not knowing what to believe or whom to follow. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, must call them home to God. And he will need many helpers to do it.

“Pray,” he said to his disciples. “Pray to the Lord to send workers into the harvest fields.” “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” It’s time. “Go.”

Has anyone here ever worked on a farm? [Allow people to answer.]

My grandparents had a farm. You did? Yours too?

Well, what I can tell you is that you can’t run an entire farm all on your own. One person can’t do it. It’s simply too hard. It takes a number of people to make a harvest truly successful.

Jesus, having grown up in one of the most agricultural regions of Israel –in Galilee—knew too that it would take many to do what needed to be done. There were many who were ripe for knowledge, ready to learn, needful of God’s blessings, and wanting to do the things God wanted them to do. But they were without a proper shepherd. Even Jesus was only one person. And as Luke tells us, he needed his disciples to go ahead of him to town after town to proclaim his message, and to ready the people to hear him, to teach them, and to warn them.

In a sense, Jesus’ disciples became his shofars, carrying his “voice” to all of the flocks they could. Their voices would precede his, even as they echoed his. And those who truly belonged to God, would stop, turn, and listen.

When the disciples preached in Jesus’ name, it was Jesus’ voice they heard. The “call” of the Shepherd is inherent in the voice of His followers.

Just as Jesus calls followers, he also was calling shepherds, those who would help his voice carry through the towns –and through the ages.

In the Himalayas, a Sherpa is something like a shepherd, except instead of guiding sheep, they guide people through the rough terrain of the Himalayan mountains. In 1996, a team of men led by several seasoned Sherpas attempted to climb Mt. Everest. As the recent movie reveals, only a few of the many survived the treacherous climb and the succeeding storm. Sherpas are those who live in the mountainous regions of Nepal and the Himalayas. Many of them act as guides for climbing the legendary Everest. Because they are used to the thinner air and terrain of the mountains, and because they know them like the back of their hands, they let the climbers know when and where it is safe to climb, and where and when not to. Often, they lead them up the slopes, guiding them to safety, and rescuing those who fall. They teach them how to climb, and the best places to stop and rest. Many die doing this life-long duty for others. But it is the pride of their people to care for those who venture into their beloved mountains.

When God called His people together from the mountain of Sinai those many years ago, God too gave his flock instructions on how to live a life in God’s different kind of kingdom. And God established shepherds along the way to make sure to keep His people on track, to rescue those who wandered away, and to call to those who got lost.

Many of those shepherds failed along the way. Jesus would need new shepherds, who knew the way as He did. He knew the time was ripe. It was time for people to meet God face to face. Time for them to be led to the marriage table. But he would need help to guide as many as possible into the “Gates” of God’s Sheepfold.

Those who would shepherd need to have learned from Jesus the ways of the kingdom. They would need to be patient, loving, and kind, in order to gather the flocks from every place and time. They would need to be trustworthy. They would need to be ready. They would need to be determined. They would need to put their own lives on the line in order to be the “voice” of Jesus that calls others home.

Jesus is still calling today for workers in the fields. There are so many of God’s flock scattered out there in the world, lonely and lost. So many that have forgotten who they are. Have forgotten God’s voice.

You, and you, and you, and you, all of you are called, as followers of Jesus, to go and bring back God’s beloved people to his heavenly feast.

If some reject you, so be it. If some won’t listen. That’s ok. But for every flock you encounter, some always will. And to God, every one that listens, matters.

We are the voice of Jesus in the world today. We His followers have been called to “go” –into the harvest fields to find those who are looking for God, those who have lost their way.

You are the Sherpas. You are the shepherds. You are the harvesters of God’s kingdom people.

YOU are Jesus’ voice to God’s people.

You are His Shofar.

When you leave this place today, know that Jesus is depending you. He cannot do it alone. But He is depending upon you to help bring God’s people home.

Let’s sing now together as we gather to go out into the world: “Lord of the Harvest, Send Forth Your Reapers.”

[Note: You can also use songs such as “Lord of the Harvest,” or “Come Ye Thankful People Come,” or “Sing to the Lord of Harvest,” or “Harvest Home.”]

[If you can, have trumpets accompany the hymn.]

*The photo for this sermon is taken from IBISWorld Report 2013.

Based on the Story Lectionary

Major Text

Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Instruction on the Coming Harvest (9:35-38)

Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Instruction on the Coming Harvest and Sending into the Field (10:1-24)

Minor Text

The Story of God’s Gift of the Torah on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19 and 34)

The Lord’s Command to Celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16 and Exodus 23:14-19 and Leviticus 23)

Leave Some Grain in the Field for Foreigners and Others (Deuteronomy 24:19-22)

David and the Threshing Floor and the Judgment of the Lord (2 Samuel 24)

The Crossing of the Jordan with the Ark on Dry Ground During God’s Harvest (Joshua 3)

Psalm 23: The Shepherd of Salvation

Psalm 67: The Lord’s Salvation Harvest

Psalm 107: Let the Redeemed of the Lord Tell Their Story

Psalm 126: The Joy of the Lord’s Harvest

The Song of Songs

The Story of Ruth and the Lord’s Saving Harvest

Repent for the Lord’s Harvest is Appointed (Hosea 6)

The Time to Harvest Unrepentant Babylon is Coming Soon (Jeremiah 51)

The Harvest is Ripe and All Will be Judged (Joel 3)

The Song of God’s Vineyard (Isaiah 5)

The Pruning Before the Harvest (Isaiah 18)

The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:1-16)

Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Parable of Wheat and Tares (13:24-30)

The Lord Will Enlarge the Harvest of Your Righteousness and You Will Rejoice (2 Corinthians 9)

Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Instruction on the Coming Harvest

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 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.”

Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Instruction on the Coming Harvest and Sending into the Field

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Image Exegesis: The Power of Prayer / Lord of the Harvest

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. (John 4:35-36)

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:7-9)

Talk about mixed metaphors. Jesus does it all the time. Shofar and voice. Shepherd and sheep. Harvester and wheat.

First Jesus says, the crowds are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd, so that he needs his disciples to be shepherds with him. Then he says, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves!”

How can you be both lamb and shepherd? Easy in Jesus-speak. All of us are. We are both followers of Jesus, innocent and obedient. And we can also be shepherds, who take Jesus’ voice into the world to guide other sheep back into the fold.

We can be the wheat. And we can help in the harvesting.

We can need to hear Jesus’ voice. And we can help to “be” Jesus’ voice.

This is the essence of the scripture. We are both/and. That’s why anything we do in Jesus’ name, must actually be done by Jesus/God. “Pray” Jesus says. “Pray for God to send workers into the harvest field.” For God must empower those in the field to do the work that needs to be done in the way that God intends.

Otherwise, shepherds can easily lead sheep astray. Another sheep can lead other sheep astray.

We must be both/and.

And we must be many.

God needs many hands in order to do the work “at hand.”

The harvest is a time of blessing or judgment. Like the metaphor of the threshing floor –the harvest is when people are brought before God, so that they can be judged. On the threshing floor, God will separate the wheat from the chaff.

Or the wheat from the weeds!

In one of Jesus’ parables in fact, he speaks of weeds that grow along with the wheat. They can’t be separated until the harvest. Initially, you can’t tell the difference between wheat stalks and stalks of the weed darnel. They look identical in the beginning,.

But when they begin to bear “fruit”…when their head appears… the wheat looks radically different.

Only in the fruit bearing, can you tell the difference. There are Jews who looked and spoke like Jews. But only in their fruit could you tell who was truly a man of God and who wasn’t. There are also Christians who go to church, who talk like Christians and look like Christians. But when it comes down to the fruit they bear….it’s easy to tell the difference.

At Harvest time, you can tell exactly who is wheat and who is weed.

Imagine those waves of grain on the hillsides of Bethlehem. The crowds must have looked like that to Jesus when they came to celebrate the Harvest festival in Jerusalem –shavuot.

Jesus seems to have a sense of urgency about needing workers in the field. God’s kingdom time was coming. And there was much to be done.

Would they become part of the bread of life? Or would they be the kind of weeds that would poison the food? (Darnel is in fact poisonous to human consumption).

Are you wheat or are you tare? That was the question. And Jesus would need help to guide those lost in the midst of the darnel into the arms of God.

It was the “season” of the giving of the Law. And for Jesus, it was now the “season” of God’s messianic fulfillment.

Just as in the book of Ruth (read at the time of Shavuot) Boaz becomes the redeemer of Ruth when they meet on the threshing floor, so now will Jesus redeem God’s people when they are met for blessing or judgment on the threshing floor of the kingdom.

Just as David rescued sheep from the mouth of lion and bear, Jesus’ shepherds too would need to go out among the wolves, in order to rescue those who are wandering and need to be guided homeward.

It is the time of God’s redemption.

Jesus’ noting that people were sheep without a shepherd is not new to scripture. It’s found many times in scripture (Num 27:16-17, 1 Kings 22:17, 2 Chronicles 18:16, Jeremiah 50:6, Zecharaiah 11:15, among others). Each time, it was an indictment of Israel’s leaders. Here too, Jesus is making a statement about the leaders in Jerusalem.

When the shofar is sounded for Shavuot, not only will God’s sheep be blessed, but those who have strayed will need to be guided back home. And those who have defied God will be judged.

Harvest is not joyful for those who have rejected God. It is however the greatest time of joy for those who haven’t.

The Shavuot ceremony is liked in the Hebrew scriptures to a marriage ceremony. In fact, where the Song of Songs is read at Passover (betrothal), the story of Ruth is read at Shavuot (culmination or fulfillment).

Harvest is a key time for many stories of scripture (note Gen 30:14, Joshua 3:15, Judges 15:1, 1 Samuel 6:13, 2 Samuel 21:9).

It is a festival of oath, as well as a festival of abundance. What was planted has now come to fruition. That goes for the messianic promise, as well as God’s redemption plan.

The time of harvest is time to stay awake ready to receive God’s redemption. It’s a time for harvesters to go into the field and to bring in the grain. It’s time for all to listen to the call of God’s voice. It’s time to celebrate.