By the Fourth of July the corn is supposed to be “as high as an elephant’s eye.”

If you planted early and had warm spring weather you might already be harvesting lettuce, cucumbers, onions, and those upside-down tomatoes you see on tv. And even if you’re still waiting for your plants to produce, every optimistic gardener eagerly envisions the anticipated bounty that is to come. No matter what you are growing or how much you enjoy the “gardening,” we always have one eye looking forward to the final harvest.

As he is just starting out on the journey portion of his ministry, the harvest is central to Jesus’ thoughts. In this week’s gospel text Luke describes a second great missionary enterprise Jesus initiates. In Luke 9:1-2 Jesus sent out his twelve disciples, giving them the power to heal …