Hope and a heart for the harvest
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Have you ever been lost? I mean really lost. So lost you don’t have any hope of finding your way to where you want to go. Iv’e been there. It’s easy to get lost out in the woods during a land navigation exercise. That is not fun at all. Especially on a very dark night when the the distance we had to cover was about 10 miles and the rally time back at the start point is eight hours away. That’s not the worst but its pretty bad. Or maybe you were in your car and made a wrong turn and didn’t know it for hours. oooopps Those are possibilities when you know where you want to go.
What if you don’t know where you are going? The whole of our life is leading up to one thing - death. Not really death, but what comes after death. For those of us who know what will happen to us after we die and where we will be there is hope. But for those who do not know - there is no hope. They are lost, wondering around in this world with no hope and no direction for their lives. They think everything is alright but it isn’t.
Lost and without hope - I used to be there. Think back, if you can, to when you were lost and without hope. Remember how it felt to not have Jesus in your life and then how you felt to find Him.
This is the point of today. Remembering what it was like to be lost and without hope before you met Jesus and having compassion for those who are still lost and without hope.
Our passage for this morning is Matthew 9:36-38 and it says:
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
We have to start at the beginning. Seeing and compassion.
Seeing and compassion will help us provide hope for the hopeless.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Just like Jesus we must see the people around us. How often do you really see someone? We walk right by and don’t say a thing. Until we learn to see people nothing will change.
a. So be like Jesus and learn to see people. Then have compassion for them as lost and hopeless souls who need hope. The -
Lexham Theological Wordbook (σπλαγχνίζομαι)
σπλαγχνίζομαι (splanchnizomai) to have pity, deep empathy for others. This verb is similar to what is expressed in modern language as a feeling in one’s “gut” or “heart” of deep empathy for another person.
This verb is often used in the NT to describe Jesus having compassion on various people. In Luke’s Gospel, both the Samaritan man and the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son are described as feeling and expressing compassion.
Have you ever felt a gut wrenching feeling that you should help someone or even just speak to them, just to show you care in the name of Jesus? What did you do? Did you turn and run or actually talk to the person?
Jesus had this feeling this compassion. He knew they were sheep without a shepherd. He knew they were lost and hopeless. We need to have that feeling too. We need to have compassion. We have to remember what it was like to have no hope. To be lost and without hope in this world. Without that deep compassion we will simply ignore them and go about our business. We won’t even see them.
So why do we need to remember what it was like and have compassion?
b. Well, we have hope - we must share that hope.
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Hope)
A biblical term (Greek elpis) referring to the expectation of the believer that God will fulfill promises made in the past. Biblical hope is more than a simple wish. Ultimately the Christian’s future hope lies in the promise of Christ’s return and the anticipation of resurrection from the dead.
If hope is truly based on the promises and faithfulness of God then non-believers are truly hopeless. What do they have to hope for? They might have some mighty big wishes but no hope. They are lost and don’t even know it. Anybody got a road map? What about the Romans road?
But we have hope, true biblical hope. True biblical hope that will not fail. Have some compassion and share your hope. Don’t worry - God will return what ever you give away, many times over.
c. So, what is the hope that we have that non-believers don’t have?
#1. The Hope of Salvation 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9
8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We have the hope of salvation. Christ Jesus as our Savior will save us from the coming wrath on the day of judgement. Acts 2:21
21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
This is the first hope. The hope that brings peace in a crazy mixed up world where so many have no peace.
#2. The Hope of Eternal Life Titus 3:5-7
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Here again Jesus is our Savior. This passage evens tells us what happens when He does the saving. But, most of all it tells us one of the blessings of being saved. Eternal life. This is the hope that separates us from the lost and hopeless. They don’t have it. They won’t receive eternal life. Eternal life is something we receive because we believe. We receive it because God gives it to all of His children through Christ Jesus our Lord. If nothing else helps you have compassion this should. Are you joyful about living with God eternally. We should be, and we should want to share that joy, and that hope.
Why is this important? Well just like verse 37 of our passage says:
2. The harvest is plentiful.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
I can see Him standing there looking out over a field of ripe grain as He tells them to get busy harvesting. (picture of a grain field) Since things were just getting started for the Church it is easy to understand why the harvest field was ripe. Everyone was lost and without hope - except those Jews who followed the law through faith.
But what about now? What is happening with the Church?
a. According to the Barna Group:
* 1 in 4 Americans is a practicing Christian. That means they identify as a Christian and attend a church service at least once a month.
This has changed over the past twenty years: in 2000 about 1 in ever 2 were practicing Christians.
That’s a pretty big change. The problem with surveys is that they don’t survey everyone. Based on this you would expect only 1 person in 4 that you talk to in town to say they are a practicing Christian. Has anyone tried it lately? What would happen if we did a survey right here in our valley? Any way - using that figure it seems the harvest field is pretty ripe.
So the big question is why? Why are there so many?
b. Have we stopped seeing the harvest for what it is or do we just not care? Where’s our compassion? Have we lost so much of our hope that we can’t even share it? Maybe the value of eternal life has changed and it isn’t worth what it used to be worth. Inflation has even changed God’s economy.
So our passage says that
c. Jesus had compassion. So what was His response?
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Therefore beseech the Lord of the Harvest. In other words Pray!!
If you open your heart and pray great things can happen. You just might find a bit of compassion in your heart to share the hope that is in you - Christ Jesus.
Do you know what happened next? Jesus sent out the twelve into the harvest field to share the good news, cast out evil spirits, and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. Jesus gave them authority to do these things. We have the same Spirit, we have the same authority. Why don’t we use it?
Anyway, Jesus had compassion for the lost and hopeless and then pointed to them as the harvest. Why? What’s the purpose of pointing them out? Perhaps, Jesus wanted to help his disciples see those around them as those who need what Jesus had given to them.
3. The purpose of pointing them out then is the same as the purpose of pointing them out now. Which is to see them as people who need Jesus. To see them as the harvest, to see them as future disciples. That is the purpose of the Church.
a. To make disciples. Matthew 28:19-20
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is the great commission or has it become the great omission?
Go, therefore. Go about your daily business but live your life in such a way that you will make disciples. Making disciples includes helping the lost and hopeless to find the Way and the Truth and the Life, baptizing them, and to help those who already believe to grow in their faith, teaching them to obey. We can all help others to believe and we can all help others grow in their faith.
There are a lot of good
b. Ways to spread the good news, or in a word evangelize.
There are many ways to spread the gospel, some harder than others, but there is a ministry that the Chapel is involved with can help you become an evangelist more easily than you think. It used to be called Bless Every Home. But now it is simply called B.L.E.S.S.
B.L.E.S.S. is a biblically based application you can run on your phone and home computer that will help you have compassion for those around you. B.L.E.S.S. is an acronym for the application which encourages a holistic approach to community engagement through a biblical model of blessing others.
B.L.E.S.S. is designed to deepen relationships and foster meaningful interactions within communities.
The letters B.L.E.S.S. stand for:
Begin with prayer: Encouraging an intentional focus on prayer for neighbors.
Listen: Emphasizing the importance of listening to understand the needs and stories of others.
Eat: Sharing meals to build closer bonds.
Serve: Actively serving within the community to meet physical and emotional needs.
Story: Sharing personal faith journeys to inspire and connect on a deeper level.
Participants within this program are called lights. Tell about it and show it. (The Video)
c. Our Lord needs workers to enter the harvest field. - Matthew 9:38
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
The Go, therefore, and make disciples is not a command just for the disciples who became the Apostles. It is a command for all disciples.
This idea of making disciples falls under the do all that He commanded line in the great commission. No matter how far along you are in spiritual growth as a disciple of Jesus you should be doing something to make disciples. This includes helping the lost and hopeless to find their way to the truth and to have hope, all the way to teaching others all that He commanded.
Exit:
Making disciples isn’t about filling the pews so we have lots of people to do stuff and we lift the roof off of this place when we worship. It isn’t about having more money in the bank. Those are nice reasons, but the real reason is because people need what you have. People need hope, the hope that you have in you, Christ Jesus.
Have compassion on the lost and hopeless. Look at the harvest, see the people around you who need Jesus and do something about it.
BLESS them:
Begin with prayer: Intentionally focus on prayer for your neighbors.
Listen: Listen to others to understand their needs and stories.
Eat: Share meals to build relationships.
Serve: Actively serve the community to meet needs.
Story: Share your faith journey to inspire and connect on a deeper level.
And then ask people to make a decision for Christ.
If you are interested in getting started with B.L.E.S.S. please see me or Rich. We can help get you started.
If you choose to become a light in this valley that’s wonderful. But if you don’t look around you. The lost and hopeless are everywhere. Get out in the field and give someone some hope. Help them see the truth and come to know the one true God that they might have eternal life.
Learn to see the harvest, the people around you and lost and hopeless and then have some compassion and then share your hope.
Therefore, Go and make disciples. Fulfill the great commission and the purpose of the church.
Pray!