Where is the Harvest? There seems to be a problem
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Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Harvest Time!
Harvest Party Oct 21st
corn stalks, pumpkins, candy,
celebrate after brought in the crops
spiritually think of harvest as
planted seeds, watered, patient.... now I receive the harvest
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Old expression for farmers
Problem… I am not a farmer so I have never said that before
For example: I someone were to say you sound like a broken record some of the youngsters in the room will not understand
b/c it’s not current to them
Bible example: shout until the walls fall down
Joshua overcomes Jericho by taking men marching around then when they shout the walls come down
symbolizing that God can break barriers in your life that are keeping you from the promises of God
so if you know the story and I say to shout until the walls fall down then you will probably shout and rejoice
if you don’t know the context then you may be freaked out thinking of the walls falling down
many though will shout about the walls falling down but forget that when the walls came down that God’s people then had to fight to get the city
but this expression “4 months until harvest” isn’t in context with most of us
we just know that harvest has always represented blessing so we like the sounds of that
Harvest time isn’t a time to kick up your feet...
b/c the corn won’t pick itself
they say for a farmer that harvest time is actually the time of hardest work and longest days so when that time is over they celebrate the harvest but the harvest itself is exhausting… yet rewarding
5 loaves & 2 fish
At church everyone likes to come to the harvest party
we all celebrate when we meet new people and they experience new life
we all shout when we here of chains being broken
walls falling down
but the reward comes with exhausting labor
when you show up every week to be fed by God’s Word
I dig all week to be prepared to bring it
when you drop your kids off in the kings kids and just walk into worship
our volunteers have prepared and given up their time to be fed so that you can
when we join our worship team in music and follow along with the words on the screen
they have practiced several days a week to be ready for this
we all like idea of a harvest
the results of the harvest but not the work that is involved
a few chapters later...
Matthew 9:35-
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 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.”
there is no lack of blessing but not enough people working for it!
our original text in is at the end of a common historical record or encounter of Jesus
Jesus and His disciples were leading others to faith and baptizing them in Judea...
John 4:3
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
v. 4 He had to pass through Samaria
Jesus doesn’t have to do anything so I think that this is funny
does it mean that it was the only route?
no
not even the most common route
it was the shortest route but not the most common because there was such great desention between the Jews and the Samaritans
If your neighbors son was very involved with ISIS there would most likely be a bit of tension between that family and the rest of the neighbors
they would avoid them and most would probably move
Think of this tension after many generations
that neighborhood would probably be only ISIS families and the the families that moved would probably avoid going thru their old neighborhood at all costs because of the hatered that they felt
Jews believed that they were the only ones who understood God in the right way and were the only ones going to meet Him in Heaven
the Samaritans were ones who left or who’s parents left the Jewish code by marrying into a non-jewish family
the hate was great
so when Jesus had to go it wasn’t by obligation to geographical location or to another human being but it was the obligation of being obedient to the Father’s will
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
He went to Samaria to do the will of the Father that’s why he “had to”
so Jesus sits by the well on the outskirts of town
while his disciples went to get something to eat
a thirsty woman comes to get water
but Jesus is sitting on the well keeping her from getting what she wants
then He asks her to give him a drink
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
She tells Him that He doesn’t even have a bucket
little did she know that she would be the bucket that he would use in just a minute
they have a short talk about living water then
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
She thinks that sounds like a good deal and asks to have some and Jesus brings up the topic of her husband
she said that she didn’t have a husband
He says I know you had 5 and now the one you are with is not your husband
if you have been married 5 times and none of them worked out
your problem might be deeper than you not being able to find the right mate but it might just be a problem that needs harvest in your life...
not been divorced 5 times but can’t keep a friend long enough to say that they are a long time friend
job
church that makes you happy
Jesus and the woman talk about worship and faith and she says she knows that the Messiah is coming and He says yep… that’s me
she takes off running for town
disciples come back from getting food
wandered but wouldn’t ask why He was talking to her
Disciples were meal minded but Jesus was mission minded
John 4:28-
So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
they saw this group of people who seemed to be a lost cause coming their way and I could picture them wanting to stop Him for a minute about the time He hits the topic of harvest
to say Jesus harvest sounds great but right now we seem to have a problem...
The Samaritans are coming.... the Samaritans are coming
but all the while Jesus is talking about the Samaritans
b/c what we see as a problem God knows often times is our harvest
kids are tough to raise
but they hold a great harvest if we put in the labor
let a harvest sit too long and it’ll get spoiled
marriage
work
ministry
sharing faith with your neighbor
family member
co-worker
we see problems but God calls it a harvest
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.”
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
who is ready to labor for their harvest?