Do As You Ask

Trinity III - June 12, 2005

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

You all know the words of our text today, you have heard it before. It is a mission theme. Then Jesus 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.”

In this text, we are reminded to look around and see the great number of those who are wandering lost. As the Spirit opens our eyes and honestly focuses our attention on the world around us, we recognize the great need for workers to be sent out into the harvest field. With open eyes, we recognize the fact that there are many who are lost in this world because they do not know Christ. We see them, as did Jesus in our text. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

We can see the far away places where there Gospel needs to go - nations on the continents of Africa and Asia where they know not the Gospel. Instead, they worship ancestors or animals. There are some who, because of their beliefs, often starve. Imagine not killing cows because they are sacred. What is worse, that cow could be the meal to a family to keep them from starvation, but instead, it is allowed to wander into their kitchen and eats what little food they did have.

Not only is this a different culture, but often their starvation is because of their horrendously false religion that runs entirely contrary to God’s Word and will. Not only do we need to send them food, but we need to teach them the truth so that they can truly enjoy all the benefits of God’s bounty in creation.

We don’t need to go into far off lands to find the harvest field, it is right out those doors. When we step out of this church, we step into the mission field. Over 40% of the people in a 20 mile radius around Shawano are unchurched. They are your neighbors, your fellow employees, your employers, the person in line at the grocery store in front of you or behind. It is the gas station attendant; they are all around.

Jesus tells 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.” After telling them to pray, what does Jesus do? He sent them out! It was as if Jesus said, “OK boys, the harvest is plentiful, ask God to send out workers. All right, now get out there, you are the workers.”

In other words, Jesus told them, “As you ask God to do in your prayers, be prepared to be the one doing it.” There’s a lot we can learn from this.

Do you make requests of God, “Lord, make me grow in the knowledge of your Word.” But, do you read the Scriptures and come to Bible Study? Do you take time each day to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word? Do you go where learning and growth in the Scriptures takes place among your family of faith?

Do you ask, “Lord, strengthen my faith.” But, then, when Christ invites you to gather around His Word and Sacrament, do you sometimes find other things to do?

Do you pray, “Lord, keep me from sin.” And then, do you put yourself in situations that you know beforehand will lead you to sin?

Maybe the problem is that we’re more (Wednesday evening) Sunday morning Christians, and after we’re done at church, God pretty much slips our mind. It is amazing how many children I have had in Catechesis who didn’t know a simple table prayer for before and after meals or even the Lord’s Prayer.

Of course, I have heard God’s name called out by many Christians - only I don’t think that they were praying to Him, and I am sure that their use of His name didn’t please God.

Is this your prayer today, “Lord, send out workers into the harvest field.”? What are you doing to make sure that this is taking place? There are a couple things that you can be doing.

First, you need to be where the harvest is gathered. Avail yourself of those gifts of God’s grace where He builds you up in the knowledge of the truth. Gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ around His name where He feeds, nourishes, and strengthens your faith. As Christ comes to forgive your sins, He also strengthens your resolve and faith that you might avoid future temptations. When you do these things, you are doing exactly as you pray.

Furthermore, you can be a worker sent out into the harvest. God will use you as His instrument to reach out to others with the Gospel. In asking God to open your eyes to see opportunities to proclaim your faith to others, He will provide. Of all the people here, how many of you have invited someone to church? Is your faith something that you speak of with your friends and neighbors? Is your faith alive and dynamic, a vibrant part of your life?

Or, is your faith something you keep hidden? Is it something that is a one-day-a-week thing that you do, just to make sure you get into heaven?

Today we hear Christ instruct us, ‘‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Do as you ask. Think about the work of the harvest. Your offerings and tithes are one of the ways that you help to send out workers into the harvest field. When we give to the church, a portion of our budget goes to District and Synod, both of which are doing LCMS mission work, reaching out to the unchurched all over the globe.

There have been special offerings which take the Gospel message and other support into areas of great need. This happens with a couple organizations that I know we have supported recently. For example, many in Bulgaria received word and sacrament and children were fed through our support of Orphan Grain train.

By our support of LCMS World relief, we have assisted victims of the Tsunamis and are helping to train a young lady to become a Deaconess. She will go back to Russia and work bring the Gospel to women who have unwanted pregnancies. Maybe, through her work, two lives at a time will be saved.

When we support the Lutheran Heritage foundation, translation work of Luther’s Small Catechism and other teaching tools continues and many nations are receiving these materials that the faith might be taught to young and old alike.

You are sending workers into the harvest field when we support our seminaries and seminarians. For the 5 years I have been here as your pastor, I have been gladdened to know that we are supporting students as they prepare for the Office of the Pastoral Ministry. We are assisting these men to complete their studies that they may enter the harvest field and freely give, as they have freely received.

It is with great joy that Zion is sending two young men from our own congregation to the Christ Academy at the Seminary in Ft. Wayne. There they will spend two weeks learning theology, making new friends, and contemplating if a life of full-time service to God as a Pastor is for them. They have heard the call in today’s Gospel, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” They are not only praying this to happen, but hey are answering that call by investigating, is it me who should go?

The harvest is plentiful, even here in our midst today. You have gathered here in answer to that prayer, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” You have come to be built into a crop that will yield forty, sixty, eighty, or a hundredfold - a great harvest of faith. Here, just as Christ promised in our text, that as they preached that the kingdom of heaven is near, great things happen. So it is! God gives you great gifts that you might be a servant in His church. Whatever your gifts, talents, or abilities, you are to use them all to the glory of the Lord.

Here the Kingdom of heaven is preached, Christ comes into our midst to gather in the harvest. The sown seed of His Word is sown and He produces the harvest - He forgives the sins we ask forgiven, especially our failure to be His willing servants. He gave His life as the Suffering Servant to forgive our fear of service.

Christ is the Word of truth that builds up in knowledge of salvation, that we are freely saved by the grace that is ours in Word and Meal. It is through these free gifts that we receive the promised Holy Spirit who strengthens the new man to resist temptation and sin.

Even as Christ tells us to pray for the harvest, and sends us out into the harvest, He equips us to be His servants of the harvest in all our various vocations. Freely we have received. Freely God gave to us - His only begotten Son. Freely we have been reconciled to God, you are forgiven for all that you have not done with your faith, even as you prayed it to be done.

Today we gather here, for a purpose. We gather because of our need to be fed and nourished in the faith. Christ comes into our midst to do for us exactly what we request, forgive sins and strengthen faith. Christ does this, so that we might do even as we ask - that God would use us as workers in His harvest. Grant Lord, this to us all. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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