The Harvest is Plentiful
Compassion and Action: Following in Jesus' Footsteps
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
—Matthew 9:35-38 NKJV
Teaching, Preaching and Healing
Jesus’ ministry involved teaching at religious gatherings, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and meeting felt needs, especially healing. As His followers, we should also strive to minister to those around us similarly. We may not all be able to do all the teaching, preaching, and healing/meeting felt needs, but we can all do at least one of these things at a time. We do not have to be experts at teaching, preaching and healing, but we can all do it to some degree. Don’t wait to be perfect, start where you are. We may not all teach at religious gatherings, but we can participate in some way by greeting and helping behind the scenes. We can also teach in smaller gatherings or even private settings, one on one. We are all called to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and this does not necessarily mean public speaking, you can preach the gospel in your interactions with those around you. Finally, we should all be involved in some way to help meet the needs of those around us. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem completely, but you can help alleviate the suffering of some.
Resist the temptation to become overwhelmed and do none of the things Jesus did. Instead, look for practical ways to teach, preach, and heal today and this week.
Moved With Compassion
As Jesus went around teaching, preaching, and healing, he noticed the multitudes and their great need. Jesus was moved with compassion. The word used in the original Greek here is σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai). It means to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity) this word is used only 12 times in the Greek New Testament and all of its uses are found in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). For the complete list of its uses see BlueLetterBible.org.
The deep word study here may seem excessive, but it is meaningful because this word was not thrown around carelessly. It carried weight. In English, the word compassion means
sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it (Merriam-Webster.com)
a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them: (dictionary.cambridge.org)
I appreciate that the English definition of compassion includes a desire to help, which I believe Jesus experienced. I also appreciate that the Greek definition describes compassion as felt deeply in the bowels. I remember a good friend of mine who was in class with me. As the professor explained compassion, and how it is described as being felt deeply in the bowels, my friend nudged me and said that sometimes the cafeteria food caused him to experience compassion. Interestingly, that silly joke cemented the Greek meaning of compassion in my mind. Every time I read it, I remember that it was deeply experienced in one’s bowels.
I say all this to say this: As Jesus went around teaching, preaching, and healing, he noticed how distressed and downcast the people were, and it made him sick to his stomach. Jesus compared the people to sheep without a shepherd. This mention of a shepherd reminds me of Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
—Psalm 23:1-3 NKJV
We cannot be shepherds in the way God is our Shepherd, but we can point people to God and share the blessings we receive from God with those around us. It is likely that many of you already do this. It is also very possible that many of us avoid experiencing compassion. It is uncomfortable to experience compassion. It is easier to blame others and do nothing about it. I would rather talk about how the government has failed people, how society is crumbling, how parents fail their children, or the company failed their employees, how terrible the world is, and after I blame everyone and everything, I go back to living my life.
I firmly believe in hard work, discipline, and taking personal responsibility. However, it would be foolish to ignore all the times I was helped when I was in need. All the times that I was blessed by others who were generous with their resources. I have been loved, mentored, helped, trained, and equipped. There is a long list of family members, friends, teachers, mentors, classmates, co-workers, bosses, professors, who helped shape who I am today. All of us should invest in those around us.
Assessment of the Situation
Jesus assesses the situation and addresses His disciples.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
— Matthew 9:37 NKJV
According to Jesus, the main problem was not the Roman government or the emperor at the time. The problem was not the budget. The problem was not indifference from God. The problem is not that God is running out of power.
You alone are the Lord;
You have made heaven,
The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
—Nehemiah 9:6 NKJVHave you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
— Isaiah 40:28 NKJV
The problem is not that God is running low on love.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
—1 John 4:9-10 NKJVThe Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
—Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV
According to Jesus, the problem is not that people are not interested in spiritual things. Jesus asses the situation and states that the problem is that there are few workers.
So what should we do as a result?
Pray
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
—Matthew 9:38 NKJV
As you go through life and do what you can to help those around you, you begin to feel overwhelmed and compassionate. You wish you could do more, as you begin to understand, to a small degree, what Jesus felt that day, you should pray The Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
The challenge here is that you will not truly experience compassion, until you begin to teach, preach, and heal. You must get personally involved to pray this prayer truly. Being too busy to help someone is not a valid excuse. You cannot help everyone, but we can all help someone. Begin to volunteer, teach, preach, heal, look for ways to help those around you. As you do this, you will notice even more needs and wish you could do more. Your heart will break as you realize your limitations, and then you will begin to pray like never before. You will pray like a true missionary. You will pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
The good news is that the harvest belongs to God, the Lord of the harvest. He wants to save and bless people, but He limits Himself out of respect for our freedom of choice. So Jesus tells us to pray to God for Him to send out more workers into His harvest. Once we pray, we grant God permission to intervene in a way He would not if we did not. Should Satan step in and question God for moving in people’s lives more forcibly and cry foul, God can point to us and say “I am doing this as an answer to their prayer.”
Our prayer to God to send laborers opens an avenue for God to justly do what He already desires. When I say justly, I mean without disregarding the rules of engagement.
These rules of engagement may be defined as parameters to which God has committed himself in relationship to creatures, for the good of all, including commitments God has made regarding the extent of rulership and jurisdiction temporarily afforded to the rebels in the cosmic conflict." Such rules of engagement appear in many places throughout Scripture.
—Peckham, John C. Why we pray: Understanding prayer in the context of cosmic conflict. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2024. p81
If you’re interested in the rules of engagement in a cosmic conflict beyond its impact on prayer, I highly recommend John C. Peckham's Theodicy of Love.
Conclusion
Recently, my family and I drove up to McCall, Idaho. If you are unfamiliar with this area, McCall is over 5,000 feet above sea level. I was there in February, and over 5 feet of snow was on the ground. My family and I joined about 100 others at Camp Ida-Haven for our Club Ministry winter retreat. Because there was so much snow, we had a strict rule that no child could wander unaccompanied.
This picture gives you an idea of how much snow there is compared to where the cars and tents are.
About six of our Pathfinders were working on their winter camping honor and were camping on top of over 5ft of snow. They needed to use special snow shows in order not to sink into the snow. They had to sleep outside for two nights in order to get the honor. My wife was there as a chaperone for the girls and Bradly was there teaching the winter camping honor and as the chaperone for the guys. Each pathfinder slept in their own tent.
Bradly’s tent on Sunday morning. It was actively snowing when this picture was taken, and the tent is sitting on five feet of snow. Even Bradly sank to his hips (one leg) when he took off his snowshoes.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, it snowed some more, and by Sunday morning the precipitation was varying between snow and freezing rain. This meant heavy wet snow. In the morning, I came over to help tear down camp (the rest of us were sleeping in cabins or in the main lodge). I had my ski jacket and hood and gloves and snowshoes. As I helped my wife with her tent, my gloves began to soak, we had to move snow off the tent, and since it was still raining/snowing, we had to pack a wet tent. By the time I went over to help one of the Pathfinders, my gloves were soaked and my fingers were getting numb. Also, I begin to feel my back wet. I was not sure if it was from the rain soaking through my ski jacket or just my perspiration. I continued to work and eventually we helped take down about 4 tents.
Imagine if I had gone there to help my wife and one of the Pathfinders struggling to get out of his tent didn’t put on his snowshoes and sank deep into the snow. Well, we had warned them to always wear their snowshoes. Imagine that Pathfinder is trying to crawl and pull his leg out. Snow went up their pant leg, their shoe is now off of their foot because, in their hurry in the morning, they didn’t tie their shoe laces. Their arm is short, and they can’t reach their shoe in the bottom of the hole their leg made, so now they are on their knees digging, trying to get their shoe, and now their sock is soaked, and their foot is going numb. Imagine I witness all of this and think to myself, man, that poor Pathfinder is suffering, if only he had obeyed the clear instructions that were given him. If he had tied his shows properly and put on his snowshoes, none of this would have happened.
Imagine that Pathfinder is wet, cold, and frustrated and begins to cry. I hear the cries and say, “Crying won't help. Put on your shoes, put on your snowshoes, and pack up your tent. We have to go.” Imagine I finish helping my wife with her tent and we both get in our car, turn up the heat and drive to the main lodge to have breakfast. When we arrive there, the parents of that Pathfinder ask us about their child. How would those parents feel if I told them that I left their child there in the cold, freezing rain.
Would the parents be less angry if I explained how their child made a series of poor choices that made his life increasingly more difficult?
Would the parents be okay with my leaving their child in the snow during a snowstorm if I explained that my hands were cold and my gloves were wet?
Would the parents be less upset if I explained that I was hungry and wanted to eat a warm breakfast so I didn’t stay to help their child?
How do you think God feels when we witness someone suffering, and we are able to help, but it would be inconvenient, so we just ignore them and go on with our lives?
Divine love has been stirred to its unfathomable depths for the sake of men, and angels marvel to behold in the recipients of so great love a mere surface gratitude. Angels marvel at man's shallow appreciation of the love of God. Heaven stands indignant at the neglect shown to the souls of men. Would we know how Christ regards it? How would a father and mother feel, did they know that their child, lost in the cold and the snow, had been passed by, and left to perish, by those who might have saved it? Would they not be terribly grieved, wildly indignant? Would they not denounce those murderers with wrath hot as their tears, intense as their love? The sufferings of every man are the sufferings of God's child, and those who reach out no helping hand to their perishing fellow beings provoke His righteous anger. This is the wrath of the Lamb. To those who claim fellowship with Christ, yet have been indifferent to the needs of their fellow men, He will declare in the great Judgment day, “I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.” Luke 13:27.
—The Desire of Ages p.825
I don’t want you to be weighed down with the burden of helping everyone in the world. I myself struggle with how much is enough. But what I do want to make very clear, is that doing nothing is not an option. There are people suffering without hope. People are despairing not knowing that there is hope to be found in God.
Who can you help?
How can you help?
Who can you teach? How can you preach? Who can you help heal?
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.
Understand that He will likely also send you.
