Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field

BIBLE READINGS

2 Corinthians Chapter 9 v 6 – 15

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gift to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.

14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Matthew Chapter 9 v 35 – 38

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

SERMON FOR HARVEST

So here we are Harvest 2020. A harvest to be thankful and its good to be thankful.

Someone once wrote a little monologue called; ‘I am Thankful for the clothes that are a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat. I am thankful for my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine. I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home. I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech. I am thankful for the alarm clock that I hear goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I’m alive.

So you see it is good to be thankful! It is good to ‘give thanks’ for all the good things that God has given us to enjoy!

Harvest is a time of reflection and thanksgiving. We take time to reflect to ‘count our blessings’. To ‘give thanks’ to God for all the good things he has given us. And so we need to give thanks to God but we also need to give thanks by spreading his seeds of harvest.

If I had the power to plant five seeds; the type of seeds that I would plant would be of the five things that the Apostle Paul mentions in his numerous letters.

A seed of Stability: Paul’s first request is that Christians “Stand fast.” or “Stand firm.” So how stable are we? Some of us suffer from what could be called malarial Christianity; that is hot, cold, hot, cold. One week keen to win the world for Christ. The next day……forget it!

A seed of Harmony: Paul’s second request is that Christians have the “Same mind” or “to agree.” If I could plant a seed to produce some value it would be for harmony and to be in unity in the Lord.” Because negative speaking are all visible signs of disunity.

A seed of: Joy. Paul’s third request is that these Christians; “Rejoice in the Lord always” – “Always be full of joy.”

Speaking of Joy, A man walked by a table in a hotel and noticed three men and a dog playing cards. The dog appeared to be winning. Noticing this unusual sight, the man stopped and commented; “That must be a very smart dog,” One of the players replied: “He ain’t so smart, every time he gets a good hand he wags his tail!”……..

So you see, when we have joy in our hearts, it will be obvious to everyone! We want joy, we want happiness, we want laughter; but if we are honest so often it is missing!

If we were able to plant a seed of happiness, of joy; I guess we would all plant one!

A seed of Purity: Paul’s fourth request is that Christians have pure hearts and minds.
Question: How clean / pure / wholesome is your mind this week? If a camera had been invented that could photographs the heart; We would all have our pictures taken but would we dare show it to anyone!”

A seed of Consistency: Paul’s fifth request is that Christians “Put into practice” or “Do it!” This is not a modern problem. Christians have always struggled with consistency; they have always struggled with practicing their faith.

So you see that the sowing of these 5 seeds brings about a life which can be found to be full of little surprises. I think the way that Jesus called his disciples who were fishermen would have been a surprise to them.

Why? Because Jesus called them to be “fishers of men”. Why “fishers of men” you might ask? I think that it was more than just a pun on their occupation as fishermen. It was more than simply calling them to a new trade.

I believe the phrase “fishers of men or people” gives us insights into the character required of Christ’s disciples. The character also required of you and I to be able to sow the seeds that Jesus wants us to sow.

So what character traits would a first century fisherman on the Lake of Galilee have to have had? Well, I can think of three if he was going to make a living out of fishing: Adaptable, Courageous and Tenacious.

The first character trait was adaptability. Fishermen on Lake Galilee had to be adaptable depending on what mass of fish was in their part of the lake that day. Let me explain. There were three main methods of fishing. One method would have been the use of baited hooks – used for catching individual fish.

The second common mode of fishing was to use a cast net of which there were two types. The first was a simple cast net – in the form of a bag, coming to a point at the bottom. Its mouth was about 3 foot in diameter – with weights around it. The weights kept it open – when it was thrown and closed it – when it sank.

It was with these nets that Peter and Andrew were fishing when Jesus called them to follow him. The other cast net was too heavy to be thrown. And so it would only be used by fishermen when they found themselves in the midst of a shoal.

The third common mode of fishing was with a drag net. This would be drawn behind a boat – with floats on the top – and weights on the bottom.

A fisherman had to be adaptable with the use of his fishing equipment. It was no good going out with fishing equipment that was inappropriate for the mass of fish in your part of the lake.

The second character trait of a fisherman was courage. Fishermen on the lake of Galilee had to be courageous and tough.

The Lake of Galilee was famous for the speed at which a storm could whip up. This is due to the mountains that surround the lake. One minute the sea can be calm, not a cloud in the sky, within minutes the black clouds roll in. The once placid sea becomes a bright sheet of foam. Thunder claps rent the air and the rain becomes a torrent. Anyone prepared to go out on such an unpredictable lake had to have courage. The Church might well find itself in stormy waters as it goes out to “fish for people” too. The question is “will we have the stomach for it?”

The third character trait of a fisherman was tenacity. Fishermen had to be tenacious. They had to have patience. They couldn’t afford to give up, if they didn’t catch something immediately. They would often be out all night fishing – and catch nothing. But they were persistent and would come back again the next day.

I believe we need, like the Galilean fishermen to be adaptable if we want to fish successfully, we need to understand the fish in our part of the lake and use the appropriate equipment. There is no point using a baited hook when there are shoals of fish. There is no point using a drag net when there are only few fish out there.

In the same way if we want to reach this post-modern society, we can’t necessarily rely on methods of the past which were geared to a different generation.

Why do we need to be flexible in what we do? Because Jesus has only given His Church one Great Commission to reach the lost, to reach those outside the Church. And that is to be our harvest.

We need the courage and the wisdom to know when to “go fishing”. To go fishing for new disciples. We need to be prepared to tell people what and why we believe and to tell our Christian story and our love in Jesus Christ.

We also need to be tenacious. Too often, we are tempted to give up – because we do not see immediate change. We need to be tenacious in prayer no matter how long it takes before we see results.

“Do not be anxious about any results.” “But by “Praying” something happens! When done right prayer is the answer to knowing. What petrol is to a car, prayer is to the Christian. What food is to the body, so prayer is to the soul!

Prayer is the general word we use for speaking to God. Every problem large or small, we should try to take it to God. The word conveys the thought of going to one greater than ourselves!

The words ‘Our Father’ remind us of God’s concern. The words ‘In Heaven’ remind us of God’s power. We have a great God and when we pray we are asking him to get involved. Often things may be mountains to us but compared to God they are just molehills!

If we want to know God’s power at work in our lives. We need to start to pray; and to develop that prayer. Prayer is a wonderful and powerful thing. Such an easy thing to do. We can even use our own hand to help us do it. Let me explain: The closest finger to you is the thumb. Pray for those that are closest to you.

The next finger is called your index finger. It is used for pointing. Let this finger remind you to pray for those that point you in the right direction.

The next finger is the tallest finger. This finger reminds us to pray for our leaders. Pray for the leaders in our government; and those who are leaders in our community.

The fourth finger is the called the ring finger. Did you know that this is the weakest of all the fingers? Just ask anyone who plays the piano and they will tell you that is true. Let this finger remind you to pray for those who are sick.

The next finger is the smallest finger. The Bible says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” Let the little finger remind you to pray for yourself.

So the next time you are talking to God, and you can’t think of anything to say, Let the “Five Finger Prayer” help you.

So in conclusion, we need to pray for the harvest of the love that Jesus Christ offers each and everyone.

We need to pray that we can plant the seeds of love that Jesus Christ provides and see his harvest grow. And we need to pray that others can be found at the lakeside, just like the disciples and become disciples and fishers of men. Amen.

PRAYERS

Abundant God, we saw and smelt your generosity even as we entered church today. Thank you for the riot of colour, the astonishing tastes, the wild shapes. You spared no expense in your creativity; you tried every trick and they all worked. Thank you for every brilliant idea which we see before us in the harvest today.