THE URGENCY OF REAPING THE HARVEST

by Chern Siang Ling MMS Regional Director for Cambodia, Nepal, and Vietnam. She is a member of Kampong Kapor Methodist Church and previously served as Lay Executive Staff there after a season as a missionary. Her comfort food is ice-cream; it is a very spiritual food because it is made up of milk and honey!

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When we talk about harvest, these verses in Matthew 9:37-38 will inevitably come to mind. It says: Then he 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.” (NIV)

Every good Bible student would have been taught that one of the essential considerations to sound Biblical interpretation is to read the scriptures in context. From Matthew 9:37-38 and the context of the passage in which these 2 verses sit, I want to share 3 reflections on “The Urgency of Reaping the Harvest”.

The first reflection is the “CROWDS”, and here it is the needs of the people. In the pretext leading up to Matthew 9:37-38, we see Jesus ministering to the needs of the crowds. Jesus brought a dead girl back to life; Jesus healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years; Jesus restored sight to the blind; Jesus drove out the demon from a man and enabled him to speak again. Jesus ministered to the needs of the people – their physical needs, their emotional needs, and their spiritual needs. The crowds were all kinds of people from all walks of life. These were a rich ruler, an ostracized woman, two forgotten blind men, and a demon-possessed man. These people made up the crowds and they had real and immediate needs. And Jesus met their needs. Jesus shows us the urgency of meeting people where they are, and in doing so, we make the gospel relevant and relatable to them. Our God meets us where we are, and when He meets us where we are, He leads us to Himself.

Following this reflection of the crowds is our second reflection and that is “COMPASSION”. Compassion shows us the heart of Christ. Jesus’ teaching, preaching and healing ministries were not mechanical nor clinical. It was not a mere addressing of their needs. Jesus had compassion. He felt for the people because everyone has been made by God in His image. And the crowds were lost, they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Lost because they did not know their loving and gracious Maker; harassed and helpless as they wrestled with the taunts and temptations of the Evil One. Jesus saw the crowds in their lostness, harassed and helpless, and He had compassion on them. In the urgency of reaping the harvest, let us not forget the heart of Christ and His compassion for the people. And as we join in the harvest reaping, Jesus grows our hearts to be more and more like His and we are transformed to be more like Jesus. With that heart of Jesus and a compassion for the crowds as we see that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, we are led to the earnest plea and fervent prayer to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.

We have seen the needs of the crowds, and we have resonated with the compassion of Jesus. But if we know the needs and feel for the lost, helpless and harassed, and we stop there, we will not change the world and make it a better place. We will not bring the kingdom of God and the will of heaven to earth. Christianity, through missions, is practical religion. Hence our third reflection, which is “COMMISSION” or a sending out. We know that the crowds have needs, and we have the compassion of Christ. With that as a foundation, Christ now commissions and sends out His disciples to advance the kingdom of God. We, the disciples of Christ, are sent to the crowds with the heart of Jesus to make a difference for the kingdom of God. Jesus sends His disciples into the world to bring in His harvest.

We, the disciples of Christ, are sent to the crowds with the heart of Jesus to make a difference for the kingdom of God.

It is interesting that Jesus uses an analogy of the harvest field. Maybe it was harvest time as Jesus taught the disciples. Imagine the disciples listening to Jesus’ teachings and seeing tracts and tracts of golden harvests before their eyes. If you have been a farmer, or understand agrarian economics, you will know that the harvest cannot wait. When the crops are ready for harvest, there is a window of time to do the reaping. The window waits for no man or woman. If the reaping is not done urgently and the window of time passes, the crops will die. And thus, Jesus commissions and sends out His disciples with urgency to reap the harvest. Just as sickles and shears are necessary for reaping a harvest, Jesus equips the disciples and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and heal every disease and sickness as He sends them out into the harvest fields. We do not reap the harvest on our own. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit as we reap the harvest with Christ and for Christ.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Jesus sends out his twelve disciples into the harvest. How would these mere twelve disciples make an impact and bring in all of the harvest. And this is no small harvest, because according to our Lord, this is a harvest that is plentiful.

The twelve disciples, given every reasonable consideration, would not have been able to bring in all the harvests. It would be practically impossible given their limited capacity in time and space. But if each of the twelve disciples go on to make twelve other disciples, and each of these go on to make twelve other disciples, the capacity to reap the harvest will increase exponentially. As disciples of Christ, we are all called to make disciples who will go on to make other disciples, and who will go on to make other disciples. We are to be “disciple-making” disciples of Christ, and as we do so, we will be able to urgently reap the harvest for Christ.

The plentiful harvest is before us, or as they say, we have our work cut out for us. There is the urgency of reaping the harvest as we partner with God in His mission to bring the good news and salvation to the unreached peoples.

Are you already a “disciple-making” disciple of Christ? If you are not, will you ask God for His grace to help you to be a “disciple-making” disciple that will make an impact for His kingdom here on earth. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Our Lord needs workers to urgently come forward to reap the harvest for His kingdom so that His kingdom comes, and His will will indeed be done on earth as it is in heaven.