"JESUS INSTRUCTS HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY FOR LABORERS."

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 79:1,2
Psalm 79:3,4,5
Psalm 80:1,7,8
Psalm 87:1,4,5
Psalm 99:4,5,6

Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Across Australia this morning there are literally thousands of pulpits in use. Most of these pulpits are filled by persons ordained to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. But so few of these preachers in fact proclaim the good news. The result is that the big majority of those who have come to the churches of the land this morning are not fed with the bread of life, and so they go home empty. That’s also why the people of the land go less and less to church, and our land turns more and more away from the Lord.

For our part, we lament this development – rightly so. And we are thankful for what the Lord gives us here in the preaching Sunday by Sunday. But, congregation, is that reaction sufficient? Or might it be that the Lord has a task for us in relation to what happens in so many pulpits across our land?

Indeed, beloved, the Lord has a task for us here. The Lord teaches us in our text that this state of affairs in our land requires – prayer. More, this sad circumstance requires prayer driven by compassion.

I summarize the sermon with this theme:

Our text records Jesus’ instruction to His disciples to pray for laborers. He gave this instruction in response to what He saw in His travels through "all the cities and villages" – as vs 35 relates.

These cities and villages Jesus visited were located –we need to know- in the land of Galilee. In other words, the people of these cities and villages were Israelites, were God’s children by covenant. These people had the same promises we received in our baptism, viz, that the Lord God was their Father, He would forgive their sins through the Savior’s blood, He would renew them through His Holy Spirit so that they would be amongst the assembly of the elect on the last day. The people whom Jesus visited in His tours through Galilee were inherently rich.

The problem was that these people were not aware of their riches. Over the years of their history, they had been faithless to their God, had not served God as they ought. It’s a refrain endlessly echoed throughout the Old Testament; they served other gods, they committed adultery with the Baals.

Yet their apostasy did not mean that God deserted this people. It is endlessly re-echoed throughout the Old Testament that God repeatedly sent prophets to admonish this wayward people, to instruct them again in the ways of the Lord, to urge repentance. Though they seized His servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third, even then the Lord on High did not reject His own; such was His patient and compassion that He sent His Son to them, saying; "Surely, they will respect My Son." That’s the broad context of Mt 9: the Son the Father sent traveled through the cities and the villages of God’s people-by-covenant – though that people had time and again turned a deaf ear to the Lord their God.

As He traveled, the Son of God was not silent about the God of the covenant. Rather, He taught in their synagogues and everywhere preached the gospel of the kingdom. "Repent," said He, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (cf Mt 4.17). He underlined the presence of the kingdom with His miracles of healing. Vs 35: He healed "every sickness and every disease" – and so gave evidence that in Him God was visiting His people, the kingdom was at hand. His coming, then, formed a climax to the teaching of the prophets before Him.

We puzzle. Given what Jesus was doing amongst these covenant people of Galilee, why did He tell the disciples to pray for laborers? Was the fact that He was preaching the gospel and healing the sick not enough for these people? I mean: the Lord tells us in Rev 21 that when Jesus comes back on the last day there will be no more weeping or crying or pain; indeed, there will be no more sickness (Is 35:10). Weren’t the people of Galilee receiving a foretaste of that glorious day? Why then pray for laborers?

The answer, beloved, lies in vs 36. For though Jesus was so busy amongst His covenant people, making plain to them through preaching and through miracles just how rich these people were in the covenant, the people themselves were burdened. Says the Holy Spirit: "when [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them." The term used here for compassion does not mean that the Lord felt somewhat sympathetic for the crowds. Rather, the term used means that Jesus was touched to the pit of His stomach by the condition of these people. Heartfelt pity, deep compassion: that’s what He felt for the crowds of Galilee.

Why? What did He see? He saw, says the Holy Spirit, that God’s covenant people "were weary and helpless, like sheep having no shepherd." The Holy Spirit’s description of what Jesus saw is intriguing. Did these people of Galilee have no shepherds? Certainly, they did. You recall that centuries ago Moses had asked the Lord please to "appoint a man over the congregation…, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd" (Num 27:16f). In reply to that request, God had given leaders to His people, pastors and teachers in the persons of priests and elders, and later on in the persons also of kings and prophets. So Ezekiel can refer in chap 34 of his prophecy to Israel’s leaders –be they priests or prophets or elders- as shepherds. In the days of Mt 9 these priests and elders are still the acknowledged leaders of Israel; yes, Israel had sufficient rabbis and priests to lead them. Shepherds all.

But why, then, does Jesus observe that the people of Galilee were "weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd"? That, brothers and sisters, is because a shepherd has a particular task. And here’s the point: the shepherds of God’s covenant people in Galilee were not carrying out their God-given task as shepherds.

I draw your attention to the passage we read from Ezekiel 34. Said God: "Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel." Tell them that the way in which they shepherd My sheep is not pleasing to Me. Vs 3: "You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but do not feed the flock." That’s what Ezekiel has to say: you shepherds don’t care for the sheep, but you exploit the sheep for yourselves. You think the sheep are there for you, and not you for the sheep. So "the weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them." "So," says the Lord, "they were scattered because there was no shepherd." You hear, congregation, the similarity of words between Mt 9 and Ezekiel 34. What the Holy Spirit describes in Mt 9 is that the shepherds of Israel in Jesus’ day were acting like the irresponsible shepherds of Ezekiel’s day – with as result that the covenant people amongst who Jesus traveled were "weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." Jesus saw it with His own eyes: the Pharisees and scribes and priests fleeced the people of Galilee repeatedly; their wool, so to speak, was shorn off as soon as there was something to shear. And all the while the flock was not fed….

How, beloved, are we to imagine this concretely? Are we to think here of the flock of Galilee happy and content as a whole and producing good fruit, while a handful of sheep are unhappy, convinced that the shepherds are exploiting the flock for themselves? No, brothers and sisters, the picture of vs 36 is different. Vs 36 describes "the multitudes" as "weary and scattered." It’s not that the shepherds forgot the odd individual in Galilee, or picked on a few for exploitation; it’s rather that the shepherds abused the whole flock, scattered them all so that one went here and another there and third elsewhere so that the sense of being a flock was gone.

From other places in the Gospels we get some indication of how Israel’s shepherds victimized and fleeced the people. Jesus says of the scribes and Pharisees in Mt 23 that "they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger" (Mt 23:4). For example, these shepherds made laws about how far you could travel on the Sabbath, laws about how you had to wash your hands before eating, laws to tithe even the smallest of seeds, law about swearing oaths by which they could lead the ignorant down the garden path, etc, etc. These shepherds were themselves lost to the gospel of salvation through grace alone, and so didn’t show the people what the gospel of salvation through grace was all about. Instead, they impressed upon the people that they had to do this and do this and do that to be saved – salvation by works. That’s why the Lord told these blind guides of Israel, "you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.... You traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves" (Mt 23:13f). That’s what Jesus saw as He traveled from town to village, and that’s what filled Jesus with compassion; His heart went out to the fleeced and victimized sheep of His Father’s pasture.

Now it’s true, Jesus could have said that’s it is the fault of the sheep themselves that they do not know the wealth of the gospel. After all, the people of Galilee had the Scriptures, and they had the temple in Jerusalem with its sacrifices, and there were in the land still the 7000 that understood the gospel, and there will undoubtedly have been a faithful priest in this town or that. But Christ, brothers and sisters, was more compassionate than that. Certainly, the sheep of Galilee should have known better. But what they should have known and what they could have known does not take away from the fact that they did not know. Their leaders were blind, and when the blind lead the blind they both fall into the pit. The Lord Jesus knew that, and so was filled with compassion, tender sympathy toward the crowds of Israel.

And see now: that compassion leads to action. Vs 37: "Then He said to His disciples." Said what? "The harvest truly is plentiful." The reference is to the amount of crop ready to be harvested. He’s walked through the cities and villages of Galilee, has seen how the sheep are weary and scattered, and knows they’re longing for solid leadership, for good shepherds. But there’s now the problem, says Jesus. While the amount of crop ready for harvest is great, "the laborers are few." Thousands are waiting to hear the good news that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, but there are so few who are ready to feed and lead the thousands. Good, faithful shepherds are hard to come by. So, brothers and sisters, the Lord instructs His disciples to ... pray!

That brings us to our second point:

"Therefore pray," says Jesus to His disciples. How interesting. We’d expect the Lord to tell His disciples to go out themselves and preach to the people, take up the role of shepherds, labor in the fields of Galilee to bring in the harvest. But He doesn’t.

Why not? Why does the Lord tell His disciples to pray? Is that because these disciples have no calling, no office, to tell the true gospel, to feed the sheep, and therefore must sit on the sidelines and do no more than pray? But since when, beloved, is prayer a side-line activity?! Prayer: that’s the most powerful weapon a Christian has! Prayer: that’s much more effective than getting out and approaching the harassed and helpless. We know it from what James writes: "the prayer of a righteous man has great power to get things done" (Jms 5:16). Think of Elijah, when he prayed that God withhold rain for three and a half years, and God did so. It’s a theme of Scripture: without prayer nothing is accomplished in the kingdom of heaven. James 4: "you do not have, because you do not ask" (vs 2). But on the other hand, with the prayer of the man of faith, you could say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and it will be done. "For whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Mt 21:21). Here, then, is Christ’s command to His followers: bring before the Almighty and merciful God the plight of the impoverished. Be compassionate as the Lord is compassionate, and let your touched insides drive you to your knees to implore God on behalf of the fleeced and victimized.

But what are the disciples to pray for? They must, says Jesus, address "the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest." Notice what name Jesus gives here to God. He is, says Jesus, "the Lord of the harvest." The point is that God Almighty has long ago chosen who would belong to the harvest and who would not; here’s the doctrine of election. God has chosen who would belong to the harvest, and so has determined who in Galilee would believe that the kingdom of heaven indeed was at hand, and that Jesus of Nazareth was the Savior of the world. For only those who believe in Jesus Christ can be saved.

As it is, the Lord God has determined that there is a way in which the elect come to faith. That’s through the preaching of the gospel. And preaching is done by the mouth of men. Equally, it’s through the preaching of the gospel that the chosen are ripened for the harvest, for faith is maintained and grows as a result of the preaching.

What, now, must the disciples pray? Says Jesus: "pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." There’s the content of the prayer Jesus tells His disciples to pray: Lord, send laborers! We understand: the disciples are told to pray for preachers. While the shepherds of God’s covenant people in Galilee are burdening the sheep with their doctrine of salvation through works, while the shepherds are certainly not instructing the people in the gospel contained in the sacrifices of the temple, the disciples must ask God for men who will proclaim the gospel of free grace to the weary and scattered of Galilee. Those whom the Father has chosen and given to the Son must come to hear, so that they embrace the gospel of grace in faith – and so find rest for their weary souls (Mt 11:28ff).

And see: it’s a prayer the Lord answers! Notice, brothers and sisters, that our text is followed directly by ch 10:1: "And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." According to vs 5, the twelve went out, preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and demonstrating that reality by healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead and casting out demons. The twelve: they were appointed by God to be laborers in His harvest, first in Galilee, then –after Jesus’ triumph on the cross and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit- in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

And note: these twelve saw fruit on their labors. True, their initial fruit in Galilee may have been little. But after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the disciples labored on, preaching and teaching, and the Holy Spirit blessed their labors so that thousands of the Jews came to faith in Jesus Christ – as the first chapters of Acts tell us. Indeed, through their work the gospel went out over all the earth. True, the disciples themselves died. But the Lord of the harvest has sent more laborers into His harvest in the course of the centuries; by God’s grace there always have been preachers of the good news of Jesus Christ, so that those chosen to live of any given generation would hear the gospel and believe. Always in the course of church history there have been the 7000 who love the Lord and serve Him faithfully.

That leaves our third point:

Need we today repeat the prayer Jesus laid on the disciples? Most definitely, brothers and sisters, yes! Always there remains need for laborers in God’s harvest, and those laborers do not come automatically. So the people of God need to continue to pray for laborers. That is: it is the task of the children of God, be it in church or in the home, to continue to beseech the Lord of the harvest that He give laborers, men willing and able to devote themselves to the task of laying the gospel of grace before the hungry of the world.

A recent issue of Clarion (Nov 23, 2001) tells us that the need for this prayer is as great today as we’d ever want it to be. There are a considerable number of vacancies in the churches of Canada and Australia together (be it for ministers or for missionaries), and the number of students at the College is quite small. Meanwhile, within the next ten years a large number of ministers are set to retire. So: within the churches "the laborers are few"!

But that’s not all, congregation. You know that the South African sister churches have noticed that there are many covenant children of the Lord in the mainline churches of their land who are "weary and scattered"; their shepherds on Sunday do not preach the gospel of grace, but feed their sheep stones for bread. The brothers in Africa see here a task for themselves; in compassion for these fleeced and victimized sheep they have set up a project to help these distressed covenant children so that the gospel might come to their ears and they be guided on the way of the Lord.

But is it different in our country? The fact of the matter is that the people of our land are not led into the rich pastures of the Word of our God; so many of those called to preach the gospel in fact lay heavy burdens on men. The answers of God to today’s questions are not forthcoming from so many pulpits, and so many of our fellow countrymen –children of God by covenant included!- turn elsewhere for answers, be it eastern religions, drugs, sex, music, cults, etc.

Now we could say: society ought to know better than turning to such poor comforters for security. And we can back that up by pointing out that many in our land were raised to go to church, have been to Sunday school. Besides, nearly every home in town has a Bible or two. And there is in town also the true church, and our doors are open….

But Christ, beloved, showed compassion. He could not stand to see that His fellow humans were so led astray. It moved Him; He was touched to the stomach for the well being of the starved and weakened around Him. And if that is what the Christ did, shall we be hard and callous to the weary and scattered of our land? Shall we let them be fleeced while we go our comfortable way?

I grant: the crowds for whom Jesus had compassion were covenant people; this was Israel. These were the Lord’s own brothers and sisters who no longer knew the wealth of the covenant. And yes, there was a reason why Jesus labored among His own people, why He did not go much to the Gentiles. And there was a reason why, when He sent out His twelve disciples to preach, He gave them the charge to preach "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and not to the Samaritans (10:5f).

But that gives us no reason to say that we need not have compassion on those around us. For pray; how did we come to know the gospel? Face it: our forefathers were not of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We are to understand that after Christ’s command to the twelve came Good Friday and Easter. And with Christ’s triumph over sin and Satan that dividing wall of hostility between Jews the Greeks was broken down. So Christ could instruct the disciples before His ascension to bring the gospel to all nations (Mt 28:19). Recall Jesus command to the twelve: "you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The reality of Romans 10 is valid; "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek" (vs 12).

It was to covenant people, people who were definitely in a position to know better, to whom Christ showed a spirit of compassion. He showed compassion, while the leaders figured that the masses who knew not the law were a cursed and lost lot. Their attitude was not compassionate; they instead fleeced whom they could. If we now should turn around and say of our society that Australians ought to know better than to be deceived by selfish leaders, and so wash our hands of them, we would share not the attitude of Jesus Christ, but the attitude of the Pharisees. The simple fact of the matter is that our countrymen do not know the wealth of Scripture. And that is in large part because the preachers of the nation do not open God’s Word from their pulpits. The nation cries for answers that heal, but they receive answers that hurt.

That is why, brothers and sisters, we need to pray, pray that "the Lord of the harvest" send laborers into Australia. Yes, the churches need more ministers, and we need to pray unceasingly that the Lord will raise up young men from our midst willing to devote themselves to the wonderful task of proclaiming the gospel of peace. But equally, our land needs faithful preachers. In our land too are those chosen to life, are people with whom God established His covenant of grace but who today stray from God because they don’t hear the gospel. Compassion for these countrymen of ours needs to drive us to our knees, so that we beseech the Lord to send laborers into Australia for the benefit and salvation of the weary and scattered of our land.

Then we understand too, of course, that we have to do more than pray. After we pray we need to look for young men God has placed in our midst who could be called to labor in God’s harvest, and these young men need to be encouraged in every way possible. We also need to set up the infrastructures required to support the laborers God may send. With prayer comes work. But it begins with prayer, unceasing prayer that "the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

But we will not pray, congregation, unless the compassion that moved Jesus fills our hearts also. Compassion for God’s covenant children, in the church and outside: Lord, fill us with that compassion so that we may pray unceasingly for laborers.  Amen.