“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way.”
Today, we call three new laborers to come and join in the harvest. Baptism is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon those who believe and is a tangible expression of a commitment to follow Christ. It is by no means a small thing. The decision to follow Christ is life changing. For the world teaches us that we are here for our own pleasures and pursuits. We are to chase after money, and power, and status; we are to do unto others before they do unto us. The world would have us at each other’s throats, fighting over the scarce resources available, because there may not be enough to go around.
But Christ tells us that we are not of this world. There is a different way, a better way. Rather than live a life grasping after material things and competing with one another, we are called to love God and love one
another. That is about as different as it can possibly be. But that is our call when we decide to follow Christ. We are called to be counter-cultural, to love in the face of pain, to practice abundance when the watchword
of the world is scarcity.
This is no easy task. But then, no one ever said that it would be. When Jesus sends the seventy disciples out into the world, he tells them, “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse,
no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.” Not exactly a comforting pep-talk is it?
Carry no purse, means bring no money and no debit card. Take no bag or sandals, means leave behind your carry-on luggage and all that you would normally take on a trip, including that travel pillow you like so much.
Literally, just stand up and start walking with nothing more than the clothes you have on your back. Why does Jesus send them out this way?
Think again about the counter-cultural message of Jesus. The world tells us that we need to be focused on, worried about, and in reality, obsessed with the concepts of what we will eat, what we wear, where we will sleep, etc. We are taught to focus on our own needs before all else, so preparing for a trip is an exercise in taking care of yourself. But Jesus tells us that this is entirely the wrong approach.
Instead of focusing on our own needs, we are called to just go, and leave the details to God. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells us, ““That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?” That is why He tells them to take nothing, so that they may focus on the mission and not on themselves. Again, we see a counter-cultural emphasis that was as revolutionary then as it is today.
But the message of the Gospel has always been contrary to the way of the world. It was true when Jesus walked the planet and it is true today. We are called to focus less on ourselves and more on loving God and loving other people. Paul takes up this theme in the letter to the Galatians. “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
It will not make us rich. It will not make us famous. In doing this, the world will think us strange and will look at us with scorn and derision. But the call to discipleship will offer help to a world that is weary of the false promise of material wealth and temporal fame. It is a message of hope that there is indeed a better way to live, a way that leads to love.
