We're going to read from Matthew 9, verse 35, all the way through to Matthew 10, verse 16.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues
and healing every disease and every affliction.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to
cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.
The names of the twelve apostles are these.
First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother.
James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother.
Philip and Bartholomew.
Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector.
James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus.
Simon, the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them,
go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.
You received without paying, give without pay.
Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts,
no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff,
for the laborer deserves his food.
In whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it
and stay there until you depart.
As you enter the house, greet it.
And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it.
But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words,
shake off the dust from your feet when you leave the house or town.
Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Well, it was a long time ago, a different life really,
but I well remember harvest time on the farm growing up
and then in a later life working for a seed breeding company,
a wheat breeding company.
Harvest always brought mixed emotions.
On the one hand, it was incredibly exciting
because harvest was the end for which you worked all year.
That's what you did, that was what you had in mind
when you were doing the plowing, when you were planting,
when you were spraying, when you were watering,
and when you were waiting nervously for the crop to come ready.
So harvest time was the culmination of a whole year's worth of work,
or at least a good part of the year's worth of work.
But it always brought that mixed emotion.
It was a high energy time.
Harvest meant all that work had been worthwhile.
But as I say, it was a mixed emotion because it was also a daunting time.
Hot summer days, hard, heavy, dangerous work because it was all with machines.
Long hours, because there's lots to do,
and it just never quite seemed as if there was enough helpers to actually do it.
And sometimes harvest was just purely heartbreaking.
It might be one of those harvests this year.
You finally get a good crop, there's a good price,
and then the weather beats you.
So that's harvesting, a real mix of emotions.
Well, in verses 37 and 38 of the passage before this morning,
Jesus changes his language to describe his mission,
and he starts to use the language of harvesting.
But before we get into the details,
and both the exciting and the daunting aspects of this harvest of Jesus,
I want to remind you again of the bigger context,
which I think helps us understand these verses properly.
The bigger context is Jesus' authority and priority in his mission.
Matthew himself reminds us again in chapter 9, verse 35.
Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,
and healing every disease and every affliction.
Now that's one of those word brackets that I've spoken about before.
And it pushes us right back to chapter 4 in verses 14 to 17,
where Jesus begins his ministry.
And from that very point, Jesus presents himself as Messiah.
That is, the Old Testament promised king and savior.
The one who would come to reestablish the kingdom or rule of God.
And Matthew in chapters 4 to 9
emphasizes Jesus' authority and priority in mission.
And he does that by using these bookend verses, these bracket verses.
So chapter 4, verse 23, you'll see,
is almost an identical verse to chapter 9, verse 35.
It talks about Jesus' mission as proclaiming, teaching, and healing.
He would proclaim the good news of Messiah's arrival.
He would teach what the kingdom rule would look like.
And in line with Isaiah's prediction,
he would heal every disease and illness among the people.
And that, if you go back and read through Isaiah,
was a very particular thing because that event,
those happenings, Isaiah said,
they would mark the arrival of Messiah and the age of salvation,
the long-promised age of salvation.
So Jesus does that as a sense to tell us
that that which Isaiah predicted has now come.
But it also illustrates his authority and priority
in undoing the effects of sin
and restoring God's image bearers to the character of God
and to relationship with God.
So chapter 9, verse 35,
brings that first section of 49 to a close,
but also then links into the next section,
which we're going to look at over the next three weeks,
which runs through to the end of chapter 10,
a section in which Jesus details by another sermon.
So we've had the Sermon on the Mount in the first section.
Now we're going to get the Sermon on Mission
in this section through to the end of verse 10.
And again, Jesus is developing his authority and priority
in mission in a different way,
using different language, different pictures.
And he now describes, as I said before,
his mission in terms of harvesting and shepherding in verse 36.
Now, harvesting and shepherding,
both metaphors, and they are metaphors,
they're picture words,
both are used in the Old Testament by the prophets.
And again, each of them describes the coming age of salvation
and the mission of Messiah or Jesus.
And Jesus used them as the basis, as I said, of another sermon,
teaching how his mission of kingdom building
would actually develop and happen,
how it would work out in practice.
And here's the first of the big points in this new section.
And it's a bit confronting, really,
but we'll dig into it over the next three weeks.
His disciples would share in the mission of Messiah.
His disciples would actually share in his mission
of proclaiming, teaching,
and we'll have a look in a minute of healing.
And that, we'll come back to that healing a bit.
So Isaiah 52 and Ezekiel 34
are the two chapters predominantly that lie behind these verses.
And those two chapters picture the joy
of God's salvation coming to God's people.
And it's a familiar verse that Paul also uses in Romans chapter 10,
talking about the same sort of thing.
And the verse says,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him,
or those who bring good news of happiness,
who publish salvation,
who say to Zion,
Your God reigns.
The Old Testament prophets envisaged this time of salvation
when people would, with Messiah,
proclaim God as Savior and King.
And Ezekiel 34 pictures the day
when God will replace false shepherds
who abused God's people.
And I think that's a reference here back to verse 34,
the Jewish religious leaders.
Ezekiel 34 contrasts the false shepherds
that abuse and harass God's people
and were self-interested,
were caring for themselves rather than God's people,
with the true shepherd,
the Messiah,
who would come to rescue his sheep
and point them back to his grace and mercy.
And so, I want to stop here
and press upon you the principle again
that we'll dig into over the next three weeks.
That is,
Jesus invites his followers,
his disciples,
that is,
you and me,
if you're a Christian this morning,
Jesus invites his followers,
or his disciples,
to share in the mission of Messiah.
To share in that kingdom-building mission.
It's quite an incredible thought, really,
when you think about it.
And that means both harvesting
and shepherding
or caring for God's people.
Not only does Jesus invite you,
it's actually stronger than that
in these verses.
Jesus expects you,
as a believer,
to share in his rescue mission.
How will you do that?
We'll see in more detail,
but at this point,
how do you do it?
By imitating what Jesus does.
Follow the leader.
Proclaiming the good news.
Teaching what the kingdom of God looks like.
And we'll see in a minute
how the healing fits in.
So, friends,
it's an incredible privilege
that's on show here.
That we should be brought in
to that very, very fundamental,
important mission of Messiah.
An incredible privilege,
but it's also a great responsibility.
And so, like the harvest I remember
as a young bloke,
it's both exciting and daunting.
So, the question I want to spend
the rest of the morning on this morning
is,
what will motivate you and me, then,
to throw ourselves into this hard work?
The hard work of harvesting
and the hard work of shepherding.
Well, I've got four points.
You'll see them on the outline
if you've got it in front of you there.
The first one is that
seeing people with the compassion
and love of Jesus.
It's an attitude to start with.
Now, given the events
of chapters 8 and 9,
which I've been looking at
over the last four weeks,
I think we could really easily
understand Jesus
feeling a real sense of frustration.
He hasn't been recognized
like he should have been recognized.
Or perhaps even resentment.
He's been used by the crowd
as just a very nice Mr. Fix-It.
But people haven't really wanted
to worship him as God.
Or maybe even anger.
He's been bad-mouthed
by the Jewish religious leaders.
They, of all people,
should have recognized him
and been his strongest supporters.
It's not frustration,
resentment, or anger
that we see in Jesus
when he looks at the crowds.
Verse 36.
It's compassion.
When he looked at the crowds,
he had compassion for them.
Why?
Because they were harassed
and helpless
like sheep
without a shepherd.
Jesus looks at the crowd
and he sees people
individually
and corporately
as a group.
People who are lost.
And if you know
anything in farming
and sheep management,
what you have with sheep herd
is you've got a whole
big number of sheep
and they're all
very, very happily
going together
as long as they're together.
But not one of them
know where they're going.
Not one of them
actually know where they are.
They're just all
going together
and there's some security
in that.
And that's what Jesus sees.
This massive crowd
in front of them.
They're all sort of
finding some security
in being in that crowd
together,
but Jesus sees
that none of them
really know where they're going.
None of them know
who they are.
They're just following
each other blindly,
hoping that the person
of the sheep next to them
knows where they're going.
My friends,
what a sad picture
of despair
and aimlessness
in life.
And Jesus looks
at this crowd
and he knows
their need for rescue.
He knows
they need to be delivered
from their own
foolish thinking.
Determined thinking,
no doubt.
They need rescued
from their lifestyle
that they may
think is quite successful.
They need rescue.
They need redirection,
new direction
and purpose in life.
So friends,
the first point
of challenge
for you this morning
is,
is that how
you see people?
Every day
we rub shoulders
with lots of different
people,
don't we?
Neighbors,
wider family,
workmates,
sportsmates
that we play
sport with,
just down the shops
as we go around
our daily business.
Neighbors,
I mean there's a whole
list of people
that just on a daily
basis we rub shoulders
with.
How do you see them?
Do you look past
the veneer?
Are you moved
by their lostness?
Now I'm talking
about people
who might present
really,
really nicely.
Most of our friends
and families
and workmates
do.
But are you moved
by their lostness
because you see
past what you're
seeing and you
see them chasing
security and meaning
and purpose
in endless
entertainment,
in fads of fashion,
in the latest
gadgets,
in the latest
relationship
and so on
the list could go.
Do you delight
to tell them
of the rescue
and the new life
that you've experienced
in Jesus?
Or are you
simply happy
to engage
with them
at face value?
as one nice
person
to another
nice person?
And if we do
that,
you know what
it means?
It means
that we
privately
enjoy
and delight
in the benefits
of our salvation
in Jesus
and don't really
care too much
about those
we mix with.
That's a harsh
way of putting it
but I guess
when you take
all the frills
away,
that's what
it boils down
to.
Second point
then is
the second
motivation
is to see
my part
in meeting
this need.
How does
Jesus intend
us to share
or get involved
in his mission
of harvesting
or saving
people from
their lostness?
Well,
it's very interesting
verse,
verse 38.
Praying,
by praying.
Now,
I don't know
about you
but that
seemed to me
to be
a strange
strategy.
See,
I'm an activist.
I look and think
there's so much
to do,
so few people
to do it.
Let's get cracking,
let's get mobile.
What does
Jesus say?
He said,
yeah,
there is a lot
to do,
very few people
to do it,
so let's pray.
Let's pray.
Pray urgently
that the Lord
of the harvest
will send out
laborers
into his harvest.
Now,
we might have
expected directions
to employ
expert evangelists
with specialized
theological training
because this work
of harvesting
is a specialized
gig.
Or we might have
expected directions
to plan all sorts
of evangelistic events,
all sorts of
church-sponsored events,
formal events,
appeals to raise funds
for these sort of things.
Now,
no doubt
these things
have their place,
but the first
and most urgent
part of mission
is always going
to be prayer.
Why?
Because harvesting
is a spiritual work
and it requires
spiritual weapons.
See,
salvation
or bringing
somebody into the kingdom
from darkness
into light,
it requires
a complete
reformatting
of a person
from the inside out.
Total change.
And of course,
once we see that,
then we know
that we can't do it.
I can't change
a single attitude
in somebody else.
Only the Lord
of the harvest
can do that.
So we pray.
But as well as praying,
we get on with
the ordinary business
of gossiping
the gospel.
Harvesting's
a two-sided coin.
We pray
and we get on
with the job
of telling people
the gospel.
That's what Jesus did.
That's our job.
That's our brief.
And then as we move
into chapter 10,
we see
that in this early stage
of Jesus' mission,
it's the band
of 12
whom he commissions
for a short-term
mission
into surrounding
Jews' villages
and homes
in Galilee.
But as we look
across the whole
spectrum of Mark's
record of the life
of Jesus,
by the time we get
to the end,
we see that things
have changed.
And after the resurrection,
it's clear
that the principle
is that all Christ's
people are to be
involved in proclaiming
the good news
of the gospel.
So therefore,
my friends,
what it means is this,
again,
come back to that
principle.
Being a disciple
is what qualifies
and mandates you
to be involved
in mission.
Simply by being
a Christian,
you're expected
and invited
to be involved
in the mission
of Messiah.
And that's a really
important thing
to grasp
because, you see,
confidence for success
in this mission
of harvesting
is not in the ability
or the qualifications
necessarily,
educational or otherwise,
of the laborers.
Confidence for success
lies with the Lord
of the harvest.
harvest.
What a ragtag bunch
Jesus commissions here
for the work
of harvest.
Most were fishermen.
We know from other
parts of the scriptures
that they were
uneducated,
some of them
uncouth,
and all of them
are not ordinary.
Then in the middle
of the list,
you've got Matthew.
He comes along
unable to shake
his reputation
as a despicable
man in a past life,
a tax collector.
And blow me down,
you've got Judas,
a disciple at this
point,
who later was
seen to lose
his way in a
really,
really awful way.
Yet he's included.
I tell you,
it's a ragtag bunch.
And they're the ones
commissioned
as the forerunners
and therefore the model
for all of us
here this morning
to proclaim the gospel,
to teach.
And there's something
really lovely about that,
isn't there?
Because as Jesus
invites us
and expects us
to be involved
in his mission,
so he's also telling us
that the outcome
doesn't rest
on us alone.
We're given the job
of gossiping the gospel.
He's the Lord
of the harvest.
He'll do what only
he can do
if we'll do
what he asks us to do.
Our confidence
for mission
is not our abilities.
It's not our eloquence.
It's not even
the depth
of our understanding
of scriptures
as a whole.
It's in the Lord
of the harvest
supernaturally
using
the words
that we speak
as we're
rubbing shoulders
with people
in a myriad
of opportunities
every single day.
So my friends,
second challenge
this morning.
Are you praying
this dangerous prayer?
Have you been praying
this dangerous prayer?
And it is a dangerous prayer.
Are you praying
that the Lord
might cause you
to overflow
with compassion
such that you're
compelled
when you bump
shoulders
with myriad
people every day
that you're compelled
as you see
their lostness
to speak
the words of life?
Amen.
Are you praying
that the Lord
of the harvest
might change
those that you
see regularly
in all sorts
of circumstances?
Are you praying
that the Lord
of the harvest
might go before you
so that the words
you speak
might be made
effective in their lives?
The Lord of the harvest
might actually
change their hearts
and renew
their minds.
And I think
we've got to ask
this as a church.
Is this
what we're
known for
as a church family?
Is this a priority?
Is this an urgency
for us?
Or have we just
settled into
a nice
comfortable
club?
If we're not
praying,
if you're not
praying individually
and if we're not
praying as a church
family together,
if we're not
doing that,
if we're not
taking the
opportunities
in everyday life,
and my friend,
I'm telling you,
there's opportunities
every time you
engage with a person.
We're not talking
formal evangelistic
opportunities,
as sometimes I think
we set it up
so we can
actually say,
well,
this isn't
the right time.
So we sort of
set it up in a way
that we can
excuse ourselves.
No,
this is just
gossiping the gospel.
This is just
overflowing.
As we engage
in any sort
of conversation,
the lostness
and the hopelessness
comes out
really quickly.
People pin
their hopes
in this
and frame
their lives
by that.
It's a wonderful
opportunity,
many,
many times,
just for those
few words.
words of life.
So if we're
not praying,
it seems to me
there's only
limited options.
Perhaps we're
not praying
those prayers
because we're
actually caught
up in the
lifestyle
that I'm
talking about
here,
and therefore,
in a sense,
drawn to that
lifestyle
ourselves,
rather than
seeing it
as a statement
of lostness.
or if it's
not that,
then if we're
not praying,
that's perhaps
we think that
their lostness
might be
addressed in
some other
way apart
from salvation
in Jesus.
Jesus.
There aren't
too many more
options I
could come
up with.
Third point
of confidence
and motivation
for us
is having
confidence then
in the tools
that Christ
provides.
Jesus sends
out this
ragtag
bunch of
disciples
on a
mission
which,
humanly
speaking,
is impossible.
But the
key here is
that he
sends them
out with
his full
authority.
And that
means they've
got all the
tools they
need to do
the job he
asked them
to do.
What are
those tools?
Well, they
have the
simple message,
verse 7.
The kingdom
of heaven is
at hand.
Now, we
can fill
that out a
little bit
more,
but there's
essentially the
message,
the simple
message that
Jesus had
come to
save his
people from
their sin
and establish
the long
awaited rule
of God.
He'd come to
rescue people
from lostness
and give
them meaning
and purpose
in life.
And they
delegated
authority of
Jesus to
add weight
to their
words.
Now, this
is where I'm
going to touch
down again
on this
notion of
healing.
Can we
expect this
healing,
ordinarily,
to be part
of our
gospel ministry
and gospel
mission?
Well, if you
look at verse
1 and
verse 8,
we pick up
the notion
of those
two verses.
And clearly,
Jesus gives
them the ability
to heal,
including raising
the dead.
This is extreme
power he's
given these
guys.
What are we
to make of it?
well, at
this point,
their ability
to heal
in the
extremity is
tied with
their authority.
It was given
them as a
point of
authority, a
confirmation
that they
were ambassadors
of Jesus,
ambassadors of
Messiah,
engaged in
exactly the
same work as
Messiah was
engaged in.
Now, that
this power
was a special
feature for a
special time,
limited, and
not an enduring
principle,
becomes clear by
the end of
Matthew's record.
By the end of
Matthew's record,
we move to
what's called the
Great Commission
in Matthew
chapter 28.
And when Jesus
gives that Great
Commission, we
find that the
delegated authority
of Jesus,
now resides in
his word, in
his written
word.
And there's no
longer a mention
of healing at
that point.
And so, from
there, we can
say the delegated
authority and
power of Jesus
to believers
today, where
Jesus says,
lo, I'll be
with you always,
is in his
written word,
what we call
the Bible.
It is that
word which is
powerful to
save as the
Holy Spirit
takes that
word and
applies it to
the hearts of
those we
speak to.
And finally,
the final tool,
the weapon for
the disciples,
was the tool of
radically changed
lives.
Now, this is my
attempt to deal
with verses 8
and 9, or
8b, 9 and
10.
This strange
travel log
direction, not to
take any extra
stuff with you.
So, folk have
labored over these
verses for years
looking for some
sort of deep,
significant meeting.
I think the point
might be rather
simple.
I think it might
come from the
passages in
Isaiah I've just
referred to earlier
on, Isaiah 52
particularly.
That is, it's
aligned with what
Isaiah predicted
as a mark of
the edge of
God's outpouring
of grace and
salvation.
And back then,
in Isaiah's day,
he said that the
mark of that
would be that
you receive
God's salvation
as a free
gift and you
hand it on as
a free gift.
That's the
essence of how
God deals with
people, in
grace.
And so I
think this here
is just a
confirmation
again, or
a direction
again, that
the approach
of the
disciples on
mission was
to reflect the
grace of the
gospel as they
had experienced
it.
the changing
power of
Jesus is
free, and
Jesus wanted
to be clear
that it was
the gospel
message which
motivated these
guys to be on
mission, and
not the idea of
personal benefit
or gain.
In the day,
there were a lot
of traveling
rabbis, and
they were like
sort of theological
buskers.
They would go
around the
neighborhood, and
quite literally,
they would
present themselves
in splendor to
attract the
crowd, and
then they
literally would
sell their
wisdom.
Jesus doesn't
want his
disciples to be
even close to
that.
So, friends,
the question
again now is
then, are you
confident in the
tools provided?
See, this is how
it works.
we might
understand the
invitation and
expectation to be
involved in the
mission of Jesus,
and then we
start to say,
well, heck, I
can't do that.
Well, you can
do it if you
get confidence in
the tools that
Jesus provided
you with.
Words of
grace, words
of salvation for
the worst of
sinners.
the words are
here.
We just have
to share
them.
We don't
have to make
them up.
We just
share them.
The awesome
power of the
Holy Spirit
behind those
words, making
them real in
the hearts of
the people to
whom we
speak.
We don't
even have to
make the
words impact.
We just have
to state them
clearly, and
the Holy Spirit
will look after
that aspect of
things.
And all
that reinforced
with the
compelling
evidence and
witness and
testimony of
changed lives.
And believe you
me, my
friends, that is
a compelling
witness.
People in our
society today are
actually asking the
question, does it
work?
That's what they
want to know in
anything of life.
Does it work?
The radically
changed life is a
compelling addition
to the words we
speak, and a
necessary addition
to the words we
speak, or a
compliment, rather
than an addition
to the words we
speak.
I think, again,
perhaps the real
problem that keeps
many of us from
throwing ourselves
into harvest is
that we have lost
confidence in the
tools provided.
These tools don't
look or sound
impressive.
especially given
the enormity of
the task.
But that
pushes me to my
last point of
motivation, and
that is understanding
the success of
harvest is
guaranteed.
So in the last
few verses, Jesus
doesn't hide the
fact that just as
opposition to him
was becoming more
frequent and more
vicious, so his
harvesters would
experience the
similar sort of
things.
And so I think
Jesus here gives
a perspective to
get his mission
workers through
these tough times.
Verses 11 through
to 15 has this
strange thing about
going into
somebody's house,
and then if they
don't respond, then
just walk away.
then I think what's
happening here is a
picture of what they
were familiar with in
the day, symbolically.
So Jesus is saying,
okay, if you take the
words of the gospel to
a particular house, a
particular village, a
particular person, and
they aren't interested in
Jesus ultimately, then
you should leave and
symbolically shake the
dust of that home or
city off your feet.
Now, again, there was a
common religious
practice among the
Pharisees and
Orthodox Jews.
When they returned to
Israel, they quite
literally would shake the
dust from their feet and
their clothes.
And it was a symbol of
leaving behind everything
that was defiled and
unclean and Gentile,
everything that was
opposed to God, in
other words.
I think what Matthew's
saying here, what Jesus
is saying here through
Matthew is that he's
taking that same symbol
and applying it a
slightly different way.
If you go into a house
or speak to a person or
a village and they
refuse Jesus, the words
of Jesus, then
symbolically leave,
symbolically shaking off
the dust of that village
from you.
In other words, Jesus
is saying, warn them
that rejecting the words
of Jesus, rejecting the
ambassador of Jesus, is
the same as rejecting
Jesus himself.
So, out of all that,
what's the perspective
we should hang on to as
harvesters?
Well, I think what Jesus
is saying here is, we
must be content to do
what Jesus has asked us
to do and let God do
what only he can do.
We, practically that
means we plead with
people as much as
possible.
We plead with them to
hear the offer of
salvation in Jesus.
We even go as far as
to warn them if they're
totally disinterested
and dismissing the
offer of salvation in
Jesus.
But then, having done
all that, which is all
we're asked to do, then
we leave it to Jesus.
We walk away in a
sense and we leave it
to Jesus.
We leave it to the
Lord of the harvest to
do what only he can do
and that is either apply
our words savingly into
their lives or leave
those people in their
unbelief.
And that's, again, a
wonderful relief for us.
It's not our
responsibility to get
conversions.
It's our responsibility to
speak the word.
And when we've done that
as best we can, then we
should be relaxed and, in
sense, walk away from
the situation and let
God do with that word
what only he can do
with it.
And verse 16, I'm just
going to touch down on
because it belongs to
next week's section, but
it sort of links.
Jesus anticipates it's
going to be even worse
than just mild rejection.
So at times it's going to
feel like you're going in
the midst of a pack of
wolves trying to convince
them to be vegetarians.
And it's not going to
end well.
There's going to be
serious physical danger
ahead.
What perspective can take
us into that sort of
scenario?
Well, again, the Lord of
the harvest will guarantee
the harvest is brought
in.
Not even that sort of
opposition will stop
Jesus harvesting those
he intends to harvest
into his kingdom.
And going back to
chapter 9, verse 37,
it's going to be a
plentiful harvest, a
huge harvest.
So friends, in the light
of those four motivations,
and I hope you find them
motivating, I'll just
finish on this.
We all need to respond in
prayer.
I think we need to direct,
at least, and I'm speaking
about myself here, but I
think it probably applies to
lots more than me.
We need to direct our prayer
in two ways.
I think we need to be
praying in repentance and
asking forgiveness for our
self-interested indulgence in
the gospel.
We need to be doing that
individually and also
together as a church
family.
And what do I mean by
self-interested
indulgence?
Well, I think this is
again for me, but if it
applies to you, then make
sure you wear the cap of
it.
I think we can easily
delight in the joy of new
life in Christ.
We can delight in the
security that gives us, the
hope of heaven for the
future.
we can delight in it at
every point that we've been
rescued into new
relationship with the
Lord, new hope of heaven.
We can do all that and not
be engaged in the task of
trying to make sure that
others around us find that
similar delight.
And that's what I mean by
indulgence.
I think we do need to pray
in repentance and ask
forgiveness for that.
I certainly do.
And then we need to pray
also at the same time that
the Lord of the harvest will
make us overflow with
compassion.
Compassion for people that
we see in such lostness.
Remember, we're rubbing
shoulders every day in our
family, in our street, with
our neighbours, workmates.
We're rubbing shoulders with
people who present really,
really nicely.
They've got their life in
order, it appears.
They've got all the things
that they like.
They're set up for the
future, for their
retirement.
They've got nice wives and
husbands and nice children
and nice houses and nice
yards.
And it's so deceptive.
we need to be praying that the
Lord would help us see past
all that, see through all
that, and see people who are
lost, even in their niceness.
And that we might be so
overflowing with compassion for
them that we'll take the risk
and we'll open our mouths and
we'll say to them, well, you
know, you can have all that
stuff that can be taken away in
a minute.
It's not real good to build a
life on that.
I want to tell you that there's
a better way.
Speak of the Lord Jesus.
So pray with me now.
Lord, we have been indulgent,
self-indulgent in enjoying you.
Lord, it's right and proper that
we should enjoy you, that we
should delight in you, should see
your beauty.
And we know the sweetness of
new life and relationship with
you.
We know the freedom from guilt
that comes in knowing that our
sins have been forgiven.
But Lord, our indulgence is that
we've just been happy to have
that for ourselves and we've not
had that urgency, that compassion
that would force us to speak to
those around us.
So help us, Lord, to see people
around us as you see them.
And respond, Lord, with the same
overwhelming compassion that you
do.
I pray, Lord, that you might
help us to trust in the tools
you've given us.
Help us to trust in your spoken
word.
Help us to trust in your spirit
applying that word.
Help us, Lord, just to be content
to have a model of a changed life
that goes with us as we speak to
people.
Help us, we pray, Lord, in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Thank you.