By Rebecca Thackeray
The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.
Luke 10:1-2
Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Matthew 9:35-38
.
Have you ever been in a situation where challenges and issues arise due to staff shortages? That may have been within your workplace, local educational or health care system or even in your daily train commute. Staff shortages can have many ripple effects; for example, services cannot run to their full potential, affecting the safety of the service delivered and the people using the service. In some cases, this can even lead to the serving being cancelled altogether. When these issues come about, we sometimes ask what the organisations and authorities responsible are doing to manage them. Often, these issues come about due to a lack of funds, training or resources to support current staff and encourage more staff to join, but also, there can be a lack of motivation from current and prospective workers.
In the case of Luke 10:1-2, Jesus commissions the disciples to go and minister to the people within the surrounding areas, asking them to preach the gospel, cast out demons, and heal the sick. Not the lightest of tasks, you might think! However, in this case, compared to the limited funding and resources that we see from organisations today, Jesus had given the disciples all that they needed.
Jesus had discipled his disciples, training and equipping them to fulfil their mission. They had been walking with Him throughout His ministry, listening to everything He had to say. They had watched Him as He healed the sick and cast out demons. They had seen Him care for those who were considered the least in society. They had witnessed Jesus’ commitment to spending time with the Father, and they had even been taught to pray.
Not only that, but Jesus had also given them the best thing: Himself. He was not any other human being; He was God in human form, with power and authority. He was the true King of God’s Kingdom, and, as a King, He was sending them as His representatives, with His power and His authority. With the King of Kings on your side, what is there to be afraid of? You can be sure you have everything you need.
Jesus has done that for us, too. He has equipped and trained us through His word and, most of all, by giving us His Holy Spirit. His Spirit lives in us, empowers us, and flows through us, directing us and speaking through us. We can be sure that on this mission, we will not fail.
So, if we are all equipped to fulfil Jesus’ mission, why are the labourers few? Is it a recruitment tactic? Do we need to resort to the wartime propaganda of “your country needs YOU”?
No, the labourers are few, because the harvest is great! There is ALWAYS work that needs to be done because God is always working - He’s never pausing being God, and He is still in the business of saving souls for His Kingdom. God doesn’t ‘need you’, but He wants you. He wants you to love Him with all your heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37) as a response to the great love He has continually shown us. And He calls us to work in partnership with Him. He will strengthen us, and He will guide us in what He wants us to do. All we need to do is to say YES to our part and to ask Him to send more labourers to join us in the mission of bringing in the harvest from His fields.
Ask: What did Jesus mean when the labourers are few?
Seek: How has God equipped you for the harvest?
Knock: Reflect on what God is calling you to do and ask Him to equip you to reap the harvest in unity with like-minded people.
