by Pastor John Boone
Last Sunday, we discussed our calling as a church to be a “lighthouse”, and our individual responsibility to be God’s “proclaimer of light” to those who don’t know His love. We ended with Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 9 that “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” The very next day, Monday, I received from Foursquare an email article titled, “Laborers for the Harvest.” Talking about a confirmation of what God is saying to us! Here’s an excerpt:
Imagine putting a huge sign in front of your church that reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”Imagine if a multitude of people took you up on the offer and came in! Think of the needs, the workers necessary, the Kingdom inconveniences, the challenges; the smile on God’s face!
You are probably aware, but the above quote is an excerpt of Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus.” As a nation, we put this on “our sign,” the Statue of Liberty and most of the nations of the world have taken us up on the offer! They’re coming! …There are people waiting for Bible studies, for prayer, for healing, for Jesus’ touch…Likewise, in Matthew 9, Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion on them. He saw that they were harassed and in need. He wanted to bless them all. The compassionate charge to His disciples: “Pray for laborers!”
Isaiah records this: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Could it be that as we pray for laborers for the harvest, the Lord would ask us the same question? “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Will we respond as Isaiah did with an enthusiastic request that God would send us?
Don’t give into the lie that you are not qualified! If you have the Holy Spirit, you have the “light of the world”, Jesus, within you! God is looking for those through whom He can shine His light. Remember, it is His light, not ours! God is looking for laborers because the harvest is plentiful. Whom shall He send and who will go?
