11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Harvest?

 

‘Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”’
Matthew 9.37-38

It’s a little early for harvest, isn’t it?

Therein lies the difficulty for those of us who live in cities have with agricultural allegories in the Bible. We don’t always understand the rhythms and practices of the countryside that would allow us to grasp the meaning effortlessly. Even in this country crops are harvested at different times of the growing season. In some climes, the harvest is never ending.

It is the never-ending yield of all people who seek the joyful blessedness of a loving relationship with their creator God that Jesus identifies as the harvest that needs to be ingathered and saved. The religious and ruling elite of his day looked down upon ordinary folk as darnel; weeds to be thrown on the fire and destroyed. They saw them as worthless sinners fit only for Gehenna, the purgatory that is named after the forever burning rubbish tip outside Jerusalem, where they would be judged and made fully aware of their shortcoming. That is not how Jesus saw them.

It is only Jesus that sees the potential in this bountiful harvest. It is only Jesus who looks upon them with love and is prepared to die for them in atonement for their sinfulness.

Now, this is where you come in. The highest calling to all the people of Christ, the ultimate challenge, is set out in this passage. There can be no harvest without those to gather it in. Jesus calls up you to pray for harvest workers. And, while you are doing that, I will reveal the most likely answer; Jesus needs you. In his time, his message was not heard beyond Palestine, but he knew that there was a world beyond that needed to hear it. He needed Gospel spreaders and found them in his disciples. He still needs Gospel spreaders.

So, where is the harvest today? What do we need to pray? When we get the reply, we will find that God wants us to be part of the answer.

                             Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
                             let every soul be Jesu’s guest;
                             you need not one be left behind,
                             for God has called all humankind.

                             Sent by my Lord, on you I call,
                             the invitation is to all;
                             come, all the world and witness how
                             all things in Christ are ready now.

         This is the time; no more delay!
                   This is the Lord's accepted day;
                   come in, this moment, at his call,
                   and live for him who died for all.

   Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

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