Sermon by Herman Kauffman
Camp Creek Church of the Brethren
September 16, 2001

Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-48

This has been a week we would all like to forget.

It has been a week filled with death, anxiety, fear, questions, and prayer.

Some have called for death and revenge on international terrorists.

Others have asked how God could allow such a thing to happen.

Some may even have asked, "Where is God?" or "Has God forgotten us?"

We are gathered this morning as God's people ... as those who have put our faith in a God who creates and sustains us. We are a people who declare with the Psalmist:

• God is our refuge and stength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake .... (Psalm 46:1-2)
• The Lord is my shepherd ... Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.... (Psalm 23:1, 4)

We are gathered this morning as followers of Jesus ... those who are called Christians because we have chosen to be like Christ. We have chosen another way of life, following the teachings of Jesus:

• You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.... (Matt. 5:43-44)

We have chosen to follow Jesus who taught us to pray:

• Your Kingdom come, Your will be done ... forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors ... do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one ... (Mt 6:10, 11-13) and who prayed from the cross where he was crucified, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.... (Luke 23:34)

We have gathered as Christians who have not suffered the persecution many of our ancestors in the faith experienced, and yet we can identify with the words of the Apostle Paul written to the early church in Rome:

• I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ... What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ... Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:18, 31, 32-35, 37-39)

This morning we gather as God's People, as followers of the teachings of Jesus ...

We gather after a disastrous week filled with death and terror ...

We gather to hear a word for the church.

Before the events of Tuesday, I had prepared a sermon for this Harvest Sunday based on the text from Matthew 9:35-38. I was prepared to choose a new text for this morning until I re-read this text again, in the context of the events of this past week. Suddenly the words of the text spoke to me in a new way.

Listen again to the first verse: Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.

Jesus was a travelin' man - teaching and preaching and healing the sick. His ministry was not limited to a specific time and place, rather it was a 24/7 kind of ministry. We might expect that Jesus would teach in the synagogue and proclaim the good news of the kingdom - and he did. But his preaching and teaching was not limited to once-a-week in one location. Wherever Jesus went, he was preaching and teaching ... and healing the sick.

As the church today, we are Continuing the work of Jesus which means that our preaching and teaching and healing extends beyond the walls of this building and is not limited to only Sunday morning. You and I are called to take this ministry with us 24/7 as we, too, move among the cities and villages in our daily living.

I've thought about that a lot this week as I've seen the church respond to the disasters in New York City, Washington DC, and rural Somerset County in Pennsylvania. Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages .... Do you remember the account Jesus told in Matthew 25 of the Great Harvest, or as we more often refer to it -- the last judgement?

The king says to those at his right hand, Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when was it that we saw you ...?

And the king will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

This past week Jesus responded as he went about the cities and villages of this country represented by members of his church who were:

• rescuing those trapped in collapsed buildings,
• carrying the wounded to safety,
• healing those sent to local hospitals
• donating needed blood
• praying for families in mourning.

Verse 36: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them. Why? Because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus was a compassionate man filled to overflowing with the love of God. And as he traveled among the cities and villages of his world, he found in every community crowds of people in need of spiritual and physical healing. Jesus had compassion for these people - taking time to address their needs whether that meant proclaiming the Good News of God's Kingdom, healing the sick, or feeding fish and bread to crowds of 5,000. Jesus saw people who were hurting, harassed and helpless. They were lost on their journey through life like sheep without a shepherd.

The compassion of Jesus was seen again this past week in the lives of God's people who reached out to those who were hurting, harassed, and helpless in New York City. The compassion of Jesus was seen in communities around this country where God's People gathered to pray. And at the same time, perhaps some of us became more sensitive to the thousands of persons who may have perished without knowing the Great Shepherd - those who were lost on their journey thru life and had not yet heard you and I and the church proclaim the Good News of God's Kingdom.

Do you remember the 2^nd part of that Matthew 25 account of the Great Harvest/the last judgement?

The king says to those at his left hand, ...depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me ...

Wait, Lord, they will answer, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger ... and did not take care of you?

Then he will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.

And on that Great Day of Harvest, the day of the Last Judgement, how will it be that you and I and the church have failed to serve Jesus? Through failing to feed the hungry or through failing to make known to hungry souls the Good News of God's Kingdom?

And finally in verses 37-38: Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

The harvest season in Jesus' day was very labor-intensive. Whether is was the harvest of olives, flax, barley, wheat, figs, grapes, or pomegranates ... the harvest depended on having a sufficient number of laborers. For instance, the harvest of the olives required laborers who would beat the trees with long sticks to jar loose the olives and other laborers to pick up the olives.

Now you and I both know that Jesus was not giving his disciples an agricultural lesson in these verses. It may be that Jesus and his disciples were walking past fields or vineyards ripe unto harvest, giving him the opportunity to illustrate his point in a very visual manner; but the harvest Jesus refers to is people not crops.

"The harvest is plentiful," Jesus said to his disciples, "but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

There was more "harvest work" to be done than Jesus could do alone. He was in the process of training twelve disciples so this ministry might continue even after his life on this earth was ended. If we were to look ahead to the next verse (10:1), we see that Jesus gives his disciples authority and sends them out to begin the harvest - to labor in God's field, to begin the harvest for the Kingdom of God.

So it is today. The harvest is plentiful ... but the laborers are few.

And so we pray, we ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to bring in the harvest.

And the interesting thing is ... God sends us ... us!

We thought we were praying for the Lord of the harvest to send us a pastor,

but I will tell you that today pastoral laborers are few as well!

We pray for a pastor to come and labor in the harvest fields of this community,

but God reminds us that pastors are only laborers like ourselves

who have been called out and trained for special labors.

We pray, asking the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to bring in the harvest ...

And God sends us ... us!

Like the twelve disciples, you and I are given authority by Jesus and sent out to bring in the harvest ... thus Continuing the Work of Jesus. Hear again the Commission, the Great Commission given by Jesus to his disciples and to the Christian Community:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything

that I have commanded you.

And remember,

I am with you always,

to the end of the age.

The work of harvesting people for the Kingdom of God in Jesus day was very labor intensive. There were no radios or television, no newspapers or magazine, no internet or telephones. You had to deal with people face-to-face. There were no airplanes, trains, buses, or automobiles to take you from community to community - you generally walked. There were no Bibles or tracts to hand out for most people could not even read. The Gospel - the Good News of God's love, forgiveness and grace - had to be communicated orally by story and the spoken word.

And though this "harvest work" begun by the disciples, was continued by some mission-minded travelers like Paul and Barnabas, Silas and Timothy, more often the work of harvesting people for God's Kingdom happened in local communities like Corinth, Philippi, and Ephesus by countless numbers of Christians like Lydia, Jason, Aquilla and Priscilla, Stephen, Epaphras, and Apollos.

And over the past two centuries the harvest work has continued from Jerusalem to Macedonia to Asia Minor to Europe to the "New Land", from Pennsylvania and Virginia west through Ohio and Indiana, and even to a rural area north of Etna Green that we call Camp Creek. And over these 2,000 years there have been Christian leaders and missionaries and pastors ... but for the most part the harvest has depended upon the ordinary laborers like you and me that make up the church.

When we have prayed to the Lord of the harvest to send us laborers, God has sent us ... us.

The Apostle Paul, sometimes recognized as the world's greatest missionary, always understood that his ministry was totally dependent on local Christian communities who provided laborers within their own communities. In his Letter to the Philippian Church (1:3-11), Paul writes:

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

This morning I would echo Paul's words to you, the Camp Creek Church of the Brethren. I thank God for each of you and for the common commitment that makes you the Camp Creek Church. I heard the Ministry Committee say last month that there are 90 ministry positions within this congregation. Some of you may hold more than one, but I suspect most of you hold at least one. The positions carry varying amounts of responsibility but it takes every one to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ in this place.

Paul uses body language - some of us are hands and some are feet, some are ears and some are eyes ... but we are all important parts of the body and no one more important than another. Jesus Christ is important, we are here as servants to do our part in continuing his ministry.

The ministry of Camp Creek Church of the Brethren is carried out in many ways beyond the committees and structure of the church. In addition to the time and talents you give, you also share your offerings to be used in the upkeep of this facility but also to support ministries in this local community and ministries that take the message of God's love, forgiveness, and grace around the world. That, too, is part of the "harvest work." Your offerings help send the laborers to the harvest spots of the world where you personally may never be able to go.

Like the Apostle Paul, I understand what it means to be dependent on the support of local Christian communities to be able to continue one's ministry. While my ministry pales in comparison to that of Paul, your prayers and financial support of the District make my and others ministry to the congregations of Northern Indiana possible ... and I thank you. I know some years you have been the very first congregation to pay your entire year's support!

The Apostle Paul, in the same letter to the Philippian Church, went on to say:

" I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart ... you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel."

This morning I can echo these words for I am confident that this Camp Creek congregation will continue the good work - the good work of harvest - that God began here with your ancestors and that God will see to completion in your children and grandchildren in the faith.

With the Apostle Paul, I offer this prayer for this Camp Creek congregation:

"And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God." Amen.