The Attributes of the Harvest Laborer

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “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. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road” (Luke 10: 1-4).

Faithful to His recurring pattern, Jesus confronted the crowd of followers with a fresh call to go deeper in their walk with Him. He called seventy-two others to step away from the crowd and to go ahead of Him out into the countryside as laborers to harvest souls for the Kingdom. He had done this recently, sending His twelve closest disciples out to preach and heal, and upon their return He called them apostles: (Greek – apostolos: ambassador, messenger, he that is sent)… “And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles” (Luke 6:13). There is much theological debate about whether the office of Apostle still exists, but for sure, the ministry of the apostle is still very much needed, as much of the world still needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not call the seventy-two apostles. Instead He identified them as harvest laborers. Today the Holy Spirit prompts us to hear Jesus call to go on ahead of Him to share His gospel in our needy world. Our success will be enhanced as we discover and develop the attributes of the harvest laborer.

Harvest laborers are sent as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. The Spirit intentionally inspired Luke to write that these new messengers were to go into every town and place “where he himself was about to go”. How encouraging to know that when we follow the Spirit’s leading He will direct us just a few steps ahead of Jesus Christ as He pursues the hearts of the lost… “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Diligent disciples will be infected with Christ’s extreme burden and love for lost sinners and we will eagerly look for opportunities to build healthy relationships with them. We will be increasingly willing to go where Jesus would go and touch those whom Jesus would touch if He walked in our shoes, which of course He does… “To them (His saints) God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). If you’ve been spending time with Christ, maybe the places you are going today; home, neighborhood, or workplace, are His places of harvest for you. Maybe He is calling you to labor in some new harvest somewhere. If you are willing, Jesus might send you as His ambassador into the life of someone He is soon to draw into the kingdom, just so you can share in the harvest with Him!

Harvest laborers are sent as answers to prayer. Jesus wanted these new ambassadors to know they were being sent in answer to prayer. With this admonition, He exhorted all disciples to pray for the lost. When we obey this command we are imitating Christ who also prayed for the lost… “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (John 17:20). How exciting to live as a harvest laborer and believe that wherever we go and whomever we meet, we might just be the answer to a prayer that originated in the heart of Jesus Christ Himself, and that is being echoed by unknown fellow disciples nearby!

Harvest laborers are sent as archetypes of Christ. This is probably the toughest attribute of one who is sent to grasp and achieve. Jesus chose His words very carefully as He challenged would be apostles to be as lambs in the midst of wolves. He was calling harvest laborers to be a reflection of Himself to the world. He was “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Here, He exhorts His messengers to live a life that illustrates the sacrificial life He lived, without dependence on or distraction by the material world around us. As we mature as disciples and grow less attached to the world, we become more available to be sent as archetypes of Christ to a desperate and needy world.

As we grow up into Christ we enjoy the blessings of sharing His gospel as we seek and develop…

The Attributes of the Harvest Laborer.

The Cost of Following Jesus

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62).

When Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), three people emerged from the crowd and expressed their desire to follow Him. I believe their passion for the Master warmed His heart. True to form, Jesus seized the opportunity to give them some deeper revelation into the definition and requirements of true discipleship. He had recently spoken to the disciples on the subject of following Him… “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). He taught that real discipleship is exchanging our lives for the life He offers, that is a life that imitates His own life of sacrifice and love… “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:24-25). In today’s text the Spirit of Truth illuminates Christ’s response to three would-be disciples to help us discover deeper truth about the cost of following Jesus.

To follow Jesus, He must become our consummate provider. Jesus exhorted the first follower to imitate Him by trusting in nothing of this world to meet His most intimate needs. Jesus had no earthly home because His heart was fixed on completing His mission and returning to His eternal home… “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). True disciples depend only on God and are free to follow and serve the Lord because we are unencumbered by the trappings and distractions of this world... “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  Christ-following disciples need only one King and one Provider, Jesus Christ.

To follow Jesus, He must become our compelling proclamation. You’ve been to funerals. You know there are lots of different emotions expressed at such moments. There are lots of different words shared among those grieving together. Once we are born again we become sensitive to the absence of hope among those who don’t know Jesus Christ. The Spirit inspired Paul to exhort true disciples to be different by expressing the hope of Christ at the death of our loved ones… “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). True disciples have a tremendous message of hope and a responsibility to proclaim it among those grieving the loss of their loved ones… “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). In life and death, and in every moment in between, diligent disciples make the most of every opportunity to proclaim Christ’s gospel.

To follow Jesus, He must become our consuming passion. Jesus commended the follower that wanted to “say farewell to those at my home”. But He exhorted him to make it a permanent farewell. When we are born again we are not merely transformed, but we begin a completely new life… “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means all of our relationships are redefined. While we still have earthly relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and others, they are no longer primary because we are born again into a new forever family… “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” (1 John 5:1). The fresh, new desire of the earnest disciple’s heart is to bring everyone we know into our new family. Of course, we know that some may embrace the gospel we share, while others may reject it.

As we grow up into Christ our fellowship with Him increases as we pay…

The Cost of Following Jesus.

The Love that Endures Rejection

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village” (Luke 9:51-56).

Only Jesus knew what “taken up” (analēmpsis: receive up) really meant. His sovereignty is revealed in the revelation that He knew the climactic days of His earthly life and ministry were approaching. The spotless sacrificial Lamb of God was soon to be received up by the father on behalf of sinners… “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The taking up of Christ involved surrendering to the cruelty of man, suffering the abuse and crucifixion of Calvary, and submitting to time in the grave before ascending in glory to His Father in heaven. Yet, without any hesitation, Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem”. As Christ and His disciples were rejected by some Samaritan villagers, we learn that the cross and the rejection of Christ were unavoidable. Together they presented another opportunity for Jesus to prepare His disciples for the gospel preaching and disciple making work that was ahead of them. Today we learn how to deal with the unavoidable suffering and rejection that will come our way when we earnestly seek to imitate Christ and reflect the love that endures rejection.

The Savior’s suffering was unavoidable. The Spirit inspired Paul to exhort us to make knowing Christ the priority of our heart… “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). He went on to say that knowing Christ came through the inseparable experiences of His resurrection power and sharing in His suffering… “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). If you’re like me, you aren’t attracted to suffering. In fact, most of us avoid suffering at all costs. But Jesus’ determined journey through suffering and death on the way to a glorious resurrection inspires us to enter into His suffering when we encounter it in the lives of others, so we might also bring the power of His resurrection into their lives. The Spirit inspired Paul to pray that we might know and share this resurrection power that is so closely connected to Christ’s suffering… “And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19-20). Effective disciples are willing to fellowship in Christ’s suffering.

The Samaritans’ scorn was unnerving. The Samaritans had an inbred disdain for the Jews that had rejected and persecuted them for centuries. Their rejection of the Messiah’s focus on Jerusalem was as understandable as the defensive reaction of James and John that earned them the nickname Sons of Thunder… “James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder)” (Mark 3:17).  But Jesus seized the opportunity to show the unconditional love of God to these unloved Samaritans and to initiate a transformation in the hearts of James and John… “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). Earnest disciples overcome rejection with the unconditional love of Christ.

The disciples’ schooling was urgent. Just as suffering and rejection is ever-present for serious disciples committed to preaching the gospel and making disciples, so too is Jesus Christ ever present to grant discernment and victory in every trial… “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Maturing disciples let suffering and rejection drive them closer to the Savior.

As we grow up into Christ and we engage the world with His gospel, we will be challenged to reflect…

The Love that Endures Rejection.

The Diversity of Kingdom Building Ministry

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:49-50).

The life of a true disciple is all about following Jesus Christ. There is always great temptation to begin following something or someone else. One of the earnest disciple’s greatest temptations is to follow a person or ministry more fervently than Jesus. The disciples enjoyed great success as Jesus had empowered them to preach and heal throughout the villages of Galilee… “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal… And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:1-6). The Spirit shows us today that along with their success the disciples acquired some narrow vision. When they encountered someone else who had a growing and effective deliverance ministry, John’s report revealed that their hearts were consumed with envy, jealousy, and ignorance. Jesus’s reply shows that He wanted them and He wants serious disciples in all ages to discover and appreciate the diversity of kingdom building ministry.

The disciples’ envy kept them from rejoicing in the power revealed in this other ministry. We recall that this incident came just after the disciples had failed on their own to deliver a poor demon possessed boy. Were they powerless to deliver the boy because they were envious of the power of another ministry? The gifts and power to do kingdom building work are intended to glorify God alone… “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11). Earnest disciples rejoice when God gets glory in kingdom building ministry.

The disciples’ jealousy kept them from sharing His joy over the report from another ministry. The compulsion to protect and defend our ministry makes us falsely believe that other people and ministries are our enemies. Only Christ knows who His enemies are and He is more than able to defeat them… “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15). As we grow in Christ we learn to trust God to be our protector and defender… “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name” (Psalm 33:20-21). Maturing disciples enjoy working together with others in kingdom building ministry.

The disciples’ ignorance kept them from seeing the size and scope of God’s kingdom building ministry. Christ’s work is bigger than any person or ministry because Christ’s sovereignty is all-encompassing. Because of the sovereignty of Christ, we can trust that His work gets done through a multitude of others even when they don't do it just like we do… “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Jesus challenges us to open our eyes and hearts to discover the grandeur of the ministry that is bigger than us. He wants us to know we are part of a large, diverse work that encompasses the globe and the ages too… “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Dedicated disciples trust the sovereignty of Christ over His huge and diverse kingdom building ministry.

As we grow up into Christ serving in faith, humility, and wonder, we discover that we’re part of…

The Diversity of Kingdom Building Ministry.