Working the Field

Matt. 9:37-38

“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.”

It is God's harvest field. Not ours. We are doing what we can for him, not for us. That is why it makes sense for us to do what he tells us to do. When we go to someone's house for dinner, we might ask how we can help, but we certainly wouldn't take over. The hostess has a plan. She knows what is being made for dinner; we may or may not know. She has the recipe; we usually do not. She also knows where everything is kept, what she has and doesn't have, and has likely thought about how it will all work together. She does not need us, because she has planned the meal without us. But we can think that she will be grateful for our help, and then we feel like we have contributed.









Jesus is the host.  The people of the world are his sheep.  He is the Shepherd. At the time He said the verse above, He was looking around at the many hungry sheep in his field, thinking of them and the ones to come.  And He wants their souls.  Of course, He could make it so that every one of them came to Him and received His refreshing grace.  He doesn't need help.


But instead He chooses to bless us.  We can assist him in the collection and harvesting of these precious treasures of His.  It can be done without us.  And to be honest, it would probably go a lot more smoothly without our intervention.  Allowing us to help is much like a mother allowing her child to help with chores around the house.


My youngest daughter loves to clean windows with me.  I dread it.  She is four years old. Her arms do not reach high enough, her hands do not press hard enough, and her eyes do not see smudges enough to do a complete job.  BUT, when she is done, her beaming smile at her accomplishment makes it worth it.


Helping God round up his sheep is infinitely more rewarding than washing windows, in my opinion. It is like a party we don't have to pay for but get to choose the invitees.  


And yet, sadly, Jesus note that the workers are few.  Why would this be?  Why doesn't everyone want to hand out these invitations God has given us?  We could choose all of our friends to come to the best party ever. Excuse me now as I step aside from the scripture to offer my own thoughts.


I like running.  Really.  I do.  I did not always feel this way.  As a matter of fact, I hated it for a long time. But it took some time and routine to get into the swing of it.  I had to make myself do.  I had to remember that what I was doing was good for me and take it step by step, little by little.


In those days before I liked running, I made excuses.  I didn't want to do it.  There were other things I would rather be doing. (ANYTHING!)  I did not want to go through the hassle and time of changing clothes and cleaning up afterwards.  And also, you know what?  Running hurt!




So.  I was distracted.  I was lazy.  And I was afraid.


Leading people to Jesus is not so different.  The result is even better than a healthy body and compliments from others.  The result is a healthy spirit and the words from our Father, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."


Why are the workers few?  We are making excuses.  Other things are getting in our way.  (These may even be valid activities that seem God-ordained.)  But can we really not fit a conversation about the most important thing to ever happen to us into our busy schedules?  Sometimes there might be an effort involved in finding the wandering sheep.  And then, what would they say?  Wouldn't we be ridiculed in this nation that seems to portray Christians as either unbalanced zealots or closed-minded hypocrites? Rather painful to our ego if we are shot down, isn't it?


I don't mean this to criticize your activity level.  For all I know, you are one of God's few workers, getting down in the dirt.  But if you are not, then I would like to join me in consciously fighting our distraction, laziness, or fear.


Jesus said the workers are few.  It is just a fact.  But with some discipline, we can become part of that blessed minority.  It's a dirty job, but well worth doing.

He is Willing

Matt. 8:2-3

“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately, he was cured of his leprosy.

On our journey through Matthew, I must stop here.  I have always needed to stop here to reflect.  Those words, "I am willing" have always given me a glimpse of my Lord's smile upon me. 

So many things strike me about these two verses. Being a list kind of person, I will list them.

• The first thing the man does is come.   Notice, Jesus did not approach the leper. The leper approached him. The very idea that the leper came to a well person at all is a step of boldness and faith, as contact with world of the "living" was prohibited to those in his situation. But, he had already been given a death sentence to the best of his knowledge, so he really had nothing to lose.

• And then he knelt. Then he knelt.  When a person is face to face with Jesus, there are only two options.  You accept Him as Lord, or you reject Him.  To be indifferent of it all is more of a slap in His face than to deny Him.  To be apathetic is to declare yourself as god.  In kneeling, this leper showed where he stood. Kneeling was his declaration that Christ was God.

• He admits that Jesus can, BUT DOES NOT HAVE TO. The man is accepting the decision either way.  We are told to pray expectantly.  What we are to expect is for God's perfect will to be done. (Oh, I know I am stirring up some debate here.  No apologies.)  He hears us.  He listens to us.  We tell Him our heart's desire.  But in the end, it is His decision as to what will best be to His glory.  And to be honest, I am okay with that.  I am finite and can only see life linearly.  And that, only my life. And I have not even reached the end of the line yet.  God, however, is infinite, sees all things and the relationships between all, and has already seen the end.  His boundlessness is also in his knowledge.  All this in mind, I trust His choices more than my own.

• Jesus IS willing. Even with the above in mind, He does not hesitate when asked. There is nothing in the text to indicate it, but I can't picture this scene without seeing Jesus smile in relief to see that one of them "gets it." I can feel the love Jesus has for this man in the immediacy of the result. He doesn't wait to give him instructions first or warn him to stay away from other lepers or anything else first. It was as though he was just waiting to do this for him. That miracle blessed more than just the leper that day.  It illustrated Jesus as God, giving glory to God, and giving life to a person for no other reason than that he asked.  Yes, God knows the outcome of the human race, but what is even more amazing is that he is able to take part in the life of each individual.  And he wants to. Your problem, large or small, may not matter to whole of mankind, but because of His love for you, it matters to Him.

We are told, as heirs to the throne, we may boldly approach God with all our requests.  So, come to Him! Kneel before Him!  Accept His greater Will!  And bask in the comfort of His love for you.

Be Perfect - An Actual Command

Matt. 5:48

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Ha ha ha hah hahaha. (not meant to sound Woody-Woodpecker-ish)

Yes that is an actual command. Only Jesus could issue such a creed, you know. And we can reply, “Easy for you to say Jesus; you ARE perfect.”

And what's more, these words are a good deal into the Sermon on the Mount, issued to many, many imperfect people.  Delivered just after we are told to love our enemies.  A blinding jab followed by a knock-out punch.  I wonder how many people got up and left the mountainside at that point.

It was given for a reason. First of all, I am not a Greek scholar, so I am not sure of the translation. But here we have a verb that is in the infinitive. A continual state, same as it was, will be. We were not born perfect; therefore, we can never become perfect, because we will always have our past imperfection with us. Until...

We realize that we can never achieve perfection on our own. But that does not mean it cannot be done, or God would not have issued us that command. Really, it has nothing to do with us or our deeds.  (The Bible is not as much about us as it is about Him). This is a command telling us that we need to accept Jesus and his sacrifice. We are allowed to take on His perfection in the Father's eyes. 

These words in the Bible are specifically for us. Because, being given at the Sermon on the Mount, those hearing it did not have the option yet to accept Jesus's sacrifice that was yet to be given.

So, now I can be free to release my perfectionistic nature?  Not quite.  The imperfection in me won't allow me to obey that command.  And again, I continue the cycle of receiving His goodness, as I give him my sinfulness.  All until the Day when I will need to no more.

Welcome to Door Knockers!

Matt. 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Mind you, this is not a reference to an ornate brass block hinged on the opening of your home.  You will receive no home decorating tips on this blog.  (At least, as far as I can see at this point.)  But I would like to welcome you to the start of my public musings about the Word of God.

I chose the name Door Knockers to reflect the verse above.  Above all if we seek the Lord, He will answer.  In my mind's eye, He is ready to jump, excited to open the door to our hungry faces.  He has so much to tell!  And ready He is to invite us in and explain it all to us.  If only we ask. 

In this blog, I plan to take one of the verses I have highlighted in my old, beloved Bible and drain from it the truth I feel God pouring out to me.  I'd like to keep it short, but welcome discussion in the comments you leave, should you like to keep the words alive.

The starting point will be in the book of Matthew, following then through the remaining gospels. I use the NIV, but would love to read interpretations you may have from different versions.  My schedule will hopefully keep me to posting here once a week.  

So those are the ground rules.  Stay tuned for next week's short rap on the door.

One last thought.  This verse tells us that if we knock, God will not hesitate to answer the door.  There is another verse that speaks of knocking on the door.  Revelation 3:20 tells us,  "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."  Jesus is speaking to us.  He is the one knocking, and the door is your heart.  There is a beautiful stained glass window in the church where I grew up that showed this picture.  As a young child, I was frustrated seeing the same picture every week.  Jesus knocked every week.  That door never opened.  Is it time for you to open the door to Him?