Cry out to the Lord of the harvest

Paul Grimmond

I was sitting in college chapel recently, and a graduate of the college got up to preach. He was from Darwin and he desperately wanted to encourage college students to think about ministry in the Northern Territory. What was his text? “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!” Here we go, I thought—the stereotypical response to our ongoing and greatest problem. But I was wrong. As I listened again to the words of our Lord, I was reminded of God’s solution to the need of the world to hear the gospel. And it’s not the solution that we tend towards.

My expectation as the sermon began was that the preacher would press upon me the urgent need to preach the gospel to the world, and not least to the part of the world that the preacher was from. Of course, this would be followed by an impassioned plea to give up our lives sacrificially for Jesus. After all, he was speaking to a room full of theological students, training for evangelistic, pastoral ministry. If ever there was an answer to his problem, it was sitting right in front of him. It doesn’t take a genius to write that sermon!

But that’s not what this particular preacher did. He read the passage in front of him and invited me to do the same. What is God’s answer to the harvest fields being ripe and in need of workers to gather in the crop? Let’s turn to the text.

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.” (Matt 9:37–38)

Our first step in responding to the world’s need for gospel workers should be to ask. That’s what Jesus told us to do. It’s interesting isn’t it? Not pack your bags, or start a ministry apprenticeship or go scouting at a Bible college. When we look out at the world and see people in desperate need of relationship with Jesus, our first response ought to be to cry out to God—to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.

It only takes a moment’s thought to realise why this is true. This world already belongs to him. He has displayed his love through the death of Jesus on the cross. He has declared his purposes in Christ to bring all things under him. And finally, the problem is bigger than any of us can fix.

In our folly, we so often turn to finding a solution rather than realising that we are in relationship with the one who can solve the problem. Of course we should train people for ministry and invite people to do apprenticeships. Those are not wrong things in and of themselves. But Jesus tells us, when we see the fields ripe for harvest, our first port of call must be to cry out to the Lord of the harvest.

When we look out at the world and see people in desperate need of relationship with Jesus, our first response ought to be to cry out to God.

So will you please spend a moment or two, right now, crying out to the Lord of the harvest? Praying for him to work in the hearts and minds of many to call them into the world with the gospel? And will you commit yourself again to praying for God’s work in raising up another generation of gospel workers so that a dying world might hear the truth that God has loved them in Christ and that forgiveness and hope are possible for all?

We need more people, please get ready and come!

Gary Nelson:

“‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’ This is very clear in the North West of Australia. Join with me in praying for more people to be trained for gospel ministry to serve in difficult locations. Moore College provides sound, biblical, gospel-centred training for a life long service of our Lord. Please step forward so the lost may be found in Jesus.”

Gary Nelson, a Moore graduate, is the current bishop of the Anglican Diocese of North West Australia. Previously he was External Studies Director at Moore College, was an assistant minister in Dapto and later rector of Panania.