Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Matthew 9: 35 -38

³⁵ And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

We don’t have many farmers in the area and especially in our church. The idea of a harvest is a little outside our full understanding. We probably don’t fully appreciate all that goes into and is riding on a year’s harvest. It appears that the predominant crop in our area is cotton. I see the pickers in the field and the big trucks hauling the huge bales of cotton. These days they look more like a storage container than a bale of cotton. Picking cotton these days is painless compared to days gone by. Laurie’s mom tells us about how painful it was to pick cotton by hand when she was younger. She told us the briers would poke and cut her fingers. You had to pick it plant by plant row by row. It took quite a few people to pick a field. By the end of the picking season everyone’s hands were pretty beet up and sore. Today the farmer only needs two or three people to harvest a field of cotton and they only need to operate machinery. The farmer sits in his air conditioned cotton picker which looks a lot like a combine driving through the rows. He only has to pause when the bin gets full. He drives to a trailer where the cotton is dumped and it compacts it into the storage container size bale. Then another driver hoists it into the back of his truck and delivers it to the cotton gin. Pretty simple and painless operation compared to all the bloody sore fingers of so many workers.

What if the thing-a-ma-bob widget on the cotton picker broke that kept the cotton picker from harvesting cotton? What if the thing-a-ma-bob widget on all the cotton pickers broke and there weren’t any thing-a-ma-bob widgets in the parts houses. Can you imagine what the farmer would be thinking? My whole year’s income and livelihood is sitting there in the field and I can’t get it out. If I don’t get it out soon it won’t be any good. What do I do? I can’t harvest it myself. What would he do? I imagine all the farmers would be crying for workers, begging for anybody, to come help harvest the crop.

That is the urgency and desperation that is in the language behind the words "pray earnestly" in our text. It can be translated as beg. Puts a little different spin on it doesn’t it.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore beg the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." He wants us to beg him for more workers for this huge harvest.

Jesus traveled around from town to town preaching, teaching, and healing. The crowds continued to follow him. Notice what verse 36 says "³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them," He had compassion on the people because He saw them as sheep without a shepherd and on their way to hell. He had compassion on them and was determined to rescue as many as He could. He saw them as a field of grain ready for the harvest. Once grain reaches the harvest point it must be harvested or it will fall to the ground and go to waste.

Jesus is asking us to have compassion for the people as well. Pray, no beg the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the field. Praying costs you nothing but a little time. It is His field and He will see to it that the necessary workers bring in the harvest. The fields are so vast just a the many sheep without a shepherd. All of His sheep will be gathered into His fold. He will do it with or without you, He doesn’t need you but He wants to use you. He wants to give you the privilege of doing this all-important work with blessed result. These results last into eternity. It all starts with prayer. He will provide workers in response to your prayer and you might just be the answer to your own prayer. Our Lord will use you in some way or other in His harvest. Being a worker in the harvest is a privilege for you the believer in Christ.

In your work you can share how thankful you are that Jesus cared enough for you that He sent his only son. He not only sent His son to be one of use but also to suffer and die for you in your place so you can stand in front of God with a clean heart. You can share how thankful you are that Jesus showed you the way to eternal life through His resurrection from the dead. You can share how thankful you are to be a child of God in His kingdom and that there is room for more in God’s kingdom and that God loves them too. How do share all this? You show the world how thankful you are through your actions when you serve your neighbor. You show the world how thankful you are when you share your excitement for the gifts God has given you; house, home, vocations, husband, wife, children, food, clothing, and the most important gift, salvation.

Beg God for workers before the harvest falls to the ground and it is too late. Then be ready, ready, able and willing to pitch in. There is no promise it will be painless like the cotton harvest is these days but it is rewarding. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

Amen.