3 October 2019 - send me

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.

We need to move from asking to begging. The need is so obviously great. Think of how much stronger our Church communities could be if the good priests we know could be cloned until we actually had enough of them to be everywhere. The knowledge and the zeal, the ingenuity, resourcefulness, and hard work that we see building up certain communities could be applied equally everywhere. The Church could be built from within and without because there would be enough resources to organize and execute all the ministries that would be beneficial.

You do not have, because you do not ask (see James 4:2)

We need to ask that the grace of God would make all of his people laborers in the vineyard, even ourselves. The main obstacle is a lack of trust in God. To labor we must rely on him and not what we have or what we our apart from him.

Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.

We're so afraid of failing, of getting our feelings hurt, of not having our refined preferences met in terms of the places we stay and the food set before us. Perhaps we've avoided potential occasions of evangelism like Alpha literally because they involve a meal and we'd prefer to eat our own food. This is exactly the sort of thing that we need grace to move beyond.

Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you

There is a famine of the word of God that can be filled if we just ask of the LORD the laborers which he himself desires to send.

"Today is holy to the LORD your God.
Do not be sad, and do not weep"–
for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

The word of God has the same life-changing power today that it did when Ezra read it to the people after it had been lost for so long. If our world is missing joy this is the reason.

Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!"

So let us ask for laborers. Let us keep asking even if he answers by calling us into the vineyard.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;