Introduction

1. A Mother's Concern. My mom says although I don't live in her house anymore, I'm still her baby so she worries about me. Mothers have a special concern for the welfare of their family. Sometime last year she started putting this quote at the bottom of every email she sends: "He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; He who loses faith, loses all." It is her gentle way of telling her family and friends she hopes those who are unbelievers will not lose all, but instead be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Shouldn't salvation be at the top of every mother's concern for her children? Mom sees the need for outreach.

2. The Harvest. Do you see the need for outreach? In this passage Christ teaches you the need for outreach by telling you about the harvest. In v. 35 Christ shows you the work of the harvest that needs to be done, in v. 36 Matthew shows how Christ interpreted the need for the harvest—why it needs to be done—and in vv. 37-38 Christ calls you to action.

3. Outline. As a result the passage makes 3 points:

   1. Know the Work of the Harvest v. 35

   2. Catch the Vision for the Harvest v. 36

   3. Pray for Harvesters! vv. 37-38

Body

1. Know the Work of the Harvest v. 35. To properly grasp the need for outreach, first you need to know the work of the harvest. That work is described in v. 35.

   1. Text

      1. 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.

   2. Christ's Work. You need to know Christ's work. Because this verse says Christ went throughout "all" the cities and villages, you should recognize this is an overall summary of the snapshots of Christ's ministry in chapters 8 & 9. In summary, "the works of the kingdom," the work of Christ, was teaching, preaching, and healing. Synagogue-teaching, gospel-preaching, and disease-healing.

   3. The Work of the Church. Second, you need to know the work of the church.

      1. The pattern in Acts: Christ continues working! The church today continues Christ's work. Or more accurately, Christ continues to do His work through the church. It is not first you and me, but Christ, who does the work of the church. We learn this from the book of Acts, which begins with these words: "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach." (1:1) The "first book" is the gospel of Luke, which recounts Christ's earthly ministry. The second book is Acts, which recounts Christ's heavenly ministry. In the first book Christ "began to do and teach;" and that means in the second book Christ continued to do and teach. While traditionally Acts has been titled "The Acts of the Apostles," its contents warrant a more Christ-centered title: "The Acts of Christ by His Holy Spirit through the Apostles in the Church." The pattern in Acts is that Christ continues working!

      2. The work of the church. Christ continues His work of teaching, preaching, and healing through the church today. This is what we in the church must do, because we follow Christ's lead in the Gospels, and are led by Christ in the church today as He continues to do His work. By Christ working through us, we teach, we preach, and we heal.

      3. Healing – The difference between Christ, the Apostles, and the Church. Now I know you wonder why I'm willing to say the church heals. Yes, we teach and preach, but we don't heal, do we? Yes, we do, but we don't do it as if we are Christ or the apostles. We do it as the church.

         • You see, Christ was unique. He taught "as one who had authority" (Matt. 7:29) in and from Himself alone. He preached the gospel of salvation through faith in Himself. He healed directly and immediately by His divine power. The church today does not have authority in and from itself, does not call men to be saved by the pastor, and does not heal directly and immediately by the power of God.

         • In a similar way, the apostles were unique. Together with Christ they formed the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20). Their teaching presented new revelation given by the direct inspiration of God, their preaching was as eyewitnesses and heralds directly and specially appointed by Christ, and their healing was by virtue of a special gift of the Spirit functioning to establish the New Testament church. Through the foundation of the apostles, Christ established His church.

         • We in the church today do not have this foundational role. We are the walls built on their foundation. We teach what they taught, and nothing beyond it! We preach salvation by faith not in the church, the pastor, or even the apostles, but in Christ the Savior! We heal not directly by the power of God, with a special gift, but indirectly through prayer for God to heal, through preaching the gospel by which the Holy Spirit saves men from sin and misery, death and hell, and through diaconal work which rescues and trains the needy. We heal not as if we are Christ or the apostles, but as the church, whom Christ sent with this commission: "Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:20) We heal through the gospel. Even then it is not we who heal, but Christ, as even the apostles themselves made plain. Peter said in Acts 3:12, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this...as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?" And to Aeneas in Acts 9:34, Peter said, "Jesus Christ heals you." We teach, preach, and heal as the church, in the manner and methods Christ has given the church, through which means it is not actually we, but Christ Himself who heals.

2. Catch the Vision for the Harvest v. 36. This is the work of the harvest, the work of the Kingdom, the work of Christ, and the work of the church today. So now you recognize the work. But do you see why it is needed? This is the heart of what we as a congregation need to learn from this passage today. Christ calls you to catch the vision for the harvest. Do you see the need as Christ "saw" it?

   1. Text

      1. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

   2. The need is not in the church, but in the community. Christ "saw" the crowds. He wasn't looking at the synagogue. He was looking at the spiritually, morally, and physically needy. He wasn't looking at the church. He was looking at the "crowds." The need was not in the church, but in the community. Do you see that? The reason there is a need for outreach is not that our congregation needs to grow! I often think we need to do outreach so this congregation will grow numerically. But that must not be our first priority in outreach, or we are being selfish, and I am convinced God will not bless that outreach, because the lost will learn we care more about us than we care about them. The need for outreach is not in the church, but in the community. The work of the harvest is in the church and in the community; in the synagogue and in the crowds. But the need for outreach is not first in the synagogue. It is in the crowds. It is in the community. The need is wherever unbelievers are, and while there are lost souls in the church, there are more in the community.

   3. The nature of the need. That is where the need is found. But what is that need? The focus of Christ's ministry was not to help struggling congregations. It was to save lost souls. His purpose was not first to increase the size of a synagogue, to solve the problem of low membership. The need he saw was not the small size of a synagogue, but that people were not being taught, did not yet have the gospel, and were still suffering many diseases and afflictions. That is why in v. 35 Christ was teaching, preaching, and healing. V. 36 describes how Jesus interpreted this need. The crowds were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Here Matthew alludes to Ezekiel 34, especially vv. 5 and 6, "So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd." Ezekiel condemned the priests for not shepherding God's people, and now Jesus saw the crowds needed to be shepherded. So He had compassion on them. Do you? Jesus said of Jerusalem, "How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings!" (Matt. 23:37) Unbelievers in our community are harassed by the spiritual, moral, and physical evils of sex outside of marriage, spousal abuse, divorce, and alcohol and drug addiction, to name a few, and apart from the ministry of Christ through His church, they are helpless! Do you see them as Christ sees them? Christ says not only are they wandering far from the fold of the church, but they are the harvest! Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Their salvation is why outreach is needed.

3. Pray for Harvesters! vv. 37-38. Christ calls you know the work of the harvest, and see why it is needed, but also to take action. Pray for harvesters!

   1. Text

      1. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

      2. 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

   2. The amount of work. Notice the amount of work to be done: "The harvest is plentiful." The number of sinners who need to evangelized and discipled is as great as the number God has chosen to save. There will be a vast multitude in heaven, more than you can number. So there is much work to be done! But take heart, the amount of work is matched by the amount of fruit that will be harvested. God has many in this city who will become His people.

   3. The number of harvesters needed. Notice also the number of harvesters needed: "The laborers are few." There were few laborers then, therefore more were needed. Notice that Christ was the only one doing the work in v. 35. Though He was God, Jesus was only one man, and humanly speaking He could not teach, preach, and heal every person in the world, without sending His apostles and the church to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, so that He would then work through the church by His Holy Spirit to bring in the full number of the elect. I just heard of a minister who burned out from too much work; too much stress. I am reminded of Jethro's advice to Moses, that Moses appoint trustworthy men to handle the overwhelmingly large volume of Moses' ministerial work. And so Jesus said to His apostles, and to the church, "As my Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." (John 20:21) Christ has sent you into His harvest to bring men and women, boys and girls, to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Until He comes again, there will always be more people to save, and so He will always need more laborers.

   4. Pray earnestly! "Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

      1. Pray that God will send you. Jesus had not yet sent His disciples when He told them to pray this prayer. But immediately after they prayed this prayer, He sent them on their first evangelistic mission. Pray that God will send you to bring in His harvest.

      2. Pray that God will send others. The other members of this congregation. Your children, the young people in this congregation. Pray God will raise up new ministers, missionaries, elders and deacons, in this church, and from other churches throughout the world. Have you seen a young person who has a pure love for the Lord and His word, and prayed the Lord would raise him or her up to be a laborer in Christ's harvest? I remember talking with one high school boy when I taught at the OPC's French Creek Bible Conference who was a little shy and awkward but was devoted to the church, and though not popular he showed maturity. He wanted to serve the Lord. It is out of young men like him—lacking outward glory but possessing spiritual strength—that the Lord raises up godly ministers and elders to shepherd His flock, to teach, to preach, to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds. To proclaim liberty to the captives, and set the prisoner free. They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. (Is. 61:1, 4) When the Lord sends them, and you, the Lord says in Isaiah 61:6, "You shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God."

Conclusion

1. This is the work of the harvest, and the work of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Will you do it? Do you see how greatly our community needs it? "Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."