06/15/2026
Good Sunday!
We celebrated our graduates in church this morning and I extend the congratulations to each and every graduate out there. And that good wish goes to graduates from all kinds of schools and training, teachers, and certainly parents who stood behind and encouraged the graduates.
And now you look excitedly to new beginnings. May the Holy Spirit walk every step by your side and may God Bless You each and every one.
Matthew 9:35-10:8
Be a Reaper
INTRO
Jesus made everything very simple. It is us who complicate matters. Here today in one sentence we are given the three things that make up the life of Jesus.
Jesus was a herald—a herald is the one who brings a message from the king.
Jesus brought a message from God.
It was the duty of the herald to proclaim certainties.
Christians must always preach certainties—not I think so—but I know..
I know Jesus is the Son of God.
Certainty is needed desperately today.
Geoffrey Heawood, headmaster of a public school in England has written that the great tragedy and problem of this age is that we are standing at the crossroads, and the signposts have fallen down. I am afraid we have knocked them down.
People have stopped being sure of anything, it seems.
Jesus was God’s herald—and he preached certainties by which men and women can live—truths we can trust. We can take a stand.
I know in whom I have believed.
Jesus was a teacher. It is not enough to just tell about the Christian certainties and stop there. We have to show the importance of these truths for our everyday lives. We have to actually SHOW by our living just how our beliefs make a difference—what they mean to lives.
We don’t teach Christianity by talking about it—we teach Christianity by living it. It is not the Christian’s duty to discuss Christianity with others—it is our duty to show what Christianity is.
The old saying goes something like this. People will not remember what you say but they will never forget what you do.
Jesus was a healer.
He spent far more time healing the sick, feeding the hungry and comforting the sorrowing than he did merely talking about God.
He turned the words of Christian truth into the actions of Christian love.
Christian belief equals Christian love.
In the days of Christ—the priest would have said that religion consists of sacrifice.
The scribe would have said that religion consists of law.
Jesus Christ said that religion consists of love.
As Jesus saw the crowds of ordinary men and women, he was deeply moved with compassion.
He was moved to compassion by the world’s pain—for the sick—for the blind—for those in the grip of demons. He felt our pain.
Jesus was moved to compassion by the world’s sorrow. The sight of the widow at Nain, following the body of her son out to burial broke his heart. He just had to reach out to wipe away the tears.
Jesus was moved to compassion by the world’s hunger—and so many of us have so much and there are many, many who have so little.
He was moved by the loneliness of the people—by those who wander through life so confused and bewildered.
If Jesus walked the earth today, he would be moved by the horrendous drug problem which has overpowered so much of our world.
The common people of that day were longing for God—for answers—for love—and the pillars of the churches of that time—those considered religious-- had nothing to offer them—no guidance, no comfort, no strength.
And we have to stop and ask ourselves—are we reaching out to the hurting, the needy, the unloved—and what are we offering them?
The Jewish leaders were bombarding the people with laws and arguments about the laws—beating them down with judgment.
When they should have been giving men and women strength to stand up and live confidently, they were bowing them down further and further under the intolerable weight of the hundreds of rules and regulations—offering a religion which was a handicap instead of a support.
It is a reminder to us. Modern day church intentions are in the right place, but we must take care not to slide into a temptation to attend to details while bypassing the main point—forgetting the love.
Christianity exists not to discourage but to encourage—not to weigh people down with burdens but to lift them up with wings.
It is so easy to look at those sinners out there and damn them to hell.
It makes us feel better that we are above that kind of life—that we go to church—which is a good thing—that we give money—which is also a good thing—that we even work at church dinners—a good thing too.
But if we stop there, we stop too soon. What about those sinners out there? In today’s reading, Jesus says to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”
The Pharisees of that day—rather like those we might call the “holier than thou” of today—saw these masses as chaff to be destroyed and burned up.
Jesus saw them as a harvest to be reaped and to be saved.
The prideful folks looked for the destruction of sinners—Jesus in love died for the salvation of sinners.
And here comes our challenge.
That harvest will never be reaped unless there are workers to reap it.
It hits us square between the eyes—it is placed right in our laps.
Jesus wants the whole world—every single person—to hear the good news of the gospel—and they will never hear it unless others tell them. And we are the “others.”
Jesus appointed his staff now. He will depend upon them to begin the harvest. And it is interesting the sort of men he chose—not priests—not philosophers—not great scholars—not important business men of the day.
No, they were very ordinary men—no wealth—no academic background—no social advantages—just everyday people like you and me.
One was Matthew—a tax collector—and tax collectors of that time were known for being dishonest scoundrels.
There was Simon, the Zealot—zealots would go to any lengths including assassination to rid their country of foreign rule. If Simon had met Matthew in any other place than in Jesus’ company, he would have most likely stuck a dagger in him.
But people who hate each other can learn to love each other when they both love Jesus Christ.
Too many times today, we see churches split—we see families split—in the name of religion. Religion should not be a means of creating divisions. It is intended to be a means of bringing together those who without Christ were separated from each other.
God wants us to live in family – not just families related to us—but all of us--as the family of God
--God wants our young to be nurtured and guided and protected and taught and loved richly and well,
-- and for our old to be respected and cared for
-- and for those in between to be strengthened and given joy and
help as they fulfil the purposes in life for which God has
breathed life into them.
God wants for us to be family together in our homes, living godly and righteous lives - lives of peace and joy and sharing;
and God wants for us to be family together in his church - and among his people.
But some of our homes are shattered. Some of our children are left without a father - or a mother - or both - who can model for them what the love of God is all about.
Some children in this world need so much that is not being given to them
and - I daresay each one of you – really and truly feels horribly about this problem and wonders what to do about it.
That caring—that concern is just a little sampling of the kind of love that moves the heart of God--the heart of Jesus, as they look upon us and our world.
And it is not just the children.
So many out there are broken and in need of healing.
So many need to hear and see how close the Kingdom of Heaven is to them,
so many need the things that contaminate their lives to be cleansed
so many need the demons that afflict their lives to be driven out
so many need to be raised to new life.
God's purpose for his people has always been to make us—all of his people in the world--a holy nation—and make us ones who, by our living,
help to connect the whole world to God
- to bridge the gap that exists between what is
- and what should be - to help bring wholeness to the world.
That is what Fathers--and Mothers too—are supposed to be about.
By turning to God and by keeping the word of God in their hearts and in their actions - they provide what their children - and what our world needs.
We think especially today about our fathers as Fathers Day is just around the corner.
And many of us have had Godly fathers - we have had Fathers
who not only teach the way of the Lord to their children,
but who live it out as well - with joy and with wisdom - with humility and with strength and so raise up after them a generation whose delight is inthe Lord, and whose ways are God's ways.
We praise God for them!
But - many others in our world have not had such fathers. And we need them.
We need godly parents and neighbors and friends and politicians—we need godly people--our world needs them.
We who are gathered here today in Christ's name are called to answer that need.
"The harvest is plentiful" says Jesus as he looks upon the lost ones all around him,
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field"
And then Jesus sends out his followers - and gives them the power they need to do the work that needs doing - the power and authority that they need to help bring salvation.
Each of us is called by God to be a healer
- first within our own family - among our sons and daughters - our wives and husbands - our cousins and nephews and nieces – and then, of course, among our brothers and sisters - our fellow believers.
And as we continue to tend to those in our midst who are lost and who are broken, as we continue to encourage and teach those God has entrusted to us, we are called to remember those who are not yet part of our family.
We may not be able to go into far away nations to reap the harvest—but the harvest is all around us.
We can heal the broken in our own neighborhood and drive out the demons that attack our families and our community, all by allowing our Father in Heaven to guide us and direct us.
Pray this day for all fathers—for all mothers—pray for all parents.
- Pray with thanksgiving for those who have lived and are living by God's word and who have raised up children to God in a godly way.
- And pray with tears and with hope - and with love for
those who are lost and who need the healing of God in their
lives if they are to be all God has made them to be.
Pray for workers who bring the compassionate love of God - the
compassionate love of our Savior Jesus - to the world about us.
And Pray that God will empower you
-- to be fathers to the fatherless,
--shepherds to those who have no one to lead them to the still waters and to places that will restore their souls,
--and brothers and sisters to those whose who have no earthy family to love and care for them
--and to encourage them and guide them
to the one whose family is eternal.
The harvest beacons. Be a reaper. Glory to God. Amen
PRAYER
God, our Father, though we don’t always understand why you would choose us, you have called us by name to follow you and to go where you lead us and to serve you there.
And we thank you, Lord. We thank you for making us your people—for showing us your mercy—for inviting us to be blessed by you—and for giving us all that we need through Christ Jesus to bless your world in his name.
Help us, O Lord, to respond to your call—help us to accept your gifts and do all that you ask. Help us to remember the mercy we have been shown, Great God, and to show that mercy—that love—to those people who are not part of our comfort zone.
We come before you, God, as your family and we pray for those of our brothers and sisters who are sick, those who are in pain, those who are deeply troubled, that they know you are with them, that you care for them, that they need not be afraid.
We bring these to you this morning, Lord, and ask for your healing.
(Insert your prayer list.)
We pray for doctors, Father, that they might have wisdom and perform skillfully. We ask for that your guidance be given that diagnoses might be correctly made. And with aching hearts, we pray for comfort for all those who mourn.
We certainly pray for our country today, Lord. May the hatred and the violence be somehow set aside and our people find a way to tolerate and appreciate each other’s differences.
Be with our friends and relatives who are traveling this morning that they might return rested and well.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
