Mat 9:37-38 "Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Questions
Who is the Harvest?
Who is supposed to gather this Harvest?
How do I go about gathering this Harvest?
I believe these questions can be answered in a previous passage of Scripture. In Matthew 9:9-13 it says, "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
We have a sin-meter in our culture. We measure the actions of others by our sin-meter. We like to think there are small, small-medium, medium, medium-large, large, super size, & "Oh-My-Gosh-I-Can't-Believe-They-Would-Do-That" sins. We like to believe that certain sins are worse that others. Have you ever met anyone who seemed to be really good at sinning? And they seemed to be really good at committing all those nasty big sins? Have you ever heard anyone say, "If God can save so-and-so, He can save anybody." Matthew, the tax collector, was one of those guys. He was a thief and a liar.
Question
Do you tend to think you're better than others because you don't commit the big sins?
Like Matthew, are you guilty of being a thief or a liar? Are you guilty of any sin?
This story is unique. Matthew was hated by the Jews because he worked for the Roman government as a tax collector. He would have certainly been guilty of robbing his fellow Jews. He was hated. This lowly sinner didn't go out in search of a Savior. Jesus went out in search of Matthew. This brings us to a foundational truth of the Bible...Jesus is the friend of sinners.
Can you imagine yourself in Matthew's shoes? Imagine yourself sitting at your place of work during a normal business day. You are approached by what appears to be a lower class citizen whom you barely know. This man then commands you to follow him. What would your response be? Would you say, "NO!!" or would you yell, "Stranger Danger!!!" Not many of us would jump to our feet to follow this man.
Question
What made Matthew want to follow Jesus?
What do you think it would take to make you follow Jesus?
Later in the story, we find Jesus reclined at the table of Matthew's house. At the table, Jesus is mingling with the filth of society. It would be the equivalent to eating dinner with the local crackheads, whores, pimps, murders, and abusers. Do you know any people like this? Could you imagine eating a meal with people like this? I couldn't either and I think that is a problem.
Questions
Whose house was Jesus staying at? (Matthew's)
Who invited the guest to meet Jesus? (Matthew)
Jesus is the friend of sinners. He is close to the people who are willing to admit they have problems and that they need help. In Matthew we find a man who has truly realized Jesus has the power to change lives. Why would he have invited his friends to meet Jesus is he wasn't able to change them?
Question
Are you bringing your friends to meet Jesus?
Jesus is reclined at the table enjoying a meal with the people who are the filth of society. The local religious sect, the Pharisees, walk by and spot Jesus chilling with these hoodrats. It would be the equivalent of spotting your youth pastor hanging out with the drug dealers downtown. They begin to question Jesus. "What are you doing with these people?" or "They're going to make you dirty!" or "We don't associate with people like that." or "If God can save them, He can save anyone, but I just don't think it's going to happen." Jesus is the friend of people who are willing to admit they have problems. The religious heart just cannot understand how Jesus could recline at the table with such people. The religious heart just cannot understand grace. Jesus is like a doctor. He only sees two categories of people: sick & well. The Pharisees thought they're efforts to remain pure and clean made them well. They didn't think they needed a doctor. The men and women reclined at the table with Jesus understood they needed help. Jesus is close to those who can admit they're sick and need a doctor.
Questions
Are you sick or are you well?
Are you willing to allow Jesus to heal you?
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