Have you ever heard the song that begins with the words: “We need a whole lot more of Jesus and a lot less rock and roll?” Considering the mess in the world and the unbelievable amount of good Jesus did during his few years on earth, I think that even an atheist would say “Amen!” to the words of this song. I’m not sure we need a whole lot more money or a whole lot more government agencies or even a whole lot more food. We do need a whole lot more of Jesus.
How God works and why he does what he does remains forever a mystery to us. Why did he limit his Son’s ministry to three years on this earth? Why did he wait until Jesus was thirty years old to send him out into the world? Why did God restrict the work of Jesus to a tiny piece of the world—mostly in the towns and villages of Galilee? If Jesus’ job was to save the world, why was his presence so limited?
The gospel passage today awakens these kinds of questions in us (Matthew 9:32-38).
“Jesus went around to all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The synagogues were not able to feed the people and to help them experience the presence of a God who took care of them. When Jesus showed up in a village, however, the people flocked to him and received a momentary touch from the hand of their loving God. Limited in time, Jesus did not stay long in a particular village but quickly moved on to the next one. As he left a village, he felt sad because the hungry and lost looks on the faces of the people made them look like anxious and abandoned sheep. For a moment Jesus treated them as a caring Shepherd would treat his sheep. After he departed, however, they were left to fend for themselves.
While his heart was moved with pity, he used this moment to give his disciples a most important job. He told them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
He knew the solution. The harvest was so abundant that thousands of more laborers were needed to do the work he was doing. Jesus could reap only a small portion of the harvest. He realized that the world needed “replicas” of himself in every country on earth to visit towns and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom.
And, what were the disciples to do to help recruit this multitude of laborers? They were to “ask” the “Master of the harvest” to find and send them. The Master of the harvest knew the problem more than the disciples of Jesus did. His heart, as reflected in Jesus, was also moved to pity at seeing these lost sheep. Why would the Master wait for us to “ask” him before he hired more laborers? Why does he make the size of his labor force depend on us doing our part?
It still remains a mystery why God waits for us disciples to “ask,” yet the truth is, he has given us this amazing power. We can help solve the problem, by acting like children and simply asking our Father to find more help—to plant more “Jesus’” throughout the world. Do we realize that we have power to help solve the problems of the world, just by coming humbly before God and asking him for more helpers? I don’t think we do.
May we share in the sentiments of Jesus’ heart when we see the anxious and abandoned people of the world. May we feel the depth of sadness that Jesus felt when he saw so many sheep without a Shepherd. And may this deep pity move us to start asking God to find and hire more laborers—to put more “Jesus reps” in our world.
Jesus, at the Last Supper, told his disciples that they would do the works he did and even greater ones. The power is there; the workers are still few. Are we taking seriously our assignment to “ask” the Master? Do we believe in the prayer power that Jesus has given us?
“I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God: incline your ear to me” (Ps17:6).
