"The Harvest"
Sermon Transcript for April 7, 2002Scripture Reading: John 4:27:35
By Rev. Mike Beck
As we drive along our rural highways, we see all around us farmers preparing their fields for spring planting. Their efforts in tilling the soil, putting on chemicals, and planting the seed is for one purpose – to bring forth a harvest. Can you imagine driving by a large farming operation where the fields lay fallow year after year? Now, farmers give attention to seeing that their fields are well maintained and look nice. But farmers realize first and foremost that those acres of good Indiana topsoil are not for just looking good –- their purpose is to bring forth a crop.
For the past couple of months, my Sunday message was focused on spiritual growth within our individual lives. Today, and for the next several weeks, we shift gears and we will be focusing on our mission "collectively" as the church of Jesus Christ. Our scripture lesson today reminds us of what Jesus saw as His primary calling – to share the good news with all who would listen. The scripture that George read for us, and I appreciate his help as well this morning. In fact, George, I’d love to be able to borrow a little of that voice of yours today. But the scripture began, "Just then His disciples returned and were surprised to find Him talking to a woman." Friends, that’s an understatement. In Jesus’ day, as a Rabbi, you didn’t converse with women especially this woman. She was the wrong-side-of-the-tracks woman--a hated Samaritan. And just as so often happened with the disciples, they find Jesus doing something they didn’t anticipate. And the scripture that George read ended with the text where Jesus said, "I tell you, open your eyes, look at the fields, for they are ripe and to harvest."
As the church of Jesus Christ, we are called to bring forth a harvest in at least three ways that I want to suggest this morning. First of all, we are called to bring forth A HARVEST OF NEW BELIEVERS. The Willow Creek church in Chicago I think has got it right in their mission statement. Their mission statement is a very simple one. They say, "We are here to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ." That’s why we’re here. This week begins an opportunity for you to learn how to do that by sharing in one of the Contagious Christian classes. You will not learn a canned evangelism presentation. You’ll discover how God has wired you together and how to naturally share that faith with others. Come on Tuesday at noon; bring your lunch with you. You can come on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.; you can come on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.
We are called, secondly, to bring forth A HARVEST OF DISCIPLES. There’s a difference between being a believer and a disciple. A believer is one who’s put their trust in what God’s done for us in Jesus Christ for salvation. That happens in an instant. But to be a disciple is to be a follower, to be doing and living the kind of life God calls us to live. That process takes a lifetime. Tara Bridge gave the lay witness last week at 9:30 a.m. Tara is a new believer herself. She found the Lord a couple of years ago. It was amazing to me that she was willing to stand up on of all Sunday’s Easter Sunday morning to share her witness. But as I was listening to her, one of the things she said, she said, "I was reading my Bible and it told me I was suppose to do this." And her faith is such, she said, "Well, if this is what the Bible tells me I’m suppose to do I guess I better get busy doing it." And I thought, "Oh, if all of God’s people would approach this book that way." But that’s the essence of disciples. See what the book tells us to do and then to go forth to do it.
And then, thirdly, we’re called to bring forth A HARVEST OF MINISTRY TO THOSE IN NEED. The theme of this year’s Missions Conference is, in fact it’s more than a conference it’s a whole month, but our theme is "Walk with those in Need". Grace Church is a leader in our denomination in terms of reaching out in mission. And I hope you approach these coming weeks, not with an attitude, "Oh gosh, it’s mission time again I think I’ll stay home for a couple of weeks." But rather that you approach this month as one of the most exciting months in the life of our church as we have the privilege of reaching out to meet needs in the name of our Lord.
In January, I attended a "Global Impact" Conference at Pine Castle United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida. And at the close of the conference, the very last thing that happened, they showed a video that touched my heart and all of those in attendance in a powerful way. Now friends, God can speak to us in a variety of ways. It’s not always dependent upon the preacher being able to preach a 25-minute sermon. If you’re new to Grace Church, I normally do that. But I’m only a week out from my last Botox shot. There’s no way I’ve got enough voice today to preach three, 20 or 25-minute sermons. So we’re going to watch this video as we close the worship today. I’m confident the Holy Spirit will speak to you through it. It gives a wonderful meaning to this month of mission emphasis. As you watch it, be reminded that our central calling as the church of Jesus Christ is to bring forth "the harvest".
VIDEO – "THE HARVEST"
Narrator: Whenever Jesus wanted to get to the heart of an issue, He told a parable, a story that people would never forget. When I was a kid, something happened to me that I would never forget. It changed my life forever.
Radio Announcer: For you folks just joining us…Tom in the morning. Hope you slept well last night. A very refreshing rain shower… We’ll have a high of 83 under sunny skies and if the weather keeps on like this we’ll see bumper crops. Opening grain prices at the Chicago Board of Trade – spring wheat, $4.23 a bushel; oats at $1.75; barley and corn unchanged, holding steady. I’ll be back in a minute.
Narrator: Growing up on a farm was a great experience. My dad, mom and brothers, we did everything together. We’d work hard in the fields all day and then mom would fix us one of her big dinners.
Father: Lord, we thank you for these blessings and for this food that you have provided. Amen.
Family: Amen.
Bobby: Let’s begin. Jerry, pass the mashed potatoes.
Father: Hey, we were able to go out and look at the wheat ….
Narrator: Dinner was the best time for our family. David would talk non-stop about being a cowboy. And Charlie over there he was always making us laugh. Dinner was certainly my brother Bobby’s favorite time of the day. I’m Jerry, the oldest. I kind of had to watch out for these little guys. Mom and Dad sure had their hands full; and they took every opportunity to teach us something new about the farm and hard work and mostly about love and respect. I guess you could say we were a pretty close family. Our farm was big with wheat fields stretching as far as my eyes could see. Dad worked hard planting those fields and by the end of the summer the wheat would be ripe and the harvest would be ready to bring in. He’d say to us, "Boys, when the harvest is ready we have to be ready or we could lose the whole crop." I knew how important the harvest was and I never doubted for a minute we’d be ready.
But it wasn’t harvest time yet and on the farm we had a lot of other work to keep us busy – like saddling up and moving our cattle to the south pasture. Riding with Dad and Uncle John was always an adventure. And even when things were a little more than I could handle Dad still believed in me. Somehow it always worked out. Once the job was done before heading home, we talked just as men about hard work, good friends, and of course, the harvest. I never left that pasture without learning something important from my dad. And I never left without bringing home something special for Mom.
While we waited for our wheat to ripen, Charlie and I would help Dad haul hay. The two of us would work as hard as we could to see how many bales of hay we could bring in. You see, the more we brought in the more we could brag to our friends when we went to town on Saturday. I remember that day because it was really hot, hotter than usual – even for July. And though my dad never complained, I could tell he was having one of those headaches.
Jerry: Sure thing, Dad.
Narrator: But we finished bringing in the hay and went straight to work on the combine so it would be ready for the harvest. It always amazed me how much work Dad could do. And I worked right along beside him. Like he did so often, Dad took us for a walk through the fields that night. The setting sun made everything warm and golden. Dad used to tell Bobbie that God painted it that way just for us. We talked about the day we had together; we talked about the harvest. It wouldn’t be long now. Dad said it was going to be a great harvest.
It had been a long day. And I slept hard that night. So hard that I didn’t hear what was happening in our house. The next morning I woke to voices; familiar voices but they seemed out of place so early in the day. Why where they here? I wondered what was happening? I heard Mom and Grandma talking in whispered voices. Then Mom called us all together.
Mom: Jerry and Charlie, David, I need to talk to you. Something has happened to your father.
Narrator: I looked into her eyes. I knew it was bad.
Mom: Last night he became very ill. We tried to help him but there was nothing we could do. Your daddy died. Your daddy is in heaven.
Narrator: My dad was gone. In an instant our lives were changed forever. His headaches, we thought it was just the heat. Time seemed to stand still. It hurt so much and it felt like it would never go away.
Mom: Lord, you know what a terribly hard time it is for us right now, but we thank you so much for being here for us.
Narrator: Mom did her best to keep going. Mealtime was the hardest though. We prayed for strength and needed each other now more than ever. I missed him so much. The next few days were busy ones. Uncle John was the first one to lend a hand. We all pulled together and helped things along. Even our friend, Amy, would come by and help us with our chores. We’d walk through the fields talking and trying to make sense of things.
Amy: I remember your Dad saying….
Narrator: It was Amy who reminded me that when my dad needed help he would pray. And she thought that maybe we should too. We did pray and we talked about the good times and tried to look ahead. But ahead all I saw were problems. I was worried about the harvest; it was coming soon. And like Dad said, if we weren’t ready we would lose the whole crop. I couldn’t let that happen; I didn’t want to lose the harvest. I didn’t want to let Dad down. Being the oldest I felt such a responsibility. For the first time in my life I was really afraid. I prayed that God would send someone to help. I thought that things would get better but they seemed to only get worse. The weather got hotter and hotter. And the wheat was ripening sooner than anyone expected. My worst fears were coming true. With Dad gone there was no one to work in the fields. It was hard, but Mom, all of us, kept praying.
It was early morning and Charlie and I were at the barn feeding our horses. I used to love this time of the day but now it was a reminder that we were one day closer to losing our wheat. It was usually pretty quiet around our farm, but this morning there was a sound. Faint, off in the distance at first, a kind of roar that was getting stronger and louder. I could hardly believe my eyes. One after another, big, huge combines. It seemed like the whole world was coming to our farm. They started in the big field, the one to the north, their wheels sweeping the wheat into the combines. Side by side they moved from field to field.
As I watched them unload the golden wheat, I thought about Dad and my prayers and I understood. I wasn’t alone. All these people, they had work of their own to do, but they left their fields to come and help us. Together they did what no one could have done alone. In one day they brought in the whole harvest. The harvest was finished; the wheat was saved. The fields were clean. Afterwards, all the families gathered in the field north of the farm for the biggest harvest meal I had ever seen. I was amazed at how many people had come to help. It was a time to celebrate.
Everyone had a part of helping with the harvest. Whether it was Dad’s best friend, Mr. Hansen, and Amy’s brother, Tom. Mom couldn’t believe that Aunt Sally and Mrs. Johnson were getting along so well. And there was Harry Bender and Mr. Sanders. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along; it’s just that they never did much together. I knew that I was part of something special here. And I guess the harvest is something that can bring people together.
Uncle John said this whole day reminded him of the story in the Bible when a lot of people were hungry to know God but their weren’t enough workers to tell them. Jesus said, "When the harvest is ready, pray, and ask God to send people who will help." Well, that’s what we did with our harvest and it’s a day I’ll never forget.
Helping with the harvest changed all of us in one way or another. It was time to come together. It was harvest time. I still come back to the farm and walk in the fields just as I did when I was a kid. These fields were my whole world. And the things God taught me that summer when I saw everyone come together to harvest our wheat has stayed with me all my life. Now I see the lesson of the harvest. There is another field – it’s God’s field. Filled with people who are ready to respond to Him. And just as my family prayed for someone to come and help us bring in the harvest, people all around the world are praying that someone would help them bring in the harvest in their land and their city, on their campus. Everywhere I look I see people who are lost without the love and message of Jesus Christ. And the urgency that we felt on our farm is the same urgency that exists today.
We can all do something. We can pray, give, reach out to a friend, even go to another land. This could be the greatest spiritual harvest time in history and that’s why we are all needed. It’s time to come together. It’s harvest time.
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