Laborers

The majority of my life I’ve always looked ahead to the next thing. When I was in high school I looked ahead to which college I would attend. When I was in college I looked ahead to what my career path would look like and which grad school I wanted to attend. While at the beginning of my grad school career in seminary I merely was looking ahead to which area I wanted to plant a church in and what that ministry would look like. Obviously those plans have changed since moving to Dallas and Megan and I have adapted with that change.
However, one of the hardest things for me to wrap my head around and trust is that the Lord has placed us here to drop roots and invest in this community. It took the better part of two years for Megan and I to buy into that reality.
Matthew 9:35-38 has a good bit to say about my angst and often our inability to commit to the arena that we are in currently.
“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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
One of the massive principles promoted in the Old and New Testament is that we are to invest and serve the community that God has placed us in right now. We have not been placed here by accident. Yet, often times we live as nomads who provide no positive contribution to our community outside of what best serves our needs. In Matthew 9, Jesus looks on the crowds around him with compassion. That compassion drives him to remind us that we were not placed where we are by accident. We are placed in the community that we are in by the Lord to do work for His kingdom, make much of His son, and bring the goodness of the Gospel to the community around us.
That community is not limited to our home or our church or even our workplace. That community extends to the grocery store and the gym and the dry cleaners. Jesus looked on the people around him all from different homes and different backgrounds and look at all of them with compassion. That compassion drove him to remind His disciples and His followers that what the world needs most is laborers ready to roll up their sleeves and do the work of the kingdom. Specifically, laborers who are anxious to do that work in the community that He has placed them in.
Most the people who read this blog are in the gym every day. All of the people who read this blog will walk into the grocery store or a restaurant or retail store this week as well. That is your community. God has placed you in that community for His glory. Don’t just think of a trip to the gym or trip to the store as a trip you have to check off your list for the day. The harvest is in those places. The question becomes are you a laborer or nomad?