“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 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 the harvest.”
Matthew 9:36-38
When you think of people who are far from God, what images come to mind? Hardened rebels? Dismissive antagonists? I’ll admit that when I think of people far from God, I think of the many acquaintances I’ve had through the years who have seemed so comfortable in their unconcern for eternal things. There is something true about how easy it is to live here temporarily when you are free from the concerns of eternity (Psalm 73:3-6). But when Jesus sees people who are rebelling and living far from Him, he doesn’t merely see their calloused rejection. He sees through to their weary hearts.
Leading a life far from God is ultimately tiresome. The effort it takes to sustain a life that cuts against the grain of creation and how God set his world up to work requires immense stamina. This reality is why Jesus’ offer to “take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” is at once so confusing and compelling. How could an extra yoke help? How could yet another burden solve my problem? Because of this: everyone is yoked to something. Everyone is mastered by something. The only question is “are you yoked to the good master?” As for Jesus, his “yoke is easy and [his] burden is light” (Matt 11). He offers reprieve for the soul weary of pursuing his/her own path and continually being left unsatisfied, burdened, harassed, and helpless.
Of course Jesus knows that those who are outside of his covenant of grace are “dead in their trespasses and sins,” being enemies of the Cross who often revel in how they pursue “the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2). Yet Jesus sees through to the heart cause of their rebellion: they are a people besieged. Captive to the lusts of their flesh, they follow only what they know. And sadly, all this leads to ultimate sorrow in eternity and temporal sorrow here and now. Jesus sees through their hardened shell of antagonism, addictions, proud opinions, scoffing, and apathy and through to the spiritual bondage that convinces them that the broad road they are on is as good as it gets.
And if we are to see the harvest as plentiful, we must see our neighbors the way Jesus does as well. We must view our neighbors not as inconveniences and not as being in the way of our mission. We must see them as our mission. They must seem to us not as our enemies, but as a people besieged by the enemy. Only the recognition of the depth of their bondage to a desperate condition will move us to compassion toward them. Most of us need to wake each morning and experience this realignment of our perception of those who are far from God if we are ever to be moved to answer the call to labor among them.
A Prayer:
God, give me a clear picture of the biblical condition of those around me. Help me to remember when I stood where they stand and to be moved by compassion toward them as others were toward me. Equip me and embolden me for use in advancing the Gospel message among my neighborhood and to the nations.