The Laborers Are Few

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus your mission
go out to all the cities and villages
teach in the church
proclaim the good news of the kingdom
and cure every disease and every sickness
this was you life work
for you to follow your call, live your bliss
you go, teach, proclaim, and cure

but you look around
you notice the crowd
you are moved with compassion
your heart breaks open each time you see the crowd
you know the stories you find
there are single moms just trying to get by
there are elderly couples propping each other up
there are wild youth, people see gangs, you see potential
there are stories of heartache, heartbreak
there are spouses killed
parents ill
children sick
brothers and sisters lost to drugs and alcohol
there are people out of work
there are people without a home
there is hunger and thirst
there are people who choose to love who society feels is wrong
the crowd is full of stories
and each crowd
breaks your heart open a little more

so you tell them the vision
you tell them about the kingdom of God
where the last are first
the hungry are fed
the oppressed are freed
you share about love, true, abiding, love
you try to ease their helplessness
you try to comfort their feelings of harassment
you try too cure their ills

but you lament that there are to few helpers
you lament that there is just not enough laborers for all of the pain
you invite God to send out some more
we hear the invitation
some of us hear the call to teach
some of us hear the call to proclaim
some of us hear the call to heal
and then we meet a roadblock, a stop sign, a barrier
they don't have insurance
they don't have the money
they are so sick because they couldn't get help early on
they can't afford the cure so they live with the disease
they choose their child's medicine over their own health
God of the harvest, send down your help.