The Fruits of Worship

January 31, 1988 AM

"The harvest is plentiful..." Matthew 9:35-38

Every Christian hears this challenge! As soon as we have been saved we want to help save others. Every Christian wants to respond to these words of our Lord. But the question is: How do we begin?

I. WE BEGIN WITH JESUS:

JESUS, OUR MODEL:

(35) "Jesus went about . . .Teaching, preaching, healing..." look at HIM!: [our Lord] who (1) went about meeting real people at the point of their needs; compassionate, caring, doing; and (2) did these things because of who he was, and because he spent much time alone in prayer and because he lived in constant fellowship with the Father.

Jesus SAW: (looked on the multitudes...) Jesus CARED: (He was MOVED with compassion...) Jesus WENT: He did what He was given to do.

And, in the face of this, what were His instructions to His disciples, and to us?

II. LISTEN TO JESUS:

Jesus said: "PRAY!" He didn't simply say: "GO!"—although that did come soon after. FIRST Jesus said: "PRAY!"

Prayer that is God-centered.

It is easy to be PROBLEM-centered, or SOLUTION-centered— which are just subtle ways of being SELF-centered. Even in serving the Lord WE want to exercise CONTROL!: "Pray ye the Lord of harvest . . ."

  1. Pray for the vision of Jesus.

    We can see the same things in different ways. But Jesus LOOKED. And Jesus LOVED! He looked with COMPASSION!

  2. Pray for the submission of Jesus.

    Just as we SEE things in different ways, we have different ideas of what the "solutions" will be. So we say to the Lord of harvest: YOU direct! We are to PRAY that HE will send laborers into the harvest fields!

  3. Pray for the "Mind of Jesus!"

    Pray with a willingness to be involved, or NOT to be involved in a particular way— but pray IN AVAILABILITY! God will show YOU some open door!

III. OUT OF PRAYER WILL COME THE MIGHTY FRUIT!:

THE PRAYER JESUS WANTS US TO PRAY WILL BE ANSWERED IN US!

  1. We will become ENABLERS! (Faith Promise-type giving!) WE CAN HAVE A PART IN THE OVERALL STRATEGY; we can take part in the BIG PICTURE; we are a necessary part; our GIVING reflects our corporate VISION of the lost! And these STRATEGIES do take hold! Teamwork all across a great network enable "us" to do far beyond what we would be able to do apart from this loyalty and faithfulness in giving: Seminary/ Faith Promise/ Alabaster/ Missionary Specials!
  2. We will become PARTNERS! (Joining hands with others in our local fellowship we will do together what we cannot do by ourselves.)

    WE CAN ALSO BE A PART OF LOCAL TACTICS; WE CAN BE TEAM MEMBERS—we can "own" and take part in the LOCAL picture! We may not—we WILL NOT—agree with everything that is officially done. But what makes CHRIST'S WORK go is the loyalty of those who pitch in and take part even when it isn't their "pet idea!" If we PRAY we will become PARTNERS!

  3. We will also become REAPERS, on an individual, personal level: Beyond great PLANS and even more important than local PROGRAMS, in and of themselves, is the LOVE OF CHRIST IN THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN'S HEART THAT MAKES HIM/HER GENUINELY CARE FOR PEOPLE!

    The "heart" or "spirit" of a denomination or a local church cannot rise above the level of the heart and spirit of its individual members! We cannot do Christ's work together unless we have Christ's Spirit within. But we CAN, we MAY!!

Conclusion:

How does this work, in practical terms? It begins in very simple, even subtle ways: it makes us SEE and CARE! And THAT makes all the difference!

Illus: Park Street Church in the 1950's.

Illus: When the 1982 Billy Graham campaign was on in Boston we had a leader's rally right here in Wollaston. I recall it was near-blizzard conditions— and I felt fortunate, if it had been good weather we would not have had overflow facilities to carry the sound to the basement. Cliff Barrows and Beverly Shea were here on this platform. Before the service I had the privilege of getting a bit acquainted. They were most gracious—I recall Beverly Shea speaking with Professor Babcock at some length about a mutual friend; and there were other pleasantries. But the thing that stands out in my mind was the genuine Christ-like concern of Cliff Barrows for his unsaved neighbors. That "talent" we see on TV—leading the great massed choirs—ALSO cares about one family that lives near his home, and is praying and seeking for ways to witness and to win them to the Lord. And it was BIG on his heart!

We begin and we continue and we end just where Jesus said: "PRAY YE!"

[We must be first of all pray-ers!] And God will give us His eyes, and His heart of love, and His spirit to go into the great harvest.