St Matthew, Chapter 9, verse: 37, The Apprenticeship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mission of the Apostles) Part 3.  

37 Then he said to his disciples , "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few."  

Christ is traveling throughout the district teaching and preaching.  He watches the crowds that gather to hear him.  As he looks out over the crowds his heart is moved with deep feelings of sympathy and sorrow for the people.  He sees their pain.  He see their sorrow.  He sees the hurt in their hearts.  He knows their confusion.  They have heard great things about Jesus.  They have heard the miracles that he has performed.  They have a glimmer of hope in their hearts.  They have drowned visions of a better future for their lives.  They toil and sweat and labor without gain.  They are confused, puzzled, and perplexed, not knowing which way to turn or which direction to take.  

Christ comes and speaks to them about the gospel of the kingdom.  He tells them about the good news.  He offers a better way of life.  But the people are without spirit.  He knows the lessons that they were taught before.  He knows the confusion that they face having followed the teachings of the Pharisees.  He teaches something different.  He teaches something new.  He teaches love.  He teaches peace.  He teaches life.  And the people are dejected and puzzled.  They need a leader to lead them.  They need a good shepherd.

The disciples are their by his side, as Christ instructs the people and teaches the disciples to become leaders, good shepherds.  He teaches the people to love.  He teaches the disciples to love one another.  He teaches the people peace.  He teaches the disciples how to be at peace.  He teaches the people forgiveness.  He teaches the disciples how to forgive.  He teaches the people faith.  He teaches the disciples the power of faith.  He teaches all the things that they will need to know to begin this new life that they will embark upon after he has departed.  He shows the disciples how to live, how to have life, how to love, how to have peace, how to have faith in him.

Christ looks out amongst the crowd and sees the need.  He sees the need for leadership.  He sees the need for shepherds.  He sees the harvest of people waiting to be instructed in the ways of the Lord.  But there are few laborers.  Christ says, "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few."   Few have followed in his footsteps.  Few have passed the test.  Few have qualified.  Few are ready to work.  Christ is hiring but the candidates are few. 

The Spirit calls today for laborers.  The harvest is great even today, but the workers are few.  All the workers are out chasing the pleasures of the world.  All the workers are out seeking the wages of sin in the world of the sinners.  They are blinded.  They are deaf.  They are misled.  They travel the wide path of destruction not knowing the road they travel.  Christ is hiring today.  Are you ready?  If you were called to follow Christ, to be a shepherd, would you take up the staff and lead? 

St Matthew, Chapter 9, verse: 36, The Apprenticeship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mission of the Apostles) Part 2.  

Christ is traveling throughout the villages and towns, preaching the gospel of the kingdom.  The disciples are in their apprenticeship, learning first hand how Christ preaches and teaches.  They  are able to take in his every word, his every deed, all the small details that are not written by St Matthew in this gospel.  They are the next generation who must come after the work of Christ is finished on earth.

Everywhere Christ goes he draws a crowd.  The people have heard of his miracles and as soon as the word comes that he is in their village, or their town, a crowd gathers.  They are waiting to see him they are waiting to be near him.  They are waiting to hear his words, to touch him, to be healed.  They have no one else to lead them.  No one else to guide them.  No one else to teach them.  They are like lost sheep, wondering in the wilderness.  Christ sees the crowds gathered to see him.  He is moved with compassion for them because he sees that they are bewildered and dejected like sheep without a shepherd.

Christ has come to lead.  He has come to show the way.  He has come to lift the hearts of the people, to give them hope.  For their current situation is hopeless.  They are downtrodden.  They are dejected.  They are lost.  They are in need of direction and Christ is the way, the truth, and the light.  This was the message to his disciples, to his apprentices.  See the masses of people.  See the hearts of those who have no hope.  See the crowds that gather that are dejected.  See the great need for leadership.  See your mission.

Today as in times past, we live in a world that is cold, a world that is without care and without compassion.  We are filled with ideas of happiness and joy and love through our media outlets.  We come to believe that if we have the right job, the right car, the right clothes, the right amount of money in the bank, then we will be alright.  We reach those goals, live a life of party, enjoy our pleasures, and come to find that there is something missing in our lives.  We want more so that we can do more.  We want more money.  We want more clothes.  We want more cars.  We want more women or men in our lives.  We want more fame.  We want more honor.  We want more, and more and more.  Yet the desire for more only leads us down the road of destruction.  Some are able to continue others burn out along the way.  And then comes the dejection, the heartache, the pain, the suffering, the longing, and the depression.  The field is then ripe for the planting of evil in our hearts.

Christ came to uplift.  Christ came to give life.  Christ came to shed light in the darkness.  Christ came to give hope.  We do not have to live on the merry-go-round of life's ups and downs.  We can get off and live a life with Christ.  We can have hope.  We can have joy.  We can have peace.  We can have everlasting life.  Christ saw the needs of the people and he came to satisfy that need.   He came to heal.  He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.   If you are dejected and bewildered, will you allow the compassion of Christ to lift you up?

St Matthew, Chapter 9, verse: 35, The Apprenticeship.

Our paragraph topic is: (The mission of the Apostles) Part 1.  

Christ leaves the area and travels throughout the towns and villages teaching and preaching.  He preaches in the villages.  He teaches in the synagogues.  He teaches in the market places.  He teaches in the fields.  He teaches the good news of the kingdom of heaven.  And all the people where he preaches bring to him the infirmed.  They bring to him the lame.  They bring to him the sick.  They bring to him the cripple.  And he cures them all.   

The disciples walk with Christ.  They are at his side.  They hear the gospel of the good news.  They learn the messages of the preachings.  They explain to others the meanings of the lessons.  They are Christ's helpers.  They are his apprentices.  Did they know what they were in training for?  Did they understand the reason that they were there?  Did they accept their role in the the spread of the kingdom of heaven?  This was their apprenticeship.  This was their training period.  This was their time to practice the teachings that they heard Christ preaching to the people.  This was their time to learn from him the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom.  For the time would come when the master would no longer be among them.  The time would come when they would be tested.  The time would come for them to stand or fall upon what was being given to them by Christ.  This was their apprenticeship.

Christ calls today to those who hear his voice.  Christ calls for workers.  Christ calls for preachers, teachers, laborers, lawyers, doctors, moms and dads, children, and lay people,  administrators, and presidents, ceo's and secretaries, garbage workers and sanitation workers,  assemblymen and street walkers, pimps, and hustlers, murderers and thieves, and all the children of God who seek forgiveness and a new way of life.  He washes anew.  He cleanses the body and the soul and gives a new heart.   He wants testimonies.  He wants soldiers.  He wants believers.  He wants souls filled with his light to carry that light throughout the world so that all may see his goodness.

Come my brothers and sisters.  Let us seek the Lord.  Let us open our hearts to the Holy Spirit that he may teach us the ways of the Lord.  Let us become new creatures in Christ and live by the precepts that he has given us.