Sent by the Lord of the Harvest

by Robert Mohns

And Jesus said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” – Luke 10:2-3

While the Northern Hemisphere busies itself for the seasonal change from spring to summer, there is something else that is happening, something not noteworthy to the world but of high importance to the Lord’s Church.

Spring is typically the season during which the church assigns pastoral and diaconal candidates to their first calls and placements. It is a season when men are ordained into the Office of Holy Ministry and deacons are commissioned into the various auxiliary offices of servanthood in the Church.

This is no small thing. The Lord of the Church commanded His Church to pray for Him to send out workers because the harvest is plentiful.

St. Paul reminds us that the Lord regards church work as a noble task worth aspiring to: “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” (1 Timothy 3:1). It is a noble calling because it is concerned with souls. In older times, pastors were called “caretaker of souls.” It is the highest reward of the pastor when a soul is brought from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. What more noble task can there be than this? 

Spring is typically the season during which the church assigns pastoral and diaconal candidates to their first calls and placements. It is a season when men are ordained into the Office of Holy Ministry and deacons are commissioned into the various auxiliary offices of servanthood in the Church.

The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. In this world there will be no shouts or cheers of “Pastor! Pastor!” or “Deacon! Deacon!” The tasks of preacher and deacon are often treated with disdain.

The Lord reminds us that an abundance of pastors or deacons is not an easy thing. Ever so quickly, the aspirations to serve as a pastor or deacon are quenched by the world and all its cares, by self-doubts, and the attacks of Satan, sin, and the weakness of the flesh. It is not human will, desire, fortitude, scheming, or cunning marketing that will supply workers for the kingdom.

It is the Lord who calls whom He desires to serve as His pastors and deacons. Therefore, He commands His church to pray that He would send out workers, trusting that because He has commanded, so He will do it. What I have come to appreciate about the Lord’s command to prayer is its enduring nature. This prayer is for new workers but also for those who continue to serve. It is for workers, pastors, and deacons who day after day get up and go to serve God’s people.

It seems no small miracle to me that there are and continue to be pastors and deacons serving the Church. The Lord was not kidding when He told the appointed seventy-two that He was sending them out as lambs in the midst of wolves, with nothing but His Word to accompany them. No earthly recruitment campaign would succeed if that were its pitch to potential workers. 

The Lord reminds us that an abundance of pastors or deacons is not an easy thing. Ever so quickly, the aspirations to serve as a pastor or deacon are quenched by the world and all its cares, by self-doubts, and the attacks of Satan, sin, and the weakness of the flesh. It is not human will, desire, fortitude, scheming, or cunning marketing that will supply workers for the kingdom.

As for all Christians, the life of a pastor or deacon is one lived under the cross, bearing the ills that are common to all humanity—for all humanity is under the curse of sin. There are the daily cares of seeking daily bread, raising families, dealing with illness and disease, conflict, and even the threat of war. And then there are constant struggles with self—the battle of sin within the heart and the weakness to resist. There is no Christian who has not experienced it. 

So long as the Spirit of God is present the battle rages. Do not think that a pastor or worker has no besetting sin, no weakness, and that they are not often thoroughly ashamed of the poor fight they have put up. Do not believe that a preacher or worker has no dark hours, no periods of gloom and even despondency, no horrible thoughts, or satanic suggestions. In fact, for preachers and church workers these temptations are often intensified. 

Preaching Christ brings with it a clear testimony against sin and the proclamation that Christ is the world’s only Saviour. The preacher knows that the greatest desire of a repentant sinner is forgiveness, and he also knows that nothing forgives but the blood of Christ. But such a message elicits fierce opposition. 

I think the saying is true that, “No pastor has so many friends and no man has so many enemies as the pastor. No man is loved more than he and no man is hated worse.” Many pastors and deacons have found themselves on their knees, earnestly praying, “O God, why have you sent me?” It is no small thing that the Church has pastors and deacons and that they continue to faithfully serve. 

St. Paul certainly knew struggles in his calling. While in prison and expecting that his earthly life was coming to an end, he cast a sweeping look backward, writing, “I have fought the good fight of faith, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). But turning toward the future, he sees the crown, writing, “Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day” (4:8). This is the hope that carried him forward.

The crown was always the symbol of victory and honour. It was sign of distinguished service, and no price was too great to give in exchange for it. For Paul, it was enough. It is what picks pastors and workers up from their knees to serve another day.

It is the Lord of the Church who sends labourers out. He puts men into the preaching office, He supplies workers to serve in the auxiliary offices. He is the one who supplies them with the one thing necessary to fulfill their calling: His Word. Happy is the worker whose heart has been cleansed by the Word and to whose soul it has become the highest treasure. God grant us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out His labourers.

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Rev. Robert Mohns is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)’s West Regional Pastor.

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