An Honest Portrayal of the Harvest Field, Part 1

They and you are divinely appointed for that place where you are today, and that place has been divinely appointed for you. You might be today in a hospital bed or a boardroom.

You might be at a kitchen sink or you might be in front of students. This is the life appointed to us by God at this moment, and we'll understand a little better that life is not just an accident, it is an appointment. Today Stephen continues his series called Into the Spotlight, and we're in Luke 10. After years of teaching and equipping, Jesus prepared some of his most faithful disciples to go out and preach the Gospel in towns across Israel. They proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and performed miracles in his name. But Jesus didn't send them without a realistic expectation, a clear focus, and specific instructions for them to complete their mission. He offers the same principles and promises to us as we embark on the mission fields around us today.

This message is called Principles and Promises. Near the end of World War II, a plane carrying twenty-four members of the U.S. military crashed into the dense New Guinea jungle. Only three survived and they were badly hurt, soon suffering from gangrene and starvation, stranded deep in this jungle valley known for cannibal tribes who lived there. A daring rescue attempt was going to need to be made, which did succeed. The army attacked a special battalion of sixty-six men trained as a parachute unit. Their battalion leader was told to recruit ten volunteers from this battalion, including two medics. They would parachute into that dense jungle and guide the survivors out. It was a dangerous assignment. When their lieutenant colonel stood before these men and told them what had happened, he informed them he needed ten volunteers to step forward and form a rescue squad.

He then gave them a very honest portrayal of their mission. First, he said, the area they'd be jumping into was marked unknown on the maps. It was unchartered territory. Secondly, he told them that the jungle was so thick, it was the worst drop location, drop zone possible. They might not get past the trees. Third, if they survived the jump, the tribes that would surround them would prove hostile and want to kill them.

When he finished, he paused and then asked for prayers. All sixty-six men stepped forward. But how's that for a recruiting strategy? It's going to be difficult. You probably won't survive. People want to eat you.

Who wants to sign up? The truth is, the mission, though different, in many respects is the same for those who will serve the Lord around the world. Life will be difficult. It's unchartered territory. There won't be much rest along the way.

The natives will prove hostile to your message. But there are people in the valley dying who will rescue them. This happens to be the training manual for 72 men who've just been appointed to essentially risk their lives. But before they take off for the jungle, Jesus is going to give them, and really to us, an honest portrayal of the mission. If you take your Bibles and turn now to Luke chapter 10, you'll find the training manual. In fact, the Lord's training session of these 72 men will take nearly half this chapter, chapter 10, as we work our way through the Gospel of Luke. And now I want to tell you, rather frankly, as you're turning, that the church needs to begin recruiting people along these lines. The church needs to start communicating the reality of the mission, an honest portrayal of what they'll face, what it means to live and serve in the valley of death. This is unchartered territory. The drop zone where God has placed you might be dangerous. It will be difficult. The villagers you will encounter may prove hostile to your message, in fact, to your presence. But what the Lord has to say in these next 20 verses is really packed for truth, not just back then, but for today.

This is an honest portrayal of the harvest field. Now there's too much in these 20 verses to cover in one sermon. If you're wondering how many it will take, I can promise you it will be less than 100.

Actually, I'm going to do it in two sermons. Now verse 1, after this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And you might wonder, where did they come from?

I know I have. Well, who are they? Well, we don't know. One author suggested, Yvor Powell in his commentary, that among this number no doubt were men who had been healed, lame men, blind men, paralyzed men, lepers, men who had nowhere to go after they'd been healed. Primarily, they would have been unwanted because they would have been healed by a man who was now hated by the religious leaders.

So they would have remained for the most part outcast. Jesus is not being followed by celebrities but by servants, volunteers who are willing to lay down their lives for their commander-in-chief. You'll notice here in verse 1 that the Lord is sending them out two by two.

This not only provided encouragement for each other, but it also fulfilled the Old Testament's requirement of two witnesses to provide a valid testimony. The timeless principle that I want to draw from this verse, even though we've hinted at some, there are many, but it's found in this word appointed. The Lord, notice, appointed 72 others. And here's the principle, God has appointed you for a place and the place has been appointed for you. He writes, after this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead.

Now, the word appointed refers to someone being appointed to an office and being revealed as the appointed one, going public in their office. This is really loaded with implication. The Lord isn't just, you know, moving lives around haphazardly.

He isn't throwing them to the wind. I think I'll send you there and you there and you there. I don't know, maybe you go there. Now, they're part of his divine plan and everywhere they will go and every place they canvas is according to his divine appointment. They and you are divinely appointed for that place where you are today and that place has been divinely appointed for you.

It's true today. You're not just moving into some incidental neighborhood or workspace. You're not just getting out of bed in the morning and heading off to some random school or job or random place. You're not even buying groceries at a random store. You might be today in a hospital bed or a boardroom.

You might be at a kitchen sink or you might be in front of students. You have been divinely appointed by God for this moment at that place which is then making everything this divine appointment in life. There's another principle that emerges here. It's this. There's always more to do than you can accomplish. Verse 2, very well-known verse where Jesus says, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are what?

Few. It's a nice way of saying, fellas, you're not going to be able to finish the job all by yourselves. It's bigger than you are. In fact, it's bigger than you even know it is.

It's global. Right now, you might think it's a little village but it's going to reach around the world. There's more to do than you can accomplish.

The potential will always be greater than the participants. You might not be able to go anywhere or give all that much but this is for all of us. We can all pray. It happens to be priority number one. Pray to the Lord of the harvest which means what? That he's in charge of the harvest. He determines the timing of the harvest. He determines how big the harvest is going to be. He determines who's going to be sent there. He's going to be the one who sends them and then he's going to determine how much fruit will come from them. He does that which means nobody needs to stay awake at night worrying whether their efforts are going to be successful or not.

That's freeing. We obey him and the responsibility rests with him. He's the Lord over the global harvest field. We just get the privilege of being divinely appointed to it wherever it might be and even when we from time to time get out of breath. See, in this training session before these 72 men hit the road, Jesus gives them an honest portrayal of the harvest field.

Here's another principle from the training manual. Number three, obedience to Christ will not automatically make your life comfortable. He says here in verse 3, go your way, behold I'm sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Wait, stop. What?

Lord, repeat that last line there. Little lambs can't run very fast. They don't stand a chance. Let me tell you what little lambs are. Little lambs are dead meat, literally. Jesus is warning these men of severe opposition, even persecution.

Signing up might be signing their death warrant. Lambs don't last very long in the midst of wolves. But I want you to know that the most important words Jesus wants them to hear are not necessarily the words lambs and wolves, although I'm sure they heard those words. The most important words are these four words, I am sending you as lambs among wolves. I am sending you. That's another way of saying, I'm going to make sure you're not alone.

I'm going to be with you. See, their defenselessness will be a daily reminder of their dependence on the one sending them. If they live or die, it will be by his appointment and only by his permission because he sent them. May I remind you that Jesus will eventually go before them and show them what it means to be a lamb. Jesus is giving these men an honest look at what it means to live for them.

Obedience to Christ will not automatically make their lives comfortable. To this day, that opposition in whatever country you might live in, in our country, it might just mean getting into trouble, minding your own business, doing a good job. It might mean you're going to get into trouble because people know you're a Christian or you're one of those. It might mean that you're going to get into trouble because you won't follow the crowd. Who do you think you are?

Better than us. It might mean you get into trouble and you're just trying to help people. Who asked you? It reminded me of a pastor who tried to be helpful. I was sent this humorous news clip just a couple of days ago from someone in our church family.

The news item has the title, Just Trying to Help. The pastor was walking down the street. He noticed a small boy trying as hard as he could, standing on his tiptoes, to reach the doorbell there in a house across the street. The pastor walked over, placed his hand kindly on the boy's shoulder, leaned over and gave the doorbell a solid ring. He looked down and smiled and said, Now what, little man?

And the boy responded, Now we run. There's another principle is you keep an honest view of ministry. Number four, the Lord is just as interested in developing your walk as he is in you delivering the Word. Notice the traveling instructions here in verse 4. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. There's this element of urgency. And then this dependency here is very clear.

Notice again the specifics. Don't carry your money bag. That's your wallet, your knapsack, no carry-on, not even an extra pair of sandals, more than likely is what he means, packed away. Now, this is not about, you know, not having enough time to pack. This isn't about trying to look poor and needy. This isn't, you know, in fact, just about delivering the gospel. This is about developing disciples. This is a developmental field trip where they're going to learn to trust Christ for everything.

They're not packing a toothbrush, you know, a razor. They got no money for a room along the way, which means that every meal is going to have to be an answer from God. Every cot they might be given to sleep on at night is going to be a miracle of God's providence, everything. They are to develop this sense of what Hudson Taylor I've referred to, and I'll refer to him again today, but he called this God consciousness, this sense that this conscious awareness that God is consciously aware of Him, of you. In fact, this man who is my favorite missionary statesman, I was reading again from his biography, two volumes worth reading. He served Christ in China for 50 years. On one occasion, he was visiting the states, and he was expected to be in New York to preach. He was taken to the train station by a local pastor who planned to surprise Hudson with the train ticket that he had purchased for him the day before. Once they arrived at the train station, he, you know, casually asked Hudson if he'd purchased his ticket yet, only to find out that Hudson didn't have any money to purchase the ticket. With that, the pastor produced his ticket and gave it to Hudson, but said, look, if I had not purchased this ticket yesterday, you wouldn't have made it to New York to your appointment, but you still came to the train station.

It's amazing faith on your part. How did you know what would happen? Hudson said, I did not know, but my father knew. My father knew. You see, when you're serving the Lord, it's easy to become more interested in what God is doing through you than what God is doing for you and miss what He does.

Those moments when you have to say, wow, my father knew. For these men, something of what God was going to do indeed involved a place to stay. Verse 5, notice there, says, whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house.

The word peace, se rene, reflects the Hebrew counterpart, shalom. It's really more like a benediction and a greeting. You're saying to that household, may God grant you peace. Verse 6, if a son of peace is there, that is if they're agreeing with you, believing the message, your peace will rest upon them. But if not, a return to you is going to kind of sort of bounce off and back to you. You don't know how they're going to respond.

Some will believe, some will not. But here's this next principle I want to draw out of this text. It's this, don't forget that people you encounter are to be served, not used. Notice verse 7, remain in that house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Now, it doesn't seem like these disciples are going to remain in one village for very long. And that's probably wise. I mean, for one thing, they could easily wear out their welcome, if they stayed too long.

This principle also, of course, helped the disciples avoid another problem, which would be that villagers might begin to compete for their attention. After all, they're going to be healing. They're going to be performing miracles.

This is going to be stunning. This is going to put that house on the map, so to speak. Then again, other people might feel like, well, they weren't good enough. The disciples never stayed with them. Their home wasn't good enough. So you can see how this principle avoided so many problems. The wisdom of God was obvious here. Stay in that first house that offers you hospitality. Make it your house of your base of operation. And let me give you another principle that follows.

Number 6, expect your personal comfort zone to be stretched beyond what you expected in ways you didn't expect. Look at verse 8, wherever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Man, this is a tough verse to obey.

I mean, this defines persecution in a whole new way, doesn't it? Eat what is set before you. I mentioned some time ago that little poem our missionary mother taught us for boys as we traveled to the homes of our supporters. This verse must have been where she got that from. I mean, it's right out of the training manual. Where He leads me, I will follow.

What He feeds me, I will swallow. That's pretty good. That works on the mission field.

That will work around your dining room table with your kids, your grandkids. You ought to learn it. Say it with me. Where He leads me, I will follow.

What He feeds me, I will swallow. Yeah, you sound really excited about that. I can imagine you'll remember this.

Here's the point. There are a lot of people who think that serving the Lord is going to be just an extension of the life that they know as they know it. You get to do what you want, enjoy what you want, eat what you want, relax when you want. No.

Expect to have your comfort zone stretched to new limits. I do need to add some New Testament scholars believe that the text implies the eating of non-kosher food. It could be. It would be interesting. This precedes Acts chapter 10.

We don't know. But by the time you reach Acts chapter 10, Gentiles and Jews are all eating from the same menu. One more principle I want to highlight, principle number seven, make sure you reflect any praise and glory back to God. Verse 9, heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. It uses the perfect tense.

This is a lasting effect. This is, in other words, miracles that indicate the king is near. The fullness of the kingdom is still future.

Isaiah the prophet declared that the healing of the sick would be a sign of the dawning of the kingdom age. It's near. It's not here yet. It's been 2,000 years it's not here yet. But it's really much nearer than it has ever been.

It's near. You can just imagine, can't you, the excitement in these villages over these disciples? They're miracle workers. By the time the Lord ascends or right before he gives us our commission and it isn't to perform miracles, but simply to proclaim the message, make disciples, teach them, immerse them in water. But for them, this is the authentication that they are from God.

Let me prove it. That lame man's going to walk, that blind woman's going to see. So you can imagine the villages that would receive this.

I mean, think of all that's happening, the paralyzed are up and walking, the lame running, the blind seeing. The village leaders are going to want to meet them. People are going to want to honor them, thank them, invitations are going to pour in. Notice carefully, they are saying this while they are healing, the kingdom is near.

In other words, this is not about us. This is not even about the miracle. This is about the fact that the king is near. This is the power of the king. This is a foretaste of his kingdom. It's all about the king. Yeah, I might have been the one that parachuted in, but it's all about the king.

So you deflect all the accolades and you reflect it back to your king. Stephen called this message, An Honest Portrayal of the Harvest Field, Part One, Principles and Promises. We'll bring you part two on our next broadcast. Stephen is the pastor of the Shepherd's Church in Cary, North Carolina. You can learn more about us if you visit our website which is wisdomonline.org. You'll have free access to the complete library of Stephen's Bible teaching ministry. Stephen has been teaching the Bible for over 36 years.

In that time, he's preached hundreds of sermons. All of those are posted to our website. You'll find that collection of sermons organized by Book of the Bible. If there's a particular book that you want to study and if Stephen has preached through it, you can listen or read each message. All of that content is available to you free and on demand. You can access it anytime at wisdomonline.org. Join us next time for part two of this message right back here on Wisdom for the Heart. You