July 23, 2017

White unto Harvest

John 4: 35 – 39

Harvest is an interesting time. There is a relatively small window of time when one can successfully harvest a crop. If one harvests too soon, the crop is wasted for lack of being ripe. Harvest too late and the crop rots. When I was 13 years old I planted a small field with popcorn. I had success the previous year producing great tasting popcorn out of a small garden. So the next year I planted a half acre of it. When I thought it was time to harvest I was told to wait because it wasn’t dry enough yet. Finally I hand-picked and shelled all of that popcorn. I cleaned some and took it to be popped. We heated it up with oil in the pan but all it was doing was burning. We tried another batch at a lower setting with the same result. The popcorn was too dry. Popcorn needs moisture in the kernel in order to pop. I had harvested too late and all the work in planting, weeding and harvesting was wasted. Jesus is telling his disciples (and us) that now is the time to harvest, not tomorrow, next week or next month. The window of harvest for some souls may be closing. Are we willing and able to harvest souls that are ready? Or, will we look for someone else to do it. This is why Jesus tells his disciples (and us) in Matthew 9: 37-38 to pray that God send more workers into the harvest because it is overwhelming for too few workers. We need to ask ourselves, ‘Am I engaged in harvesting souls’? and, ‘Do I see that the harvest is ready’? Only about 10% of Rochester knows Jesus. That leaves 90% as harvestable and some of that is ready right now.