2026 Pentecost Devotions I
Friday, June 12
Matthew 9:35—10:4
35 Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
“… “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” …”
We live in the midst of a farming area. All around Tiffin there are fields of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and other grains. However, about five miles north of town there is also what we used to call a “truck farm”. Here they grow green beans, tomatoes, green peppers, and other vegetable produce. Those fields are not planted and harvested by machinery but by human workers – planters and harvesters.
During the summer and early fall, driving by one can see large groups of primarily migrant workers harvesting the crops. I often wonder if, especially in today’s anti-immigrant society, there are enough workers to accomplish the harvest. As Jesus points out, in a very literal way for those farms, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Obviously, Jesus’ reference isn’t about picking vegetables. It’s about proclaiming the kingdom. After all, that’s his work, and the work to which he called the Twelve. It’s the same work to which we are called. If the field is the world, ripe with desire to hear and receive the gift of God’s love, then we are the modern day apostles sent into the harvest. We come, not with sharp sheers and wicker baskets, but with the love of God, the presence of the Spirit, and the hope all have in Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you recognize that the fields of the world are ripe to hear and receive Your Word. Send me forth this day that I may share the Good News of love, hope, joy, and peace that You offer. Amen.