Sunday, June 14, 2026, Third Sunday after Pentecost
“Who Will Go and Work Today?”
Scripture Readings: Psalm 100; Exodus 19:1-8; Romans 5:6-15; Matthew 9:35-10:8
Service Order: Divine Service III, without Communion, Lutheran Service Book
Hymns: “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Crying” #826; “Your Kingdom, O God, Is My Glorious Treasure” #654; “How Shall They Hear Who Have Not Heard” #831; “Sing to the Lord of Harvest” #893
Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
When Jesus calls for laborers in God’s harvest fields, to whom is He calling? When the Lord calls, oh, I can look around to the right and to the left, to see whom He might be pointing to - but as it turns out, He’s pointing at me! “There he is, Lord -- send him!” isn’t exactly how the Scripture passage or the old hymn goes. Whatever harvest field you may find yourself in this world, who’s going to answer the call, if it isn’t you?
We read in Matthew’s Gospel: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” Now some argue (and believe it or not, the theologians and church people do argue about such things) that the Church is here on earth to preach and teach the Word, and everything else we may do is secondary to that. Others, though, say we’re here to feed the hungry and help the sick and meet people’s bodily and physical needs, and that should come first over everything else. Jesus, as we can see here, clearly cared about both. For Him, it wasn’t one or the other, but both at the same time.
So, says our Gospel, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like shepherdless sheep.” This is one of those places in Scripture where a little Greek comes in handy, because the English translation just doesn’t quite get there. The word for “harassed” is skullo, which means not just harassed or troubled, but mangled or flayed. The people were literally being skinned alive, so to speak, by the rulers, governments, and powers-that-be in the world they had to live in.
And the word for “helpless” is pipto, a word that means cast out, scattered, dispersed, or thrown away; the poor people Jesus saw were being “trampled underfoot” as they did their best just to feed themselves and stay alive. Just from looking around, it doesn’t seem like the world hasn’t changed a whole lot.
And the word for “compassion” is splach, which is a word that means just like it sounds; it means intestines or guts or bowels – splach! Jesus’ compassion, His feeling for those harassed and helpless people, came from deep down inside Himself. (We would say, “His heart went out to them,” which sounds better than “His bowels went out to them,” but you get the idea).
Shepherdless sheep that they were, those people had so many troubles and worries and sorrows, and so little hope to find any hope. (And again, the world around us is still what it is). So Jesus, looking out with mercy and compassion on it all, said to His disciples (and there were only twelve of them at the time), "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
I have to talk for a minute about the biblical concept of “harvest.” We know well enough what an earthly harvest is; you farmers and gardeners know how this works. You till the ground in the spring and plant your seed, and you fertilize, water, weed, and worry; and then if God is good and the weather cooperates, you’ll reap the fruits of your labor when the time is right -- corn or wheat or tomatoes or beans. In biblical terms, Jesus used growing and farming metaphors because He walked in a world full of farmers and gardeners whose lives depended on those precious harvest fruits.
Scripturally, the harvest our Lord is talking about is a harvest of souls. The soil, the good earth, is the hearts of people. The seed is the seed of faith, planted in people by the Word of God (faith comes by hearing!) and by blessed baptismal water. And if everything works the way we hope and pray it will, that planted seed will grow into the saving faith that brings a sinner home to God.
So who are the workmen in Jesus’ story, and what do they do? Don’t look to the right or to the left; the workmen is us! The workmen are the seed planters, the Gospel sharers, the people who put the Good News they’ve heard and know and come to believe into other people’s ears. So why is there a shortage of workmen? Why are the workers so few? Is the problem a labor shortage, that there are just no workmen to be had? Or is it that there are so many of us who are unwilling to answer God’s call and do the work?
“Open your eyes and look at the fields,” Jesus says. Take a look at what’s going on around you. Where’s the from-the-heart, from-the-gut compassion for all the people who are living without knowing Christ, and living without hope? So Jesus says to His disciples, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." That is a dangerous prayer! What if the answer is YOU? Where is the harvest field, folks? The truth is, you’re standing in it!
So, “Jesus called his twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Who were these men who were given such authority? Were they princes? Noblemen? Intellectual giants? PhD’s? Geniuses? Men of exceptional talents and skills? No, they were fishermen. A tax collector named Matthew. Simon the Zealot, a political rebel. And Judas Iscariot.
Ah, Judas; the poor brother. He could have had everything. He’d been given the same gifts as the rest of them; the same calling, the same blessing, the same ability to be a blessing to others. And he sold it all for a mess of pottage. He could have been there in the room on Easter evening, receiving forgiveness for his sin, the blessing of peace, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He could have been reconciled to God, and had his life saved by the life of Christ. He could have walked away rejoicing, like the rest of them did, or confessed along with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” He chose to check out instead; which is so very sad, because it didn’t have to be. It’s not like Jesus wouldn’t have been crucified anyway, if Judas hadn’t done what he did. The Pharisees and Sadducees would have found a way to kill Jesus regardless, without Judas’ help. What Judas gave up was his personal place in the redemption story; the only soul he sold was his own.
Jesus, in our Gospel, paired His disciples off, and sent them out two by two: Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholemew, Thomas and Matthew; James son of Aphaeus (called James the Younger to distinguish him from the other James), and Thaddeus (also known as Nathanael). And Simon the Zealot… and Judas.
It seems rather premature on Jesus’ part, to send them out that way. They were only disciples, after all, interns and trainees; what qualified them to do this? It was Jesus Himself who gave them the authority and power to do these things. There wasn’t any special giftedness on their part. There was only the gift of God working in them and through them -- the God who does extraordinary things through ordinary people. (There goes any excuse we might have that we somehow don’t qualify).
Jesus, says our Gospel, sent out the twelve with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” It was a limited mission Jesus gave them to begin with, just a chance for them to stick a toe in the water and get their feet wet. (The rest of the world would come later!) For now, their mission was to “the lost sheep of Israel” -- their countrymen, their neighbors, people with whom they had a common culture and a familiar language. (No speaking in other tongues yet; that would come later, too). These were their neighbors, their relatives, their families and co-workers; other fishermen, fellow tax-collectors, fellow worshipers in their home synagogue. (Maybe even a fellow Zealots!)
“As you go, preach this message,” Jesus said: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'“ The message then was the same as it is now; it hasn’t changed at all. “The kingdom of heaven is near, close to you, accessible, available, and not hard to find.” “He isn’t far from each one of us,” St. Paul says. This is a warning on one hand, a word of law, about getting your heart ready and changing your ways, and about how God isn’t a God we can hide from. But “the kingdom of heaven in near” is Good News, too – Good News about a God who really loves you and wants to draw near to you to, give you comfort and hope and peace.
Jesus tells these still-wet-behind-the-ears disciples of His; “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” The preaching ministry, the grace to put the Good News about Jesus into people’s ears, isn’t just for pastors and preachers; it’s for everyone who’s heard and believed the Good News, and whose life had been changed by it. “The priesthood of all believers,” St. Peter call us.
Along with Good News to tell – which we can’t help from telling for the joy of it all -
comes the blessed opportunity to do works of compassion and mercy, which the world will present us with every day, just as we’re out and walking around. First Christ in a Word, and then Christ in an action (or is it Christ in an action, then Christ in a Word?), as our hands and feet become Christ’s hands and feet. It’s His power working in us and through us -- to bring forgiveness to those sick with sin; to bring life to those whose hearts are hopeless and dead; to cleanse the leprosy of guilt from people’s souls; to drive out those demons and ghosts of our childhoods that keep us from having real peace.
This is the “overflowing gift” St. Paul writes to us about, the gift that’s been poured into us, now flowing through us into the ears and hearts of people we know and people we meet, harassed and lost and hopeless as they may be when we find them.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us; and now we have good news to tell: Christ died for you, too! Who will go and work today? Whom shall I call? And who will go for us? Here I am, Lord! Send me! Send me! In Jesus’ name; Amen.
Rev. Larry Sheppard, M.Div.
Trinity Lutheran Church, LCMS, Packwaukee, WI
St. John’s Lutheran Church, LCMS, Oxford, WI
pastorshepp@gmail.com