Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Matthew 9:37-38
Imagine you own an apple orchard. It’s harvest time and the trees are filled with fruit ready to be picked. There are dozens of people prepared and fully equipped with tools and machinery to attack the job. You look first at the trees loaded with fruit, then at the workers ready to start picking, and instead of putting them to work, you say: The harvest is ready! Ask God to send workers to go into the harvest field.
Jesus is speaking here to His disciples, who have traveled with Him, learned from Him, committed themselves to Him and are ready to do anything He asks of them. Yet He does not say: The harvest is plentiful, go out there and get to work. Instead, He says Ask the Lord of the harvest. . . to send workers into His harvest field.
We often think Jesus said this because more workers were needed to bring in the harvest, but I think we are missing the point. It is not about the number of workers, but how those workers get called into service. He does not want us to just run out into the field and start picking fruit. Jesus wants us first to stop and pray, to understand God’s calling in our lives. Then He can send us to the tasks He wants us to undertake. The success of the harvest does not depend on us acting and doing what we think we should be doing. It depends on God’s people first seeking Him, so that He can prepare them for service and send them into His field. We don’t just go to work in God’s harvest field, we must first pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send us.
I am sure it is no great secret that we are currently experiencing a shortage of pastoral leadership in our Armenian Evangelical churches. We have many churches with no full-time ministers and very few candidates being prepared for pastoral service. It was primarily because of this crisis that the position of AEUNA Field Pastor was created. One of my most important roles is to seek, train and support spiritual leadership for our churches. The goal is to inform people of the resources available through our union to support those called to pastoral ministry and provide them with solid educational and vocational training. The AEUNA also has a Lay Leadership Development Program to support those who could benefit from specified training or education to serve as ministry leaders in our churches.
In the face of the shortage of workers, however, it is tempting to just call on people to get to work. The harvest is plentiful, so get out there! But Jesus didn’t say get to work, He said get on your knees. The fact is that no one should enter the Lord’s harvest field, unless they have been sent by the Lord.
As I undertake this important work, I ask you all to pray with me! Let’s start this new year on our knees. The battle for our Armenian Evangelical churches will not be won by a flurry of activity but by a quiet devotion that seeks God in prayer. It will not be won by our good intentions, talents and resources but by our willingness to humble ourselves and ask God to win the battle for us. Pray with me please! Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send workers into His harvest field.
- Rev. Ron Tovmassian
AEUNA Field Pastor