When the Lord Says, ‘Go!’ …

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost                                                                       July 28, 2019
Text: Luke 10:1-12, 16-20                          ILCW-C                                              19:2143
Theme: When the Lord Says, ‘Go!’ …

There once was a man, a farmer, who had two sons. One day he came to the first son and asked, “Son, will you go and work in my fields today?” The older son replied, “Sure, father, I will go and work in your fields.” But he had no intension of going. When his father left, he did not go to work in the fields.
The father then approached the second son and asked him to do the same: “Son, will you go and work in my fields today?” The younger son replied, “No, I am not going to go and work in your field.” He refused to go – at first. Soon the younger son thought better of what he had said. He thought about all the things the father had done for him and he regretted his response. He went to the fields and worked the whole day for his father.
Now, which of the two did the father’s will – the first son who said he would go but did not go, or the second son who refused, then thought better of it and went. Surely it was the second son who did what his father asked, even though at first he refused.
Jesus told this story about those whom He wants to count among His people. Which one would you say you are? Are you like the first son who said he would go, but did not? Or are you like the second son, who at first refused, but considered all his father had done for him and finally went? When the Lord Tells You: “Go for Me…” how do you respond? You will respond willingly if you see what God sees in our world. So, what is it that God sees?

I. Go with God’s vision in your eyes.
God sees souls everywhere, souls that He would like to have in heaven with Him. But, sadly, not all of them will get there. Some will not get there because they never heard about the Savior. Others will not get there because they refused to believe in Him. But that never stops God from wanting all of them. In His view all are “ripe” for hearing and coming to Him. That’s His “harvest field.”
Right now it’s summer time and all across our nation fields are being worked in anticipation of the upcoming harvest of crops. I hope that with all the rain we’ve had this year the crops will do well. In a few months, they will be ready for the picking.
When that time comes, the farmers will begin working against the
clock to get everything in before winter arrives. What a tragedy if they can’t get the crops ready for harvest. That could happen if they don’t have anybody to help them do the work in a timely way.
This is the picture our Savior uses here of the countless souls that are out there to be harvested by the Gospel. This is in God’s vision when He looks at the world – not plants, but people’s souls. “The harvest is plentiful,” He says, “but the workers are few.” Jesus saw it. So, what did He do? Jesus got 72 other followers of His, besides the 12 apostles, and sent them out to try and get people ready for eternity.
These 72 weren’t the 12 apostles. These were others of those who followed Him. The 12 couldn’t do it all because God’s vision saw so many people out there who needed to know about the Savior. So, He sent out others who believed in Him.
Think of those “others,” dear friends, as you. Not apostles, not prophets, not ordained pastors and teachers and missionaries, but you. Many workers are needed to bring the Gospel to others because God sees so many souls out there, souls that are dying in their sin because they don’t know and believe that Jesus paid for them all at the cross and at the empty tomb. Are 12 apostles going to be enough to tell them all? Are 72 going to be enough? Are all of today’s faithful pastors and missionaries going to be enough to tell everyone in our world?
I once read that the ratio of missionaries to unbelievers was estimated to be 1 to 8,000. I’m not sure that ratio is close enough to what the numbers really are. I would assume the ratio is much higher. Truly, the harvest is ripe, but there are too few workers to bring it in. God sees that we need more. Each of us needs to have God’s vision. Also, realize that He tells every Christian, Go! Without telling that potential harvest of souls out there about the Savior, many will perish. So, when the Lord tells you: “Go!”, go with God’s vision in your eyes. Then…

II. …go with a prayer on your lips.
Actually, prayer is the first step. Prayer is crucial. Jesus told His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.”
The word Jesus used for our English word “ask” is a little stronger than that. The Greek word has the connotation of begging, imploring because there’s such a great need. It’s even used in the sense of an exclamation: “Please!” “Lord, I beg you. Please, send out workers in your name!”
Think of it, dear friends. When was the last time you begged the Lord to do something and pleaded, “Please, Lord!” When did you get down on your knees and over and over besought Him diligently? I don’t mean that you implored Him for something for yourself or that a family member or friend be healed. That’s not the context here. But how often have you begged that He would send out more missionaries, more pastors, more teachers? “Oh, God, please, please send more people to teach others about the Lord Jesus as their Savior!” Do you ever pray that way? I often lack that intensity. But it’s what He wants.
And it’s something so simple, something we all can do. In doing it, we are taking Jesus’ first step when He says ‘Go’ into the world with the great news of the Gospel.
You know, it can be so easy for us to pass off prayer as an important, yet not a vital element in winning souls for Christ. We know that you can’t pray a person into heaven. The blessings of salvation don’t come to a person because I prayed him there. They come because that person believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior from sin. Faith puts a person there. My prayer can’t put him there; faith in Jesus does. Such “faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
One cannot believe without being connected to the Word. And unless more people are sent, many will not hear it. That’s the reason Jesus tells us, “Go with a prayer on your lips. Beg God to send out people who will tell others about the Lord Jesus so that they can hear, believe, and be saved. Unless someone tells them the Gospel, they won’t have what is necessary to believe.”
Each of us can do that. We can pray, we can plead, we can beg God to send out workers. And the neat thing about that is Jesus promises that it works. He promised that when He said, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you (Jn.16:23f).
Asking in Jesus’ name means praying according to the things He wants to see done. Does He want to see people hear about Him? Yes! Does He want to see people in heaven with Him? Yes! Does He want us to pray for people to go out and tell about Him? Yes! So, when we pray for this, He will see to it that it is done.
III. …go with confidence in Christ in your heart.
Confidence. Have you ever heard of the great church musician Johann Sebastian Bach? It is said that at the top of every one of his original compositions appears a short prayer in two Latin words: “Iesu, iuva!” That means, “Jesus, help!” One of the world’s mightiest church musicians did not dare place his fingers on the organ or compose a single melody without first calling in confidence upon the Lord for help. He recognized the truth of Paul’s words to the Philippians when he wrote: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The secret of success in anything does not lie in mastering techniques or in knowing all the angles. The secret of success lies in remaining close to the Savior who is the source of all our strength.
That’s the reason when the Lord told the 72 ‘Go!’ He told them not to worry about food or shelter or being afraid of any who would reject and oppose them. They shouldn’t delay for any reason for they had Christ at their side! With the Savior so near to them they would have all that they needed. They were to go with full confidence in Christ in their hearts.
So, whenever you tell a friend or someone you’ve never met before about the Savior, be confident in Christ who is with you and will strengthen you for the task. Whenever you beg God to send out more workers into the harvest field, be confident in Christ. He surely will answer your prayer for it is His very own. And whatever you do in God’s Kingdom, do it with confidence in Christ in your hearts. Through Him the work shall prevail. So, Go! Go into the harvest field. Go for the Lord. The Savior goes with you. God grant it to us in faith for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
This is one great way for us all to do missionary work. From the oldest to the youngest we all can pray. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field. When the Lord says, ‘Go!’, go with a prayer on your lips. And…