One of the most inspiring prayers for me is,
“Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”
Do you know who said it? It was by Robert Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan Purse, which have helped millions of children and orphans out of poverty over the years.
On a visit to an island in Korea after the war, in 1949, Bob Pierce saw many suffering children running on the streets without proper clothes because their fathers died in the war and their mothers were missing. Touched by the plight of those children, he wrote this famous prayer inside the cover of his Bible:
“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” ~Bob Pierce
Soon, he founded World Vision in 1950, which has fed and educated 3.5 million children around the world to date. It has assisted 20.1 million disaster survivors, refugees, and internally displaced people. A small prayer of compassion ends up touching millions of lives.
Previously, I spoke about the importance of having a God-sized dream. Having a God-sized dream cures many mental and emotional problems because you have a sense of mission and focus away from your personal problems. When we don’t have a purpose greater than ourselves, we become anxious, depressed, and unfocused. You can review that message online, named “Dream a God-sized Dream.”
So, this week we want to explore how to find that God-sized dream. If you don’t have a God-sized dream, begin with this prayer, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God,” asking God to help you see a real problem in the world that you are called to solve.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the ability or resources to solve the problem. If you shed a God-sized tear, God will provide you with God-sized resources. So, don’t worry about whether you have the capability to solve the problem. Worry about discovering what breaks your heart that also breaks God’s heart.
When Bob Pierce wrote down that prayer on the flyleaf of his Bible, he had no money as a young missionary. He just saw a big problem. But that little prayer changed millions of lives.
The Bible revealed that Jesus’ heart broke when he saw the crowd like sheep without a shepherd.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36).
So, today, let’s look at what breaks Jesus’ heart that also breaks your heart and how he teaches us to solve that problem. Let’s begin!
[Hi, in case we haven’t met yet, I am Sam Stone, the Lightkeeper—you are the light of the world, and I am the keeper! (No pun intended). It’s my calling to help you shine your brightest so that God is glorified in you and you are satisfied in God.]
The Scripture lesson for today is from the Gospel According to Matthew 9:35–10:23. Since this passage is long, I’ll skip some verses but maintain the main message. [Listen to the Word of the Lord!]
Then 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 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.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
16 “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Mt 9:35-10:23).
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s word. Thanks be to God!]
The passage beings by describing Jesus’ compassion for people because they are like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;” (Mat 9:37).
That is a more positive description of Jesus’ concern. Instead of describing them as sheep without a shepherd, he depicts it as an opportunity. Isn’t it more exciting to see the plentiful harvest? Jesus wants us to see the problem as an opportunity.
If Jesus were here today, would he still tell us that same vision, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”? If so, why don’t we see the harvest? Many churches try to reach out, but their pews are empty. Where is the harvest? Last week, someone told me that two other churches in our community are closing down. They are selling their buildings because they can no longer afford to maintain them.
It sounds contrary to what Jesus is telling us. Or, maybe we heard it wrong. When Jesus was saying this, the synagogues were not full. He implies that the synagogues in those days did not provide the shepherd-hood for the sheep. I am sure the synagogues were actively reaching out but targeting the wrong crowd.
When Jesus first met Peter, James, and John, they had fished all night long and caught nothing. When Jesus asked them to put out into deep water and let down the net for a catch, they reluctantly followed his direction. To their surprise, they caught two boatloads of fish.
Maybe the harvest is plentiful, but we have been looking at the wrong place. Then, WHERE IS the harvest? As described above, based on this passage, Jesus shows us that the problem is the opportunity. We must look for the things that break the heart of God, and there is the harvest.
So, our first lesson from this passage is:
1. See the Problem as the Harvest
Another problem in this verse is, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Why is Jesus saying the laborers are few? There were many Pharisees and Sadducees in those days. As for today, about 20,000 seminarians graduate every year, and many of them can’t even get a position in the church. You can say there are plenty of laborers. The next verse explains the problem,
“therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mat 9:38).
Jesus isn’t saying, “The harvest is plentiful, go and bring in the harvest.” Instead, he says, “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Don’t you think this is convoluted? He shows us the problem and opportunity, but we cannot just go out and labor. We must ask him to send the laborers.
Since he sees the problem, why doesn’t he just send out the laborers? Why does he tell us to ask him to send the laborers? It sounds convoluted. Of course, he could do without telling us to ask him. He could have sent the angels down to solve the problem. But he wants to involve us.
If he doesn’t involve us in his plans, we become useless. As I mentioned last week, the purpose of having us participate in God’s work is about our meaning in life. God could have done everything on His own. Then our lives become meaningless. Life is most meaningful when we participate in God’s greater purpose.
To participate in God’s purpose, we need God’s permission. Qualification does not come from an institution but from heaven. As Paul said,
“And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?” (Ro 10:15).
How do you know you are sent? Your heart is broken by the things that break God’s heart. If we interpret it from the context of the entire Bible, it is to keep us humble. Humility is impactful. We are merely messengers and servants, not the Lord of the harvest. Now, the second lesson from this passage is,
2. Ask for Permission to Harvest
Then Jesus gives us detailed instructions to harvest. He talks about where to go, where to stay, and what to say. The main message is to proclaim the good news. He says,
As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ (Mat 10:7).
That’s the good news. Now, that raises another problem. What does it mean? If the kingdom is near, and it has been two thousand years since then, where is it? Jesus answered this question in front of Pontius Pilate,
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (Jn 18:36).
When we put it in the context of the entire teaching of Jesus, he is talking about the spiritual kingdom. It’s a life in the Holy Spirit. When Jesus sent the disciples, the kingdom was near because Jesus had not been to the cross. The spiritual kingdom is established upon Jesus’ resurrection and upon Jesus’ sending of the Holy Spirit.
After the resurrection, Jesus breathed to the disciples saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s the coming of the kingdom. So for us, our message is to proclaim the kingdom is here!
Then Jesus asked them to do the mission work for free,
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.” (Mat 10:8).
In other words, Jesus asks us to use the healing ministry to proclaim the kingdom.
That’s why we started the Spiritual Fitness program. It’s a healing ministry. We live in a fallen world, and many are wounded and broken. Spiritual Fitness is a ministry to heal the brokenness of this world. To Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
Of course, we cannot physically raise the dead, but we can raise the spiritually dead. We don’t cast out supernatural demons, but we cast out the demons that keep us from doing the right things. I invite you to join the program, especially if you need healing from the wounds of this fallen world. So, the third lesson from this passage is,
3. Heal the Wounded to Harvest
Then Jesus warned us about the price we must pay—the cost of discipleship. Just because we are doing the right thing, fulfilling God’s greater purpose, it doesn’t mean we are safe and secure. This fallen world does not want to see healing, heaven, and happiness. So, Jesus warns us to play smart,
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Mat 10:16).
Most of the time, Christians try to be innocent as doves but fail to be wise as serpents. We think as long as we are innocent, we should fear nothing. But Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It’s about avoiding confrontation with evil. Sometimes, we think we can confront evil since God has our back. But Jesus wants us not to waste time confronting evil.
The last verse says,
“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Mat 10:23).
This verse explains what he meant by being smart as a snake. You want to sustain your harvest without getting cut short by persecution. Of course, we don’t have persecution today like in the first century, but we do still face systemic obstacles. We must be wise enough to devise another way to serve because the harvest is plentiful. There are many places to harvest, so don’t stubbornly stick to one place.
Jesus says he will return before we run out of places to harvest. That means harvest will never run out until the end of the world. Why fixate on one area. So the fourth and last less we learn from this passage is,
4. Be Wise and Innocent as You Harvest
There we have it! The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. Let’s shed God-sized tears to bring in the harvest so that our life is full of meaning as we fulfill God’s mission.
Four missional lessons we learn from this passage.
1. See the Problem as the Harvest
2. Ask for Permission to Harvest
3. Heal the Wounded to Harvest
4. Be Wise and Innocent as You Harvest
That’s it for today. I hope you find this message illuminating as much as I enjoy receiving it from the Head Office. Until we meet again, keep your light shining brighter and broader, and harvest the fruit of profound freedom, purpose, and happiness.
Amen!
Bye now!
