The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.
The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
For many, we are still in the dead of Winter. Some may be flipping through seed catalogs or building an Excel spreadsheet of their garden plans. Maybe you have a soil conservation website where you can find bushes, trees, and wildflower mixes to spruce up your space. No matter the case, gardening takes time, and that investment of time does not guarantee a harvest.
If you have gardened before, you know some crops grow quickly without much effort, and the harvest is so plentiful you can gift, can, bake, share, and feast on the bounty! Other times, you might labor over that one plant you wanted so badly to see blossom and burst open with bounty (I’m looking at you, green peppers!) and it may never produce quite to the prayed-for expectations.
To get the fruits of our labor, we must go out into the garden and gather what has been produced. If you’ve ever grown cucumbers or berries, pumpkins or squash, you know the prickly adventure you’ll have if unprepared. If we leave them for the sake of keeping our hands pain-free, we miss out on a refreshing cucumber or the sweetest berries you won’t find in store! Then the cucumbers turn yellow and rot, and the berries are eaten by wildlife or fall off and turn into mush. How are we doing as the church? What amazing opportunities are we missing out on because of a few prickles?
Cultivating and growing is hard work, all thanks to the beginnings in the Garden. The harvest is the reward and we are standing idly by! When I think of this passage, I think of a field full of dandelions that used to grow on the outskirts of the church my husband pastored. My littles LOVED running through the field after the flowers turned to the white heads. The maintenance and grounds guys didn’t appreciate the way the seeds scattered so willingly in the breeze. I think of how Jesus uplifts the childlike faith to strive towards. What do kids do when they see berries growing in the wild? They run gleefully towards the prickers and pluck as many berries as they can while their faces turn red, and their fingers grow sticky. Are we running unabashedly towards the fields?
While the Excel spreadsheet is a great idea and planning can keep our ideas fresh and organized, we must remember that planning is good but getting out and going for it is the heart of the matter. You don’t need the fanciest tools, the best greenhouse, the latest technology, the organic compost, or the heirloom seeds for the harvest to be plentiful. Think about what is abundant and life-giving, and what will get the job done …
Rachel Haseley, Communications Coordinator
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