The Gift of the Need

The Gift of Need

“When (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
(Matthew 9:36 - 37  TEV)

We don’t always pay attention to what we read in the Bible.  This passage contains a very pithy fact, for example, that we often overlook, because we’re thinking about something else.
Jesus saw the crowds.  He saw them in a way no one else could.  He looked at them, and knew they were weary from fear, and wandering without direction.  Then He said something to His disciples, something that, since we’ve read it, most of us assume is a call for recruits.  
And so it is - but not only.
Look again at the situation - the person speaking - the need - and God’s perspective on the matter.  Jesus - God incarnate - saw the crowds, and called for help in ministering to them.  Now, did Jesus say that because He needed help?  In the short term - perhaps.  But not in the long term.  Only Jesus could do what had to be done to truly heal that multitude - and all the multitudes to come.  Only Jesus could be the sacrifice that would reconcile Mankind to its Creator.  No one was going to help Jesus die for us - and God alone would be involved in raising Him from death.
And yet - Jesus looked at the crowds - and called for help.
Yes, there was a need.  But the need went two ways.  When Jesus called, the person being called was bound to receive as much - or more - as he was called to give.  The rich young man was a good example.  What he was called to give up was a pittance compared to what he stood to gain.
We can see this again and again in the Scriptures.  “Whom shall I send?”  God asks of Isaiah.  “You will go and free my people,”  He says to Moses.  “Feed my sheep,”  He tells His disciples.  “You will be my disciple to the Gentiles,”  He proclaims to Paul.  Over and over again, we see people who are called, and changed by their acceptance of that call.  
“He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father.”  (John 14:12  NKJV)  Is such a thing even conceivable for us?  Can we actually do greater things than Jesus?  Do we see ourselves as even capable of something as awesome as this?  What is the mystery of this call of God, that by His choice, produces greater results that He could have done on His own?
God could do His will alone.  In that sense, He doesn’t need us.  But He chooses to need us.  That need is His gift to us - our opportunity to enter into a unique communion with Him - that which is ministry.  The Holy Spirit moves aside, to give us room on the driver’s seat.
“You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood...”  (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV)  That’s what we’re called to.  It’s the part the Lord has for us to play.  It’s what our life experience has prepared us for.  And at times, it’s what the Holy Spirit does through us when we’re not prepared.  The need is real - the harvest is ready.  But to be a worker in that harvest - that is a priceless gift, for us to grasp and share.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”  (John 15:16  NKJV)

(March 2001)