Venture when no other one does
And He said to them, The harvest indeed is abundant [there is much ripe grain], but the farmhands are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Luke 10.2 (AMP)
Farmhands: are few. The passage is familiar, as is the prayer request following it. Are we using simply a figure of speech in parallel to the word picture of “much ripe grain?”
Not much further in this part of Luke is the story of a lawyer who poses clever questions in the attempt to justify himself. A man was on a dangerous road and was set upon, physically beaten, and robbed of possessions right down to his clothes. As bad as that outcome may seem to be, it was a commonplace to those who traveled on that way, a consequence of the choice that the man had made. He was passed “on the other side” by the priest and the Levite.
Another did not pass, acting when others did not. His actions are described in specific detail, giving regard to the quality of his efforts, to the significant commitment made to others in order to obtain their cooperation, and to his promise to return, like a farmhand who will return to the field to see the crop spring from seed.
Act (Venture) when no one like you would do so, when it is inconvenient, dirty and dangerous, and when it is not made easy for us. Like a farmhand.
Your credentials do not give you a “pass.”
“The relevance of massive chunks of Scripture hangs on our understanding of idolatry.” Powlison (1995).
Problematic desires usually and customarily motivate our behavior, but the example (in Luke) is in opposition to that difficulty and instead requires performance of tasks that we (lawyer types with credentials) are not ready to perform. To put away pretense, our reason from the inside, to venture when no other person does, wishes to, is put off by the risk, is what proves to have permanent effect.
“Even among God’s people, spectacular confrontations had no lasting effect. Remember the Israelite response when fire fell from heaven and devoured Elijah’s altar…. ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’ had as much staying power as shouting “USA! USA!” at victorious Olympic events: a feel-good moment that … won’t change a life.
“It won’t change a life. The only way God could do that was to live a life. Cheaney (2010).
Venture into difficult, dirty tasks when no one else does, conduct yourself in those ordinary tasks with the objective of delivering oil, bandages, conveyance.
. Enduring results take place in real space and time. Even cosmic demonstrations don’t have staying power. (i.e., Cheaney)
. Our expectations of what is important in our lives must be set, possibly even dramatically or expansively, aside. (i.e., Powlison)
To change a life, live a life: work as a farmhand would.
Thomas V. Jahl, Headmaster, Cono Christian School
Notes:
Janie B. Cheaney, “Age of Miracles,: World Magazine, 25.7 (2010)
David Powlison, “Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair,” Journal of Biblical Counseling, 13.2 (1995)