You will get to gather ...

Hear the word of God:

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, "Rabbi, eat something."

But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of food you know nothing about."

"Did someone bring him food while we were gone?" the disciples asked each other.

Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe* for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, 'One plants and another harvests.' And it's true. I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest."
John 4:31-38

I remember it well. I was flying to Guyana for the first time, and actually for the first time, period. I was 19 years old and had never left the state of Arkansas by myself before. We were going on a medical mission trip. When we reached our destination, I was to be one of the teachers. We were to sit down and study with the people as they waited in line to see the doctor. I remember having so many feelings. I thought that my heart was going to explode out of my chest. We had spent close to 3 months studying different things, and going through the gospels and the book of Acts as a mission team. We studied the culture of Guyana, we studied each other, and how we would work together. We did all the preparation for this moment.

I learned so many things, but one of the most important was to make sure I had some nice quiet time to be with God. Our leader would tell us that we needed to go off by ourselves and prepare for the day. I stepped away from the group and just sat down beside three goats that were tied up behind the school we were using. I prayed a very honest prayer. "God help me, I don't know what I am doing. Give me the words to say, please!"

When I came back to the line, they had already started studying. They brought over the first person. Her name was Daphne. She was 20 years old and a practicing Hindu. We studied about sin and about salvation. We talked about her faith, we talked about mine, and why I would even want to come down to Guyana. We talked about Jesus and how much he loves us. After around an hour and a half, she finally said that she believed. She wanted to give her life to Jesus.

I was shocked. The first person I studied with wanted to become a Christian. We prayed and she and I both spoke with our team leader. He then led us around to the front where they had a giant rain barrel set up filled with water. Daphne climbed in and I took her confession and then they told me just to have her hold her nose and push her straight down into the rain barrel. I did and when she came up, she was crying and so excited. I hugged her and totally felt AWESOME! God had used me, but I felt so insignificant. How did this happen?

That next day, she brought her entire family to study and to see the doctor. They all became Christians by the end of the week. We had a wonderful week filled with baptisms and amazing experiences. I was a changed person because of that trip. A year later, I received a letter from Daphne. She and her new husband were moving to be a part of a minister's training school. He is now the minister at a local church there in Guyana, and she is a loving and servant-hearted wife.

The harvest is ready in so many hearts. I felt so much joy that first day with that first baptism. I have been blessed in being a part of sharing my faith with so many others along the way, but I will never forget Daphne. We all have stories similar to this. We all have, and will, take part in many other stories of bringing lost souls to Jesus. The apostles were able to take part in that with Jesus right there; we can take part in it every day of our lives. If you feel as I did, that you are so insignificant and that you can't do it, then do what I was taught and what we have all studied about. Take a break and be by yourself with God. He wants to prepare you for the harvest that is about to come about all around you. Wake up and look around, the fields are ripe! What are you going to do?

Jason

Receiving hospitality

Some years ago I traveled in Panama on a mission trip with a group of teenage youth. We walked through a neighborhood (not the poorest, and not the richest, but nonetheless, people of very humble means) inviting the children and their parents to come to a gospel meeting that the local church was having every evening. These families were very, very poor in comparison to United States families. In the middle of one particularly steamy afternoon, one of the families we were visiting showed their hospitality to my two young companions and myself by inviting us to share some refreshment with them. I politely declined, but the head of the household would not hear of it. One of the children was dispatched to get a Coca-Cola, and the mother went into the corner that was a kitchen to prepare something. Perhaps this family remembered the words of the Hebrew writer:

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Hebrews 13:2 - NRSV

We certainly knew that we were no angels. If God had given us wings, we might have been too tempted to fly away. Out of embarrassment. I looked over into the eyes my partners to see if they understood just what was about to happen. Both gave me a quick nod of comprehension. We had been clearly warned, more than once, to be careful about what we ate and drank. The local water supply was such that food or drink prepared from it could easily inflict a fairly severe physical revenge upon us. But these young people understood clearly the issues. Whatever we were about to eat, however carefully prepared, however tasty, it held the potential to make us all really ill. On top of that, the cost of this afternoon's refreshment was easily equivalent to several hours' worth of labor for the father. And because of the brevity of our stay, we knew that it was highly unlikely that we would ever be able to repay them. Yet we all understood that to decline would be to inflict the worst possible insult upon this humble family.

We smiled. They smiled. We ate. It was delicious. We drank. It was cold. We smiled bigger. We gave them our sincere thanks, and continued on with our afternoon's work. God, in his traveling mercies, protected us from any unintended negative consequences. Instead he filled our hearts with fond memories of warm conversation and cool refreshment in the midst of a hot day. All of this with a beautiful family who clearly understood the biblical notion of hospitality.

Hear the words of Jesus:

"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
- Luke 14:12-14 - NRSV

Now, it wasn't Sunday when we had our Panamanian banquet, and the elements of the meal were not those we use for the Lord's Supper, but I hope that we all realize that there was something holy about that meal. The sacred and the mundane are not separated, not encased, but connected permeably, so that each of these flows from one to the other in our lives. Partaking of the bread at the Lord's Table can never be completely removed from whether or not we share hunger-preventing bread with the poor whom we encounter. When things are right, the richer will share with the poorer. The girls and I would certainly have been much more comfortable if we could have treated this humble family to the banquet of their lives, but God chose to use their generosity to teach us a lesson about what real hospitality really means.

One of these days I hope that God repays this family for their kindness. Something bigger than a Coca-Cola and a snack. Perhaps it will please God at the end of time (or the beginning of eternity?) when we are all in heaven to allow the girls and I to bring a meal to the heavenly table of this beautiful family. Not that we could or would be the host; no, that will be God's place. The girls and I will merely be the servants of God, showing respect, showing hospitality, bringing providence, where both hospitality and providence are due.

Who will want to be at the table with us?

Grace and peace,

Ron