Articles
I Want to Be a Worker
From the shade with a cold drink in one hand and a fan in the other, many who were once workers for the Lord now watch the dwindling few still sweating in the harvest field. We come up with a variety of excuses as to why we're on our extended break: we're too ... old, tired, busy, or sore! Or, the work is too difficult or dangerous ... people just aren't receptive enough anymore to the gospel ... or the world doesn't allow us to reach out like we did years ago.
I. Luke 10:1. To be a worker for the Lord, you must want to love and trust His holy Word, just as the song says:
I want to be a worker for the Lord; I want to love and trust His holy word; I want to sing and pray, and be busy ev'ry day, In the vineyard of the Lord.
Just before Jesus sends out 72 disciples ahead of Him, He tells several that following Him requires diligent and often difficult hard work (Luke 9:57-62). The well-known servant to the poor, Mother Teresa, died at 87 still working with her last strength. can we argue that love and trust for Jesus' Word isn't connected to faithful action (James 1:22) when His Word tells us that if we love Him, we will obey His commands (John 14:15)? Are we not told to serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13)? And to love and forgive one another as Jesus did (John 15:13; Colossians 3:13)?
II. Luke 10:2-3a. To be a worker for the Lord, you must want to lead the erring in the way, again as the song says:
I want to be a worker every day; I want to lead the erring in the way That leads to heav'n above, where all is peace and love, In the kingdom of the Lord.
Because we've used Luke 10:2 to promote the need for evangelism but disconnected it from our personal responsibility, we pray often that God will send workers to His harvest field. If He hasn't and the attendance in our assemblies shrinks, we shrug because God is in charge of the increase after all (1 Corinthians 3:6). Peering into the brightness at the shady edge of the harvest field, we lament how few are laboring in the hot sun to fill the Master's barn with sheaves. Yet, just as the 72 were sent, so are we (Matthew 28:18-20) and also to our erring, fellow workers (Galatians 6:1-2; Matthew 18:15-17).
III. Luke 10:3. To be a worker for the Lord, you must want to trust in Jesus' power to save, as the song tells us:
I want to be a worker strong and brave; I want to trust in Jesus' pow'r to save; All who will truly come shall find a happy home, In the kingdom of the Lord.
He sent them out like lambs among wolves! Why would Jesus do that? It's because we partaking in our own adventure is that important to Him. God is wild at heart and wants those made in His image to step out of our comfort zones to do the work He's prepared for us. Out of fear we make excuses and justify why we can't do that work, placing our limitations on the God for whom nothing is impossible. But, obedience is required from faith (Romans 1:4-5; James 2:14-17), and God, who promises to be with us, lets us wield His divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Wanting to be a worker for the Lord begins with obedience to the gospel. You've got to don our work clothes (Galatians 3:26-27) and then head out into the field. If the song has changed for you, a longtime resident of the shade, to "I want to sit in pews for the Lord ..." then perhaps it's time to step out onto the soil and become a worker once more. Do you want to be a worker for the Lord?
