“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Last night I got to go see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I have been a violinist for much of my life. One of the things I’ve always loved about the orchestra is how all of the musicians come together with all their diversity of instruments to create one big piece of music, one big wall of sound, together.
This week I have been thinking about our fear of the other. A fear that leads to bullets and bombs flying, to shooting first, to shooting because of hatred and a false sense of superiority. Two years since a white supremacist terrorist attacked the congregation of Mother Emanuel AME. Two days since our country has once again been rocked because of the judicial outcome of the trial of a case of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of a black man. Tuesday a congressperson was among a number attacked, the first congressperson to be attacked since 2011.
Where is the harmony in that? Where is the resolution in that?
Many of you may know that Muslims around the world are currently observing Ramadan, a month during which the adults fast from dawn until dusk every day for moral, personal and spiritual renewal. Each night after sunset, Muslims break the fast with a big meal called “Iftar.” Ramadan is based on the lunar month calendar, not the 12 month calendar, which means that the dates of the month move forward about 11 days a year. Since the month is happening during the long days of summer this year, this means that Muslims are fasting from food and drink from sunrise until a sunset which recently has been at around 8:30 pm at night.
About a week ago, I attended an Iftar meal at my seminary at a gathering of Turkish Muslim families living on the south side of Chicago, organized and co-hosted by one of the seminary’s current PhD students, who is Muslim, and his wife and family. The meal was open to the seminary community, without any expectation to bring any food, and the broader neighborhood community as well – some of the Turkish community invited the families of friends of their children from the local elementary school.
As the group gathered, Yasir, the student who organized the meal, welcomed all and thanked everyone for coming – then at sunset, gave the call to prayer. Then the men went to a corner of the room to pray, while the women invited the non-Muslim guests to go and get food first. There were trays and trays of Turkish food – lentil soup, meat, vegetables, rice and beans dishes, cheese pastries and delicious festive desserts made of good sweet honey.
I was astonished. The harvest was plentiful, even though the laborers who had prepared the feast were fewer than those who had gathered. But the gathering was not just about having plenty of food. As I sat around a round table with Yasir and his wife Betul, and family friends of theirs, a local American Baptist pastor and his family, and ate the good food, and relaxed and enjoyed conversation and fellowship, I felt a sense of peace and plenty deep within my soul. I was experiencing a plentiful harvest of generosity. From the welcome in both word and action of the Turkish southside Muslim community, I was experiencing a plentiful harvest of grace.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” Jesus says to the disciples in this week’s Gospel reading, which comes directly after the Sermon on the Mount. He says this after going about ALL the cities and villages – not just some – teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the “evangelion”, the good news, and curing every sickness and disease. And to whom is Jesus proclaiming, evangelizing? Who is he curing? To the crowds, who are “harassed and helpless.” Words that could also be translated as “troubled” and “cast down.”
I wonder if you would be willing to raise your hand if you have ever felt harassed, helpless, troubled or cast down. (Thank you – you can put your hands down.) I wonder how many of you have felt that way just this week, because of some personal situation or inner struggle you’ve been wrestling with. (You don’t have to raise your hand if you don’t want to, but you can.)
You know how often we see each other and say “Hello” and then “How are you?” What is usually the answer to that question? “Fine.” Well – sometimes we’re not fine. Sometimes we’re overwhelmed, sometimes we’re exhausted, sometimes we’re harassed and helpless.
And if it’s not us, we know someone who is – and if we don’t know someone who is, we now have a news cycle which can connect us every day to images of violence in our world, images and stories of those who are harassed and helpless.
It is to these harassed and helpless crowds, to us, to you to which Jesus comes in this gospel, proclaims the good news, cures, has compassion. Perhaps those to whom Jesus comes are those in the crowds who have houses that are not perfectly clean, those who do not have perfect relationships with all of their family members and friends and colleagues, those who do not have the most money or prestige, those who do not have an abundance of Twitter followers or likes on their Facebook status updates.
Our Ephesians text today reminds us that we “have been saved by grace through faith – it is not our own doing but by the gift of God – not the result of works so that no one may boast.” In her column at the back of Living Lutheran magazine just a few months ago, Presiding Bishop Eaton wrote that in a recent survey of ELCA Lutherans, in response to the question “What must you do to be saved?” FIFTY PERCENT of the respondents answered, “Do good works.”
So let us be abundantly clear this morning. Lutheran theology teaches us that we are NOT saved by good works, but that we are saved by grace, by the gift of God. Jesus comes to save us, bring us good news of this salvation, even when we are harassed and helpless and incapable of doing good works.
And Jesus doesn’t just say “the harvest is enough, the harvest will get us through the week, the harvest will do for now” – no, Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. And as I think back to my experience at Iftar when I not only had plenty of food but also felt my spirit not only rested, refreshed and renewed, but even rejuvenated in a plentiful way so that I could share the story of the Iftar and the amazing hospitality with you, rejuvenated to cast out the unclean spirits of Islamophobia and xenophobia and other fears that pervade our world these days, harass some of our neighbors and leave some of them feeling helpless – rejuvenated to share the vision of a plentiful harvest which means there is more than enough food to go around for everyone, more than enough love and joy to bring everyone’s spirits healing and peace.
Pastor Otte wanted me to talk to you about the concept of shalom this week, as you are still at the beginning of your summer time of reflecting on Sabbath. At the Iftar meal, away from the news, away from the stresses that are currently present in my life, I got to experience Sabbath. I saw how diverse people, who may have disagreed with each other on some social and political issues, came together to experience peace, have a good meal, learn and grow from each other and therefore experience wholeness of Spirit. This is shalom, a Hebrew word that means peace, not just a peace that comes from the immediate resolution of a fight or an argument and leads to superficial, temporary calm – but a deep peace that comes from a sense of feeling whole and complete, a sense of oneness with the universe.
In times when evil forces threaten to tear us apart, when we come together and lament and listen to each other and support each other through our words and actions, we can experience moments of shalom. In these times, you are the laborers that Christ calls to share the good news that the harvest is plentiful, even for those who are harassed and helpless. You are given Christ’s authority to cast out unclean spirits, leading in example by your discourse. You are given Christ’s authority to cure every disease and every sickness, maybe by providing a listening ear, doing a favor for someone in need, advocating for a policy that represents the vision of God’s plentiful harvest for each and every beloved child of God and all of God’s creation. You are given Christ’s authority to share that the harvest is plentiful. Thanks be to God for you.
Anna Ernst
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church,
Northbrook, IL