Harvesting motivation – Br. Jack Crowley

SSJE Sermons

Luke 10:1-18

We don’t always know where our motivation comes from. Sometimes we wake up in the morning ready to go. Other times we’re tired all day. Motivation is unpredictable.

Jesus knew motivation. He knew how hungry people are for something energizing. He knew how much people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, something meaningful, something true, something they can give their lives to.

In our Gospel today, Jesus is sending out seventy-two disciples on mission. He leads his speech to them by saying “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”. I’ve heard this phrase probably a few thousand times in my life, and it always motivates me.

It’s a fascinating phrase from a motivational perspective. Jesus is saying there is simultaneously an opportunity and a problem. The harvest is plentiful…but the laborers are few. It’s kind of like saying to a group of chefs there is a ton of good food for you all to make, but there’s not many of you to make it. Simultaneously Jesus’ words pull you into the mission but also push you to realize the limitations you and those around you are working with.

In our journey with God, we frequently find ourselves in circumstances similar to what Jesus is describing. We find our problems and opportunities mix, our stress and excitement comingle, and the solution to today’s crisis becomes next week’s problem. Our lives and mission are rarely as clean cut, neat, and clear as we would we like them to be.

Finding some sort of motivation that can persist through the changing circumstances of our life is essential. This is not a one-time task; this is a day-by-day reality of the Christian life. Our lives are constantly changing and so are the lives of absolutely every single person around you.

The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. We are born into this harvest, and we start laboring before we know it. To be in the thick of that labor is to do the work of God.