The Harvest is Past

Jeremiah 8:20

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Mt.18:11). In Matthew 18 he talks about only one sheep out of a hundred being lost. The owner of the sheep leaves the 99 and looks for the lost one. This is only natural. Any farmer will look for a lost sheep, or cow. What would happen if he said, “I still have 99 sheep. I am not wasting time looking for that one miserable run-away.”? I’ll tell you what would happen. Another would run away, then another. The shepherd would be left with a small little congregation of 20. Sadly, that is the picture of many of our churches today. It didn’t start with this generation. It was a danger that Jesus warned us of in His day. I am praying that we can change this. Help us, Lord, to wake up. How many years can we report zero received by profession of faith and still be a church with the heart of Jesus? This is not what Jesus wants. How sad the words of Jeremiah, “The harvest is past…, the summer is ended…, and we are not saved.” (Jeremiah 8:20)

I have had the joy and responsibility of working in over 40 wheat harvests in my life. I remember my first year. I was 13 years old and at Pinelow Nazarene Church Campground. I got a phone call from my mom that there was a harvest job for me if I wanted it. Wow! I couldn’t believe it. It must have been of God. Everything worked out. A church bus from Walla Walla had to leave the camp early. I was on it. The next day I was in Milton-Freewater in harvest on Herold Harder’s farm. My Grandpa (Old Pop) had gotten me the job. It only lasted for three days. I did a lot of watching. My job was to put gas in the wheat trucks and combine. They also taught me how to grease the trucks. The big thrill was moving the weapons carrier (an army jeep) when needed. The harvest was so short. I got paid $15.00. The big thing was, I got asked to come back the next year and drive truck. I did a lot of day dreaming about it at school. That wasn’t good, but I couldn’t help it. I was hooked. I never lost the love for harvest. I always hated to see harvest end. 

There is something disturbing about Jeremiah’s words. Naturally, the harvest will be over. Certainly the summer will pass. The haunting part is, “…and we are not saved.” That speaks of a failed harvest. 

I watched one farmer literally jump up and down in the wheat field praising God. He had been watching the combine I was driving. When I had cut across the field and the bulk tank was full, he knew how many bushels the crop was yielding. It was what he hoped for. It was what he needed to farm another year. The bottom line of harvest is the yield. 

For you, my brother, the harvest is still not past, but it soon will be. Harvesting for the souls of men is far more important than any wheat harvest. How excited do we get about the harvest? 

After I retired, I asked myself, “How many people got saved during my 27 years of ministry?” I hoped at least 27. I also asked, “How much did the church pay me in 27 years?” An estimation of $20,000 per year is $540,000—over half a million dollars! Divide that by 27 saved, equals $20,000. That’s funny, it is the same amount as my annual salary. I guess it would be. One year’s salary for one profession of faith. That doesn’t look too good. What looks worse is one year’s salary for zero saved. Some day you and I will have to answer to God for that, won’t we? If a wheat farmer labored all year for one bushel of wheat it would be called a crop failure. We need to be asking ourselves, “What are we doing with God’s money?” The tithe is God’s. That is what we are foolishly spending on ourselves. It is heartbreaking to write this because I have a part in it, and because it is true. 

It doesn’t help to ignore it. It wasn’t easy for Jeremiah to write, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Jeremiah 8:20-22 

Sitting around daydreaming doesn’t get us anywhere. “Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” John 4:35-36 

Lord lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me; 
And may I bravely do my part 
To win that soul for Thee.

—Leon Tucker

I heard somewhere the saying, “Shepherds don’t produce sheep, sheep produce sheep.” I don’t see that in the Bible. I see Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeking the lost, preaching repentance, and dying for the sinner. He didn’t tell us how to do it. He showed us how to do it. He didn’t tell us to be servants. By being a servant, He showed us how to serve. 

As a youth I had the privilege of going door-to-door with my pastor canvassing the neighborhood. I watched him be rejected; doors actually slammed in his face. He didn’t take it personally. He kept on knocking. Sure enough, some souls got saved. 

Take the lead, preacher. Let’s show our people how to harvest. We can do it with His help. Help us, Jesus!