Introduction:
Do we need fewer pastors and teachers? It may seem that way sometimes. Did you know that as a synod we are planning to bring missionaries home? And as a consequence we are not planning much for new mission fields either? Did you know that the faculty sizes of our worker training schools are decreasing instead of increasing? So logically it would seem that we need fewer pastors and teachers. But, did you know that it wasn't that long ago when we could not fill all the pulpits and mission fields and classrooms. We had too few called workers. This seems to change every so many years. But according to our Lord, one thing does not change: The Harvest Is Still Plentiful.

I. Because the thing of it is, every person in the world needs Jesus. And our Lord recognized this need as he went from town to town and village to village. He not only was preaching and teaching and healing, but Jesus was watching the people. He was observing them and what he saw moved him in a most gut wrenching way. Do not think of Jesus as a man who was emotionless, a mere cardboard cutout mechanically going about his business. Understand that what Jesus saw affected him deeply. The Bible says: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them . . ."

Jesus was moved because of the condition of the people. First he says that they were harassed and helpless. They were stressed out. They were downcast. Why? It was because of sin and the effects of sin. Think about sin. Understand the consequences of sin. Guilt over sin stresses people out? That was the case with the people that Jesus was observing. Sin has stressed out man from Adam and Eve until now. Just think of Martin Luther. His sins stressed him out so much that he beat himself and starved himself. That is what guilt does.

And then there are the effects of sin. The natural effects of sin wreak havoc in the lives of human beings everyday. Pain, disease and death make people downcast. War makes people downcast. You are probably feeling the effects of sin in your life right now. Of course we must also consider the effects that are a direct result of sin. There is the pain and loss that is felt when we hurt other people. There is the suffering and guilt over sin we that we try to keep a secret from everyone else. When people refuse to live according to God's commands the results are not pleasant, especially the end result, hell. All people are harassed and helpless on account of sin.

And so every person in the world still needs Jesus. Praise be to God that Jesus did have compassion on the people, all people of all time. That means you too. That is exactly the comfort we sinners need, because people can only enter the kingdom of God through Jesus. It is Jesus, our king, the mighty conqueror, who has defeated Satan and erased our sin. For Christ and only Christ has brought spiritual justice to this world. Those who are harassed and helpless can take comfort in the cross where salvation was won. Nobody else, especially not us sinners, could have brought this comfort and peace. It was Jesus Christ, our Savior. By grace your sins are forgiven. Believe in Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Transition:
It was God who brought us into his kingdom and now we see people through his compassionate eyes. As we gaze at the world, it can only be obvious to us that so many others need to be brought into the harvest. Jesus says that they are like sheep with out a shepherd. They are helpless and in danger. What can we do?

II. As we look around the world, we can see that the harvest is still plentiful. As we consider the countless people who do not know Jesus as the Savior of the world, our hearts are moved. Like Jesus, may we have compassion on the wandering sheep. But let us not just simply feel sorry for them and then cross on the other side of the road so that we won't have to get involved. May we feel compassion and may God move us then to action on behalf of these people.

What action then? As we study these words of the gospel, we hear Jesus speak to our hearts with this message: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." The Lord spoke these words to his disciples but he commands us also to pray for workers.

Who do we pray to? God. Why? Because God is the one who moves people to be pastors and teachers. He provides shepherds for his flock. You and I can do all the recruiting for the ministry we want, but it is God that affects people's hearts to serve in the gospel ministry. Have you ever looked at a young boy and said, "He would make a really good pastor" or "oh man, I hope he never becomes a pastor." I am sure many people said the latter about me as I was growing up. But yet it was God that moved me and changed me, often times against my stubborn will, to be a pastor. And so it is God that we pray to for pastors and teachers.

It is also God that equips pastors and teachers to carry out their duties. God deservedly takes all the credit for the work of the gospel that is being done and so we pray that it carries on through his servants. Also we pray to God because he is the one who sends out workers into the harvest field. You have pastors and teachers because God sent them to you. Pray that he would send others to the harassed and helpless who do not have a shepherd.

May we pray daily for the work of God's servants as they labor in the plentiful harvest. But let us never be satisfied with just that. Let us look for ways that God can answer these prayers through us. Let us encourage young people for the ministry. You never know whom the Lord has picked to be a pastor or a teacher. All pastors are not sons of pastors who grew up in Wisconsin and graduated at the top of their class academically. Sometimes God chooses the most average to carry out his mission. And remember to encourage your own children. What if every parent thought that being a pastor or teacher was a good thing, but it was a good thing for someone else's child? Nobody would be encouraging them to think about the ministry. Take your children to Michigan Lutheran Seminary to see the campus. Talk to them about going to Martin Luther College to study. Help them to consider the ministry.

Also let us look to support those who are considering the ministry and those in the ministry. Your actions mean so much. I can remember getting a letter once a month from a lady in my home church when I was studying for the ministry. I cherished those letters because I knew that she was praying for me and encouraging me. Look for opportunities like this. Brian Westgate is studying to be a pastor at Martin Luther College. Caitlin Keller is attending Michigan Lutheran Seminary. Encourage them as they travel this path set before them.

This week is the kickoff to our stewardship month. We give thanks to God with our time, talents, and treasures. My hope is that you all realize the need for prayer and encouragement as workers labor in the harvest fields. I also want you to understand that your offerings to the Lord are used to support those workers and their work. Your offerings pay the salaries and keep the school doors open. Your time, talents, and treasures help to spread the truth, the truth of the gospel. As you contemplate your "Love Promise" this year, may God move your heart in thankfulness for salvation to give generously to work of the kingdom. The harvest is always plentiful. The workers are still few.

Do we need fewer pastors and teachers? The need today is greater, not less, since we are one day closer to Judgment Day. May the Lord lead us to pray and participate, trusting in him alone to bring in the harvest. AMEN.