Summary: Jesus wants to speak to his friends about the harvest. "The harvest is great," he says. He's talking about connecting with people. Sharing purpose with people. Gathering people. Some call this church growth, but it is so, so much more. More like joining God in God's purpose. More like helping people become themselves. Jesus talks about the harvest while he's harvesting. His mind and his behind are in line on this matter - which is the very definition of peace, of course. His time in the temple, sends him out to the city. His work in the world sharpens his teaching. He advances the Good News of God one blessing, one healing at a time. He's talking about harvest because he sees the world through the eyes of compassion. He sees that people are harassed, helpless, and ready to faint. Lots of sheep, very few shepherds. And because Jesus was in time but beyond time - our brother with a unique, divine consciousness - his seeing penetrates down into our now. We are just as harassed, helpless, and ready to faint as the crowds of his day. Harassed by gun violence. Helpless in the face of celebrity endorsed xenophobia and ready to faint because of the 24-hour, always breaking news of political partisan division. Jesus sees the crowds now. All sheep, no shepherd. So, Jesus turns his seeing into saying. He says to his co-worker friends, "Harvest is plentiful." Harvest is how Jesus describes the world. Not wicked. Not broken. Not destitute. Harvest is what he said. Harvest points to innumerable opportunities. A word that speaks of abundance. A word that implies the very fact that God has already done the planting and the watering. Now, there is one thing to do - gather, harvest.
