The Clock is Ticking

by Tom Johnston


Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4: 35 ESV

This is an amazing scene: Jesus having had a dialog with the Samaritan woman, the disciples have returned from getting take-out food and are weirded-out by the fact that the Rabbi is talking to a woman – and not one of good reputation to boot! They are so wrapped up in the day-to-day of life and so stunned by Jesus breaking some serious social and religious taboos that they miss the fact that the entire village is now surging out of the town and coming up to see Jesus. They are so caught in their own moment that they fail to realize the work of the Father – Jesus’ “food” – which is at hand. They could not see the harvest before them, they were still looking for something in the future, specifically, the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom through Jesus. Looking for the Kingdom in the future, they missed the Kingdom in their now.

Are we like the disciples? Is the Church in the West so caught up in the concerns of day-to-day life (read: American Dream) that we miss seeing the harvest? Are we so caught up in the politico-religious Culture War in our country that we can’t see the white fields? Can it be that, looking to see people assured of eternity, we actually miss the opportunity to lovingly serve them in the now, and demonstrate for them the presence of God’s Kingdom rule on Earth? In many ways we need to have our eyes opened to see the potential harvest in our now.

It is our belief that in each generation there is a harvest of souls to be gathered, and it is Christ’s desire to see these people enter into His Kingdom community. But do we have time to see and engage the harvest? Are we so busy running like the rats in the proverbial race that we have no time for the harvest? As we shift our life from zero to 60 every morning are we zipping past the people whom Jesus is calling to Himself? Maybe we are plugging into our personal iPod-of-a-life and tuning everyone else out.

Or, are we placing are harvest hope (read: bets) on some cataclysmic future series of events which will drive people to Jesus? (Like His love isn’t enough to win their hearts?) Earthquakes, forest fires, tsunamis, stock market crashes, you know, God roughing us up a bit, so we get it. Sure would be a whole lot less work for us!

It could be we are still hoping to win the Culture War by electing the right candidates to office and passing laws which will Christianize everybody. Get the right people in the right places and – zingo – the next thing you know everybody is wearing a white shirt and tie and parting their hair on the right side of their head and it is 1957 all over again. God forbid we have to cross some social barriers to minister to unfriendly people who look different from us! Much easier to get the vote out and pass laws instead!

Here is the reality of it all – 7 out of 10 people within walking distance of you right now as your read this are not going to go into eternity knowing Jesus. You don’t need to meet anyone new to share Christ – you already know the harvest – maybe you just can’t see it. And those people that you know don’t need to be attacked by terrorists, struck by falling space junk or come to financial ruin so Jesus can get through to them. They just need us – Jesus’ people – His Church, to live like Him in front of them. His love embodied in our arms, our hands our words, our actions of service. Yes, some will still reject Him – but we will increase the population of the future Kingdom, and quite probably pull a little bit more of that future into our now.

The clock is ticking on this generation’s opportunity. May God open all of our eyes to see the harvest in our day – and that our harvest is ready now.