在收获季节的某些时刻，我会感到招架不住。园子里的番茄熟得很快。南瓜像气球一样膨胀到西瓜大小。多采摘一排豆角我就会背疼。摘一篮小红莓就要花一个多小时。我很难顾得过来。和加州年幼的孙女视频聊天时，我对她说，明年夏天要来帮爷爷采摘番茄哦。
在芝加哥南部实习期间，我对耶稣所说的这种收割的认识开始逐渐加深。有那么多的人极需神的爱和恩典。今天的经文揭示出，那些患疾病的、有病症的、困苦无依的人也计入丰收的队伍。我们所看到的和耶稣在一起的人群，使得收割的工作看起来更需劳力。或许这正解释了耶稣所说的“作工的人少”。
耶稣是否因招聚人群的工作而感到招架不住呢？——这些人“如同羊没有牧人一般”。这是祂要求工人的原因吗？或许吧，但这个恳求更多是要把我们拉进祂满有怜悯的生命中。这怜悯乃是为那些承受生命苦难的人预备的。
你有否祷告使自己成为收割庄稼的工人呢？请你这样祈求，并看看它会将你带往何处吧。
收割庄稼的主啊，求祢将祢对困苦无依的人的怜悯的异象充满我的心。差我进入祢收割的禾场，并以祢的爱装备我。阿们。
马太福音 9:35-38
35耶稣走遍各城各乡，在会堂里教训人，宣讲天国的福音，又医治各样的病症。
36他看见许多的人，就怜悯他们；因为他们困苦流离，如同羊没有牧人一般。
37于是对门徒说：“要收的庄稼多，做工的人少。
38所以，你们当求庄稼的主打发工人出去收他的庄稼。”
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." — Matthew 9:37-38
At a certain point in the harvest season, I can feel overwhelmed. The tomatoes in my garden are ripening fast. Zucchinis balloon to the size of watermelons. My back aches as I pick yet another row of beans. It takes me over an hour to pick a bucket full of raspberries. It's hard to keep up. In a video chat with my young granddaughter in California, I tell her to come next summer to help her Papa pick the tomatoes.
My eyes for seeing the kind of harvest Jesus is talking about began to develop during an internship on the south side of Chicago. There were so many people in great need of God's love and grace. Today's Bible reading reveals that the diseased, sick, harassed, and helpless are also numbered in the plentiful harvest. The crowd we see with Jesus makes the harvesting seem all the more labor intensive. Perhaps that explains the shortage of workers.
Did Jesus feel overwhelmed by the work of gathering this crowd—"like sheep without a shepherd"? Is this why he pleads for workers? Perhaps, but the plea is more about drawing us into his life of compassion for people who have suffered the thrashings of life.
Are we praying for ourselves to become workers in this harvest field? Pray this prayer and see where it takes you.
Lord of the harvest, overwhelm me with your compassionate vision for the harassed and helpless. Send me into your harvest field and equip me with your love. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
