BE JOYFUL HARVEST WORKERS!
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. “—MATTHEW 9:37, 38.
WHEN we recall the day of our baptism as one of Jehovah’s servants, whether it occurred a few years ago or many, it may seem as though it took place yesterday. Praising Je-hovah became the focal point of our dedicat-ed life. As we bought out the opportune time to help others to hear and possibly accept the Kingdom message, joyful service to Jeho-vah was our major concern. (Ephesians 5:15, 16) To this day, we find that time flies when we are busy, “having plenty to do in the work of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) Although we encounter problems, our joy in doing Je-hovah’s will spurs us on.—Nehemiah 8:10.
1. What helps us to press on in doing God’s will?
As Christians, we are engaged in a figu-rative harvest work. Jesus Christ likened the gathering of individuals for everlasting life to a harvest. (John 4:35-38) Since we are partic-ipating in such harvesting activity, it will be encouraging to examine the joy of the early Christian harvest workers. We will review three factors that contribute to the joy we ex-perience in today’s harvest work. These are (1) our message of hope, (2) the success of our search, and (3) our peace-making attitude as harvest workers.
2. What contributes to the joy we experience in the figurative harvest work?
Sent Forth as Harvest Workers
How the lives of early harvest work-ers—particularly Jesus’ 11 faithful apos-tles—changed on the day in 33 C.E. when they went to a mountain in Galilee to meet the resurrected Christ! (Matthew 28:16) “Up-ward of five hundred brothers” may have been present on that occasion. (1 Corinthians 15:6) The commission Jesus gave them rang in their ears. He told them: “Go . . . and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teach-ing them to observe all the things I have com-manded you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) Despite bitter persecution, they experienced much joy in the harvest work as they saw congre-gations of Christ’s followers being established in one place after another. In time, ‘the good news was being preached to all creation under heaven.’—Colossians 1:23; Acts 1:8; 16:5.
3. In what respect did Jesus’ early followers experl-ence joy?
“~ At an earlier point in his ministry in Gali-lee, Jesus had summoned the 12 apostles and had sent them forth especially to declare: “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matthew 10:1-7) He himself had “set out on a tour of all the [Galilean] cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and curing every sort of disease and every sort of infirmity.” Jesus felt pity for the crowds “be-cause they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35, 36) Deeply moved, he then told his disci-ples: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the har-vest [Jehovah Godl to send out workers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37, 38) Jesus’ assess-ment of the need for harvest workers was the same in Judea when only six months of his earthly ministry remained. (Luke 10:2) On both occasions, he sent his followers forth as harvest workers.—Matthew 10:5; Luke 10:3.
4. Under what circumstances were Christ’s disciples sent forth?
Our Message of Hope
As Jehovah’s present-day servants, we joy-fully respond to the call for harvest workers. One factor that contributes greatly to our joy is that we take a message of hope to the downhearted and depressed. Like Jesus’ first-century disciples, what a privilege we have to declare the good news—a real message of hope—to those “skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd”!
5. What kind of message do we declare?
By the middle of the first century, the apostle Paul was busy preaching the good news. And his harvesting work was surely ef-fective, for in writing to Christians in Cor-inth in about 55 C.E., he said: “I make known to you, brothers, the good news which I declared to you, which you also received, in which you also stand.” (1 Corinthians 15:1) The apostles and other early Christians were industrious harvest workers. Although the Bi- ble does not tell us how many apostles lived through the momentous events ending inJe-rusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E., we do know that the apostle John was still preaching some 25 years later.—Revelation 1:9.
6. In what activity did the aposfles engage in the first century?
Then came centuries of dominance by Christendom’s clergy, the apostate “man of lawlessness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) Toward the end of the 19th century however, those who sought to pattern their lives on primi-tive Christianity took up the message of hope, heralding the Kingdom. In fact, since its first issue (July 1879), the title of this journal has included the words “Herald of Christ’s Pres-ence,” “Herald of Christ’s Kingdom,” or “An-nouncingJehovah’s Kingdom.”
God’s heavenly Kingdom was established in the hands of Jesus Christ in 1914, and we are now proclaiming the message of hope with more urgency than ever before. Why? Because among the blessings of Kingdom rule is the imminent end of the present wick-ed system. (Daniel 2:44) What better message could there be? And what greater joy could we have than to share in announcing the King-dom before the “great tribulation” strikes?—Matthew 24:21; Mark 13:10.
7, 8. What message of hope have Jehovah’s ser-vants been declaring with more urgency now than ever?
A Successful Search
Another factor that contributes to our joy as harvest workers is the success of our search for those who become disciples and join us in the harvest work. Back in 31-32 C.E., Jesus in-structed his disciples: “Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is de-serving.” (Matthew 10:11) Not all individu-als were deserving, as shown by their reaction to the Kingdom message. Nevertheless, Jesus’ disciples zealously preached the good news wherever people happened to be.
9. What instruction did Jesus give his disciples, and how did people react to the Kingdom message?
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the search for deserving ones continued with vig-or. Paul reasoned with the Jews in their syn-agogue and with people on hand in the mar-ketplace in Athens. When he gave a witness on the Areopagus in that Greek city, “some men joined themselves to him and became believers, among whom also were Dionysi-us, a judge of the court of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others be-sides them.” Wherever Paul went, he was also exemplary in preaching “publicly and from house to house.”—Acts 17:17, 34; 20:20.
10. How did Paul pursue his search for deserving ones?
During the closing decades of the 19th century, anointed Christians boldly en-gaged in the search for deserving ones. In an article entifled “Anointed to Preach,” Zion’s Watch Tower of July/August 1881 said: “The preaching of the good news. . . is going on ‘to the meek’—those willing and able to hear, in order to develop from among them the body of Christ, the joint heirs.” God’s harvest work-ers often met people as these were leaving church services and gave them tracts contain-ing Scriptural messages designed to evoke a fa-vorable response in deserving ones. After a reappraisal of the effectiveness of this meth-od of witnessing, the Watch Tower of May 15, 1903, urged harvest workers to distribute the tracts “from house to house, on Sunday forenoons.”
11. What methods for carrying out the ministry were used years ago?
In recent years, we have expanded our ministry by contacting people at places other than their homes. This has proved very effec-tive in lands where economic conditions and the pursuit of leisure activities take people away from their homes at times when we nor-mally call. When a Witness in England and her companion observed visitors leaving reg- ularly by bus after enjoying a day at the coast, they summoned up courage to board the bus-es and present copies of The Watchtower and Awake! to the passengers. In one month, they distributed 229 copies. They report: “We have no fear of sea-front witnessing, business terri-tory, or any other challenge we may come up against because we know that Jehovah is al-ways with us.” They established a magazine route, started a Bible study, and both of them have shared in the auxiliary pioneer service.
12. How have we increased the effectiveness of our preaching work? Illustrate.
As the search for deserving ones con-tinues, a careful reappraisal of our minis-try may be called for in some places. Though many Witnesses have customarily engaged in preaching from house to house on Sunday mornings, in certain areas they find that early visits to people’s homes are less effective be-cause the occupants may be resting. By adjust- ing their schedule, many Witnesses now pur-sue the search later in the day, perhaps following Christian meetings. And this search has indeed proved fruitful. Last year the num-ber of Kingdom proclaimers worldwide rose by 2.3 percent. This honors the Master of the harvest and brings joy to our hearts.
13. What adjustment in our ministry is now called for in some places?
Maintain Peace in the Harvest Work
Another reason for our joy relates to the peace-making attitude we display in the har-vest work. “When you are entering into the house,” Jesus said, “greet the household; and if the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it.” (Matthew 10:12,13) The Hebrew greeting and the correspond-ing term in Biblical Greek both convey the thought ‘May it go well with you.’ This senti-ment guides our approach to people when we preach the good news. Our hope is that they will respond favorably to the Kingdom mes-sage. For those who do, there is the pros-pect of reconciliation with God as they repent of their sins, turn around, and do his will. In turn, peace with God leads to everlasting life.—John 17:3; Acts 3:19; 13:38, 48; 2 Corinthi-ans 5:18-20.
14. With what attitude do we present our message, and why?
How can we maintain our peace when the reaction we encounter is unfavorable? Je-sus directed: “If [the house] is not deserv-ing, let the peace from you return upon you.” (Matthew 10:13) Luke’s account about the sending out of 70 disciples includes Jesus’ statement: “If a friend of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if there is not it will turn back to you.” (Luke 10:6) When we approach people with the good news, we ap-propriately do so with a pleasant disposition and in a manner that is peaceable. An apa-thetic response, a complaint, or an unkind re-mark by a householder only serves to allow our peaceful message to ‘return to us.’ But none of this robs us of peace, a fruit of Jeho-vah’s holy spirit.—Galatians 5:22, 23.
15. How can we maintain a peaceful attitude when we encounter an unfavorable reaction in our preaching work?
A Fine Goal for Harvest Workers
As harvest workers we are delighted to have a part in the gathering of people for everlasting life. And what joy we experience when a person to whom we preach responds favorably, wants to learn more, and proves to be “a friend of peace”! Perhaps he has many Bible questions and we find it impossible to answer all of them during one visit. Since a prolonged stay on the first visit may be in-appropriate, what can be done? We can have a goal like the one recommended some 60 years ago.
“All of Jehovah’s witnesses should be pre-pared to conduct model studies in the Bible.” That statement appeared in the third in a se-ries of Model Study instruction booklets pub-lished from 1937 to 1941. It went on to say: “All [Kingdom] publishers should be diligent in assisting in every way possible the people of good-will showing interest in the King-dom message. Back-calls [return visits] should be made on these persons, answering various questions.. . , and then begin a model study as soon as you possibly can.” Yes, our goal on return visits is to start a home Bible study and conduct it regularly)’ A friendly attitude and loving concern for the interested person prompt us to prepare well and conduct the study effectively.
16, 17. (a) What is our goal when making return visits? (b) How can we help those who have Bible questions?
footnote: ( Studies were organized first at locations where groups of interested people could be gathered. Soon, however, the studies were also held with individuals and families—See Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 574, published by Jehovah’s witnesses.)
18 With the help of the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life and such bro-chures as What Does God Require of Us?, we can conduct effective home Bible studies and can thus share in assisting newly interest-ed ones to become disciples. As we seek to imitate the Great Teacher, Jesus Christ, like-ly such Bible students will also learn from our peaceful, joyful manner, our sincerity, and our respect for Jehovah’s standards and guide-lines. When we help new ones with answers to their questions, let us also do what we can to teach them how they can answer those who question them. (2 Timothy 2:1, 2; 1 Pe-ter 2:21) As figurative harvest workers, surely we can be joyful that an average of 4,766,631 home Bible studies were conducted world-wide this past service year. We are especially joyful if we personally are among the harvest workers who have a share in home Bible study activity.
18. How can we help new ones to become disciples of Jesus Christ?
Keep On Rejoicing in the Harvest
There were good reasons for joy in the harvest during Jesus’ ministry and short-ly thereafter. Many then responded favor-ably to the good news. Rejoicing was particu-larly great at Pentecost 33 C.E., for some 3,000 then accepted Peter’s direction, received Jeho-vah’s holy spirit, and became part of God’s nation of spiritual Israel. Indeed, their num-bers kept on increasing, and joy abounded as “Jehovah continued to join to them daily those being saved.”—Acts 2:37-41, 46, 47; Ga-latians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:9.
19. Why were there good reasons for joy in the har-vest during Jesus’ ministry and shortly thereafter?
At that time, Isaiah’s prophecy was prov-ing true: “You [Jehovah] have made the na-tion populous; for it you have made the re-joicing great. They have rejoiced before you as with the rejoicing in the harvesttime, as those who are joyful when they divide up the spoil.” (Isaiah 9:3) Although we now see that ‘populous nation’ of anointed ones virtually complete, our joy is abundant as we observe the number of other harvest workers growing year by year.—Psalm 4:7; Zechariah 8:23; John 10:16.
[I]20. What brings us abundant joy in our harvest work?
We certainly have sound reasons to keep on rejoicing in the harvest work. Our message of hope, our search for deserving ones, and our peace-making attitude—all of these fac-tors bring us joy as harvest workers. Yet, they prompt an adverse reaction from many. The apostle John experienced this. He was impris-oned on the island of Patmos “for speak-ing about God and bearing witness to Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9) How, then, can we maintain our joy when faced with persecution and op-position? What will help us to cope with the hardening attitude of many to whom we now preach? Our next article offers Scriptural help in answering these questions.
[I]21. What will we discuss in the following article?
How Would You Answer?
• What is the figurative harvest work?
• What kind of message do we declare?
• Why Is our search for disciples suc-cessful?
• How do we maintain peace in the harvest work?
• Why do we keep on rejoicing in the harvest?