WEBVTT 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.379 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:09.099 Sermons. This week we are wrapping up our teaching 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.480 series called Growing Season, where we've been 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:13.359 going back to the farm to learn what the farm 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.600 has to teach us about faith. Today we're talking 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.940 about the harvest. After all of the work of planting 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:23.339 and sowing and waiting and watering, we finally 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:27.260 come to the harvest. But what about when we don't 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.579 actually get to see that harvest come to fruition? 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:33.679 What then? That's what Rob is going to unpack 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:39.640 for us in today's sermon. Today's reading is 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.539 from the Gospel of John chapter 4, verses 35 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:45.859 to 38. Don't you have a saying? It's still four 00:00:45.859 --> 00:00:48.840 months until harvest. I tell you, open your eyes 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:50.960 and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest. 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.100 Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.520 harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.320 sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.049 the saying. One sows and another reaps is true. 00:01:02.530 --> 00:01:04.909 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:07.469 Others have done the hard work and you have reaped 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:09.569 the benefits of their labor. The word of the 00:01:09.569 --> 00:01:13.290 God. Well, we have spent all summer doing this 00:01:13.290 --> 00:01:15.870 teaching series called Growing Season. We'll 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:19.269 be looking at farms and farming and all that 00:01:19.269 --> 00:01:21.810 stuff. And you may wonder, well, why would you 00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:23.510 spend so much time on that? And I just want to 00:01:23.510 --> 00:01:26.480 let you know, there's kind of three. big reasons. 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:29.079 One is that the Bible is actually full of farms 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.420 and farmers and agriculture. You can barely turn 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:34.599 a page without coming across it. So that's the 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.280 first reason. The second reason is related to 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:41.260 it. The idea that God himself is like a farmer. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:44.760 He is like a good shepherd, like a vine grower, 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:49.359 a gardener who is growing good things in our 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:51.939 lives and in our world. So that's the second 00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:53.879 reason. The third reason we did this is because 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:57.569 it's summertime. And summertime for a farmer 00:01:57.569 --> 00:02:01.810 is not a slowing time. It is a growing time. 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:04.909 It is a growing season. And it's true that many 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.950 churches will often take summer as an opportunity 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:10.689 to take a break or step back or kind of slow 00:02:10.689 --> 00:02:14.050 down. But we said, no, we want to lean in to 00:02:14.050 --> 00:02:17.310 the growing season of farmers and see what God 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:20.870 can grow in us this summertime. So that's kind 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:23.210 of why we did this series. And as you can see, 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:26.719 it involved interviews. my dad from time to time 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:30.319 as well, who was a retired farmer. Now, some 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:35.219 of you maybe made it to all 10 of these teachings, 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:38.659 these Sundays, and we're at the very end now. 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:41.860 But if you missed some of them, or if you missed 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:43.860 a lot of them, or this is your first Sunday and 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:45.800 you've missed all of them, then we put together 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.199 just a little recap video to let you know kind 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:51.520 of where we've been this summer. You are God's 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.110 field. The Bible is an agricultural book. Summer 00:02:55.110 --> 00:02:59.789 is the growing season and God is planting and 00:02:59.789 --> 00:03:02.430 growing something here at Trinity. And so for 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:05.449 all of these reasons, we are going back to the 00:03:05.449 --> 00:03:08.810 farm this summer. This is our old milking barn. 00:03:09.050 --> 00:03:12.370 There was a cherry tree out there. It's still 00:03:12.370 --> 00:03:16.199 here. Right here. This is a handprint that I 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:19.219 pressed into this cement when we poured this 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:23.039 little basketball court about the late 80s. Is 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.580 that your handprint on the cement? Yeah, yeah, 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:27.860 yeah. God's presence is everywhere when you are 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:30.419 dealing with the mysteries of life, planting 00:03:30.419 --> 00:03:33.900 a seed and seeing it grow. It's not in human 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:38.020 hands how that seed will germinate and produce 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:41.500 maybe a hundred seeds from the one you planted. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.900 as we pray, God, you know, change my circumstances. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.319 But God says, nah, right now I just want to change 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:52.300 you. God is growing roots and roots take time 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:54.699 and they grow in the dark and no one applauds. 00:03:55.639 --> 00:04:00.139 and no one sees everybody has to go to work in 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:03.319 some fashion and i kind of think that maybe i 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:06.000 was fortunate because i just had to step outside 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.360 the door and my work was right there and i didn't 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:12.039 have a commute i didn't really mind it most of 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.240 the time i think god operates the same way that 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:19.240 a dairy farm operates one ordinary day at a time 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:24.079 every morning every night this rhythm you don't 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.000 want it around all summer because of the flies 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.199 it attracts so it's often spread on the field 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.339 some people spread it almost every day and let 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:37.240 it break down in the fields farmers actually 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.680 are there to teach us something that we have 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.699 forgotten and that is that what smells like waste 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:47.139 may still have worth that not everything that 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:50.680 smells bad is useless and not everything that 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:55.060 is messy is meaningless. I think being around 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:58.560 animals, you realize that life has its beginnings 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.839 and it has its ends. And sure, you can feel badly 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.040 if you lose an animal, but you've got 50 others 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.139 that are still alive and you have to look after. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:11.600 So life goes on. God is good. And if we are faithful, 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:13.899 why is there still so much trouble in the field 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:17.980 in my life? or in the world? Why so much pain? 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:22.100 Why so much suffering? It is a very deep question. 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:26.300 Yeah, that's our loader tractor. It was bought 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:31.220 new in 93. So it's over 30 years old, but it 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:34.600 still works. We used this one to scoop the manure 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:37.279 out of our manure pit. That's right. But eventually, 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:40.819 eventually we're going to get tired and we're 00:05:40.819 --> 00:05:44.779 going to discover that human effort is not enough 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:47.720 to get through life. Most of us rely on custom 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:51.259 work to some degree. You hire somebody with the 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:54.779 implement. that you need. More hiring and less 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:59.279 volunteering. It's contracting, not community 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:01.819 building. That's right. It could be a farmer 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:06.300 in the field, could be you in the pew, but community. 00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:11.129 essential to what makes for a meaningful life 00:06:11.129 --> 00:06:14.449 it was always our aim to give you a range of 00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:17.269 experiences that would help you make your own 00:06:17.269 --> 00:06:20.410 decision if it was a decision to farm well so 00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:23.290 be it in the case of our family and our four 00:06:23.290 --> 00:06:26.990 kids nobody really chose farming they all went 00:06:26.990 --> 00:06:30.509 different ways this learning is passed on it's 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:33.850 passed on from one person to another person from 00:06:33.850 --> 00:06:38.779 one generation to another other generation. And 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:41.379 then, of course, last week when I was away, we 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:43.939 had Mike Messenger preaching. And he spoke about 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:48.379 how generosity and giving is part of kind of 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:52.040 farming culture, both biblically and today. All 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:54.420 that brings us to today, to week 10, where we're 00:06:54.420 --> 00:06:56.160 going to end. And what better place to end than 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.360 with the topic of the harvest. Now, the harvest. 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:02.600 At this time of year in southern Ontario, it's 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.899 a very interesting time. Because on the one hand, 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:06.939 a whole bunch of harvesting is already over and 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:10.899 done. has already been baled and put in the barn. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.720 Most of the wheat has been cut and the wheat 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:17.379 is now in the granaries. That's done. But also 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:20.100 happening right now, there are things that are 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.980 coming to harvest at this very moment. So if 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:25.259 you go to a roadside fruit stand, you will see, 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:27.100 you know, peaches and you will see blueberries 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:29.759 and you will see beans and tomatoes. Those things 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.959 are being harvested right now as we speak. And 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:35.980 then there are other things that it's still not 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:39.300 time to harvest yet. The big fields of cow corn 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:41.540 or the big fields of soybeans, they're still 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:44.199 green. It's going to be several weeks before 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:47.860 they're ready to be harvested. So that's one 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.980 thing about farming. The thing is, a harvest 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:55.839 doesn't arrive everywhere all at once, right? 00:07:55.980 --> 00:07:59.819 Some things grow from seed to crop in just a 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:01.800 matter of weeks. Other things take months. If 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:04.110 you had a chicken and it was, incubating some 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:06.629 eggs. It would only take three weeks for those 00:08:06.629 --> 00:08:09.009 eggs to hatch. But if you had a cow that was 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:11.490 pregnant with a calf, it would take nine months 00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:15.829 in order for that calf to finally be born. Whatever 00:08:15.829 --> 00:08:21.980 it is, the harvest represents the moment. when 00:08:21.980 --> 00:08:24.279 everything that you've been waiting for, everything 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:27.300 you've been looking for, longing for, finally 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:30.980 becomes visible. The harvest is the culmination 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:33.740 of all that hard work, all the planting, the 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:37.460 plowing, the cultivating, the planting, the fertilizing, 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:40.580 the irrigating, the weeding, the struggle, the 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:43.759 praying, the praying, the praying. For much of 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:47.769 the growing season, you know, a farmer... looks 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:52.110 out at a field where the harvest is not yet visible. 00:08:52.250 --> 00:08:55.330 It's only at the very end. It's only at harvest 00:08:55.330 --> 00:08:58.070 time that you finally see what you've been waiting 00:08:58.070 --> 00:09:00.950 for, finally see what you're praying for and 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:05.389 hoping for. Today, Jesus, in our reading, he 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:08.429 uses the language of harvest, but he's not talking 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:10.190 about the harvesting of crops. He's talking about 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:13.440 harvest in a different way. Because you see, 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:16.200 in our lives, in your life, in my life, there 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:20.220 are things that we are waiting for, things that 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:23.200 we are working for, things that we are praying 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.480 for. Some of you here today, you are waiting 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:30.279 for healing in your life. Some of you today, 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.500 you are working toward a future, working to get 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:36.559 through your degree, working to get, you know, 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.740 a career off the ground. Others, you are praying. 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.080 You've been praying and praying for a relationship 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.980 or something like that. And nothing has happened 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:49.799 yet. It hasn't come to harvest time. And so we 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:52.080 end up feeling kind of like farmers looking out 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.059 over field, just hoping and praying that some 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:58.740 good will come from all of our hopes. prayers 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:04.120 and efforts. In that reading today, we caught 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.940 just a little bit of Jesus's teaching, but what 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:11.059 you didn't see is that right before this, Jesus 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:14.980 had had a radical encounter with this woman at 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.879 the well. It's a very famous story, John chapter 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.259 4, Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.039 What I want to say to you is that if you look 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:28.820 at that woman's life, you see that she is like 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:32.440 someone who is waiting for a harvest to come 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:35.899 into her life. She has longings that have not 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:38.639 been fulfilled. She has pain in her life that 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.440 has not been healed. She has questions in her 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:45.159 mind that have not been answered. So she is a 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:48.529 person waiting. for a harvest. And I wonder if 00:10:48.529 --> 00:10:50.769 we look at her just a little more closely, if 00:10:50.769 --> 00:10:53.750 you don't see some of yourself in her. Let me 00:10:53.750 --> 00:10:56.350 explain. First of all, she is a person who has 00:10:56.350 --> 00:11:00.470 been longing for acceptance. The reason I say 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:03.009 this is because we're told that she went to gather 00:11:03.009 --> 00:11:05.470 water at the well in the heat of the day alone 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:09.309 at noon. But most women would go in the cool 00:11:09.309 --> 00:11:10.850 of the morning and they would go together. It 00:11:10.850 --> 00:11:13.009 was a very social time. Why did she go alone? 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:18.460 Why has she been excluded, right? I think she 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:22.879 is feeling, you know, excluded and longing for 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.919 a harvest of being connected. I mean, what does 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.480 she do? Why are people rejecting her? She's waiting 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.379 for a harvest of belonging, a harvest of acceptance. 00:11:32.659 --> 00:11:35.259 And maybe you can relate to her in that way. 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:38.100 But the second thing we know about her is that 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:40.679 she has been living with pain. If you read the 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:42.820 story and the conversation Jesus has with her, 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:45.220 it becomes apparent she has had several marriages 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:49.049 that have not worked out. Five, actually. And 00:11:49.049 --> 00:11:51.950 if you have had five marriages, I can guarantee 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:54.809 you, you have plenty of hurts to go along with 00:11:54.809 --> 00:11:59.029 them, right? So what wounds is this woman carrying? 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:03.730 You know, what mistreatment has she suffered? 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:06.669 I think she represents any of us here today who 00:12:06.669 --> 00:12:09.570 are longing for some healing in our life, whether 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:11.889 it's physical healing or spiritual healing or 00:12:11.889 --> 00:12:15.659 emotional healing or whatever. Third, this woman 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:18.960 is longing for another kind of harvest, right? 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:23.320 She has had all these marriages end on her, but 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:24.919 we don't really know how. What happened? Did 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:28.580 her husbands die? Did they end in divorce? Did 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.860 they end in abandonment each? type of those things 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:35.399 represents a different loss in someone's life. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.519 She has seen her hopes dashed again and again 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:42.460 and again. And so she represents anyone here 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:45.500 today who has ever planted a seed in a relationship, 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:48.700 you know, planted a seed in a marriage or in 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:50.799 a family or in a friendship. And for whatever 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.519 reason, it never grew to fruition. I don't know. 00:12:55.539 --> 00:12:59.179 Is that you? Can you relate to this woman? And 00:12:59.179 --> 00:13:02.720 finally, she is a woman who is looking for answers. 00:13:03.340 --> 00:13:05.840 When Jesus speaks with her, it's very interesting. 00:13:05.980 --> 00:13:07.960 She has all these questions. She has questions 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:10.580 about worship. She has questions about religion. 00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:16.000 She has questions about where God can be found. 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.399 So she's not just at the well looking for water. 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:21.679 She is a woman who is looking for answers. And 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.840 so therefore, she would represent any of you 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:28.000 here today who are looking for a harvest of Answers. 00:13:28.019 --> 00:13:31.840 A harvest of certainty. A harvest of truth. Maybe 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.340 you've got questions about God. Maybe you wonder 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:37.879 where God is to be found just like her and you're 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.740 waiting for God to show up. So there she is. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.500 She's like a farmer standing at an empty field 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.639 or a half -grown field looking for a harvest. 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:50.659 A harvest of belonging. A harvest of healing. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.659 A harvest of restoration. A harvest of truth 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:58.460 and answers. That's her. That's what she's longing 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:02.919 for. But what about you? Like what harvest are 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:07.779 you waiting for in your life, right? What is 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:10.320 that thing you've been working for and you've 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.500 been praying for and you've been longing for 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:14.879 and you hope that, my goodness, just one day 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:19.059 I just want to see this happen. Maybe it's a 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:23.600 child who has lost their way and you just want 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.639 to see that child find their way again. Maybe 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.539 it's some other prayer that has gone unanswered. 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.460 Maybe there's an addiction in your life and you're 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:31.799 just waiting somehow for the day to come when 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.500 you can finally break that bad habit that is 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:37.320 holding you back. Or maybe it's a sickness that 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.360 you're suffering with. Or maybe you're like this 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:43.519 woman and you're just waiting for God to reveal 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:46.100 himself. Waiting to know that God is there. You've 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:51.399 got so many. Here is the thing about harvests. 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:54.340 And let's start with the best news. The best 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:58.419 news is sometimes we actually do live to see 00:14:58.419 --> 00:15:02.340 the things that we have longed for come to fruition. 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:05.799 I mean, farmers normally. Normally, they get 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.360 to see the harvest. They get to see the seeds 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:10.960 that they plant grow and ultimately come into 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.159 the granary. They get to see the animal get pregnant 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.240 and give birth. And by winter, the pens are full 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:22.730 of babies. And the same is true for us. Our prayer 00:15:22.730 --> 00:15:26.529 does get answered. And the relationship is restored. 00:15:26.730 --> 00:15:29.230 And that door opens. And the healing comes. And 00:15:29.230 --> 00:15:30.929 we say, I'm healed. I can't believe it. I don't 00:15:30.929 --> 00:15:32.750 know how it happened, but I have been healed. 00:15:32.909 --> 00:15:35.389 And we get to say, for whatever reason, I saw 00:15:35.389 --> 00:15:38.350 the answer. I saw the harvest. That's it. It 00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:40.470 happened. This is what I've been waiting for. 00:15:40.690 --> 00:15:43.389 I knew that God was up to something. And now 00:15:43.389 --> 00:15:47.429 I can see it with my own eyes. I knew it all 00:15:47.429 --> 00:15:53.139 along. And that... Happens for this woman actually. 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:56.720 She had told Jesus. Oh Jesus you know I know 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.899 the Messiah is going to come one day. And I know 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:01.320 that God will reveal himself one day. And Jesus 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:05.919 says guess what? I am he. I'm the one that you've 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.500 been waiting for. It's this amazing moment. She 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:10.980 has been looking for answers and boom, now the 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:13.299 answer is sitting right in front of her. She 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:17.379 had been looking for God and now God has found 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:20.059 her. She had been looking for acceptance and 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:23.000 love and lo and behold, Jesus shows up and accepts 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:25.539 her and loves her. I mean, not everything in 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:28.460 her life is sorted out, but she gets to see it. 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:32.559 She gets to witness it. All of her hopes and 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:36.950 dreams. finally become visible. The harvest has 00:16:36.950 --> 00:16:39.809 begun. And she gets to see even more harvest 00:16:39.809 --> 00:16:42.250 than that because she goes off to the town and 00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:44.090 she tells everybody in town, hey guys, you'll 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:46.509 never guess what happened. I just met the Messiah. 00:16:46.570 --> 00:16:48.389 He's out there by the well. You got to come and 00:16:48.389 --> 00:16:50.710 see him. And so all the townspeople come rushing 00:16:50.710 --> 00:16:54.129 out to the well. So that same woman that was 00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:57.009 looking for God gets to witness the harvest of 00:16:57.009 --> 00:17:00.529 a whole bunch of people coming to meet Jesus 00:17:00.529 --> 00:17:05.019 and to find God just like her. her. And we love 00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:07.460 it when this happens. We love it when this happens. 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:12.799 Sometimes God allows us to see the fruit. And 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:16.619 when we see it, we rejoice. You pray for your 00:17:16.619 --> 00:17:20.480 child for years. And then you realize there's 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.440 some amazing change. Or you work at your marriage 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.339 for years. And then all of a sudden you wake 00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:26.700 up one day and you're like, you know what? We're 00:17:26.700 --> 00:17:29.480 not where we used to be. Things are getting better. 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:32.299 Or you serve at church. Or you mentor a young 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:35.240 person. Or you volunteer at kids church. And 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.400 you actually get the privilege of watching something 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.440 beautiful in their lives change and happen and 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.009 come to. fruition. Sometimes God allows us to 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:48.970 see the harvest. And when we do, goodness gracious, 00:17:49.170 --> 00:17:51.869 it is time to rejoice. Look at what Jesus says. 00:17:51.990 --> 00:17:54.730 The reaper is receiving a reward and gathering 00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:58.089 fruit for eternal life so that the sower and 00:17:58.089 --> 00:18:05.289 the reaper may rejoice together. So yes. Of course, 00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:07.369 there are seasons in your life where you're planting, 00:18:07.529 --> 00:18:09.849 seasons where you're working, seasons when storms 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:12.630 come, seasons of loss, seasons when you have 00:18:12.630 --> 00:18:16.190 manure on your boots, seasons when it's a dark, 00:18:16.289 --> 00:18:18.170 dark night you're going through, but there are 00:18:18.170 --> 00:18:22.529 also seasons, by God's grace, that you stand 00:18:22.529 --> 00:18:28.230 back and you look at what God has grown and you 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:33.440 say, my goodness, look at that. You know, I think 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.680 actually Camp Trinity is one of those moments. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:38.799 I just, you know, again, you saw the videos, 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:42.039 but we've been sowing seeds all summer. And I'm 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:44.000 not saying that every one of those seeds has 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.940 grown to fruition and come to harvest, but today 00:18:46.940 --> 00:18:50.400 we saw on those videos, we saw friendships that 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:55.210 had formed, families who had felt welcomed. in 00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:58.369 this place. That is a harvest. We have seen young 00:18:58.369 --> 00:19:02.430 adults and teenagers who have grown into leaders. 00:19:02.670 --> 00:19:07.490 We celebrate that every now and then. God lets 00:19:07.490 --> 00:19:10.769 you look across the field and see the harvest 00:19:10.769 --> 00:19:16.809 come in. But not always. Not always. Sometimes 00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:22.450 we live to see this and other times somebody 00:19:22.450 --> 00:19:26.259 else gets to see it, not us. Right? Jesus says 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:28.759 this interesting line. He says, one sows and 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:32.619 another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:36.559 you did not labor. Others have labored and you 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.799 have entered in to their labor. kind of true 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.880 on a farm. The farmer actually inherits a lot 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.920 of work that was done by the previous landowner. 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.579 Somebody built that barn 120 years ago. It wasn't 00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:50.720 me, but we benefit from it. Someone cleared the 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.140 land. Someone removed all the rocks, right? Someone 00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:57.480 even, you know, planted some seeds. Maybe you 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.519 bought a farm and the first year the crop wasn't 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.720 even planted by you, but you get to enjoy the 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.740 fruit of it. You have entered into someone else's 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:12.190 labor. you may one day harvest a field that you 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:14.470 never planted, and on the flip side of that coin, 00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:17.130 you may plant a field one day that somebody else 00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:20.150 will get to harvest. This is really hard for 00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:23.029 us to accept, because what we want is what we 00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:25.210 want to see the results of the things that we 00:20:25.210 --> 00:20:28.369 do right now. Hey, if I encourage someone, I 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:30.089 want to know that it made a difference. If I 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:33.170 pray, I want to know that it was answered. But 00:20:33.170 --> 00:20:36.049 sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes... 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:38.279 You know, like a Sunday school teacher might 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:42.539 teach a child about Jesus and never see anything 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:46.859 come of it. But 20 years later, someone else 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:49.660 gets to see that seed come alive in their life. 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:52.759 Or there might be a parent who is praying faithfully 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.539 every day, every night for a son or daughter. 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:59.339 And that parent literally never even lives to 00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:03.920 see how that prayer eventually gets answered. 00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:07.589 I can remember having conversations with friends 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:11.549 when I was in university about faith. And I'll 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:13.450 tell you, those conversations seemed to go absolutely 00:21:13.450 --> 00:21:16.349 nowhere. But years later, you know what? Somebody 00:21:16.349 --> 00:21:18.589 else came along and had another conversation. 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:20.930 And somebody else had another conversation. And 00:21:20.930 --> 00:21:23.670 suddenly, something began to grow in their lives. 00:21:23.910 --> 00:21:29.390 One person sows and another person reaps. Jesus 00:21:29.390 --> 00:21:32.650 tells his disciples, others have labored. Others 00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:35.450 have worked and you have just got to enter in 00:21:35.450 --> 00:21:38.410 to that labor. In other words, I want you just 00:21:38.410 --> 00:21:41.210 to know that don't assume that the harvest begins 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:46.250 and ends with you. When those Samaritan townspeople 00:21:46.250 --> 00:21:48.089 came rushing out to see Jesus, you know, the 00:21:48.089 --> 00:21:50.630 disciples got to be there to witness the harvest 00:21:50.630 --> 00:21:53.170 come in. But come on, that story had been going 00:21:53.170 --> 00:21:56.230 on long before they arrived. God had been working 00:21:56.230 --> 00:21:59.569 long before they ever showed up. They just got 00:21:59.569 --> 00:22:03.319 to be part of the harvest. And so maybe there 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:05.619 is someone here today, and this is the thing 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:08.579 that you need to hear, and that is that many 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.099 of the most important things we do will bear 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:16.339 fruit in someone else's hands. You've been praying, 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:18.500 you've been loving, you've been serving, and 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:21.460 you've not seen much come of it. But don't worry. 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:25.160 And don't confuse the phrase, I haven't seen 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.460 the harvest, with... there will not be a harvest, 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:30.980 right? Because they're not the same things. Sometimes 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.960 we plant something in someone's life and it bears 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:36.500 fruit in somebody else's time, in somebody else's 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:40.240 field, in some other season. Sometimes our calling 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.359 is simply to prepare the ground or to water a 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:46.220 young plant and trust that God is going to make 00:22:46.220 --> 00:22:50.279 sure that something happens after us. And so, 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:54.700 if you happen to be the one who gets to reap, 00:22:55.549 --> 00:22:57.890 You can be grateful and you can rejoice. But 00:22:57.890 --> 00:22:59.970 if you happen to be the one who gets to sow, 00:23:00.230 --> 00:23:03.809 just don't lose heart. Sometimes we live to see 00:23:03.809 --> 00:23:08.829 it. Sometimes somebody else gets to see it. But 00:23:08.829 --> 00:23:13.490 lastly, there is another kind of harvest. And 00:23:13.490 --> 00:23:15.829 that is there are some things that we pray for 00:23:15.829 --> 00:23:19.420 and some things we work for. long for that we 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:22.059 don't get to see and actually nobody else ever 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:25.000 gets to see the harvest either. Because sometimes 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.579 the harvest comes at the very end. See, Christianity 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:31.559 doesn't promise that every prayer you pray is 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:33.480 going to somehow be answered in this lifetime. 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:37.160 Some prayers remain unanswered. Some relationships 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:41.180 remain broken. Some sicknesses are not healed. 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:45.079 Some people die. They die waiting for an answer 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:49.440 to their prayer. You know, we spend years and 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:53.539 years planting and we never get to see anything 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:59.539 grow. What do we do in those moments? This week, 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:02.480 I came across this verse. When I was away on 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.700 some vacation. And I thought oh man. I want to 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:06.200 print that. It's printed on the back of your 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.420 sermon notes. It just stuck with me. Paul writes 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:12.079 this. He says let us not become weary in doing 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:15.799 good. For at the proper time. We will reap a 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:19.099 harvest. If we do not give up. Now notice those 00:24:19.099 --> 00:24:23.240 words. At the proper time. Not today. Not tomorrow. 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:25.740 Not even according to your time. But God has 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:30.910 a proper time. An appointed time. When God will 00:24:30.910 --> 00:24:34.849 bring all his work to completion. And frankly 00:24:34.849 --> 00:24:38.910 that might not be till the very end. The great 00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:42.269 hope of the Christian faith. Is that one day. 00:24:42.269 --> 00:24:46.710 When? The final day. At the very end. One day. 00:24:46.950 --> 00:24:52.349 God will gather up. Everything he has been growing. 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:54.730 In your life and my life. Every prayer you've 00:24:54.730 --> 00:24:57.609 prayed. Every act of love that you showed. Every 00:24:57.609 --> 00:24:59.730 cup of cold water that you gave to someone who 00:24:59.730 --> 00:25:02.309 was thirsty. Every child you welcomed at camp. 00:25:02.509 --> 00:25:05.150 Every person you forgave. You may not live to 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:07.410 see the fruit of it. Nobody else may live to 00:25:07.410 --> 00:25:09.289 see the fruit of it. But on the last day you'll 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:11.910 realize. What I planted grew into something. 00:25:12.130 --> 00:25:14.869 It's there. It lasted to the very end. And God 00:25:14.869 --> 00:25:18.549 harvested it. One day there will be a great. 00:25:19.679 --> 00:25:21.619 Harvest home. I don't know if you ever heard 00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:23.299 that phrase, harvest home, but there used to 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:25.859 be these old festivals. I think they were from 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:28.799 England. It was a big celebration at the end 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:30.619 of the harvest. Once everything was gathered 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:33.500 in the barn, once the long season was over, the 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:35.299 community would come together and they would 00:25:35.299 --> 00:25:37.099 eat and they would sing and they would dance 00:25:37.099 --> 00:25:39.200 and they would celebrate and they would give 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:43.779 thanks. My friends, that is where the whole Christian 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:48.579 story is going. There is a day that is coming, 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.819 and only God knows when that day is coming, when 00:25:50.819 --> 00:25:53.720 everything that has been broken will be made 00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:56.619 new. Every tear you ever cried will be wiped 00:25:56.619 --> 00:26:01.500 away. It's a day when even death will be defeated, 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:05.599 right? And on that day, God will gather like 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.490 a... The Lord of the harvest, he will gather 00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:11.470 everything home. That's how the story of the 00:26:11.470 --> 00:26:14.150 Bible ends. It ends with a gathering. It ends 00:26:14.150 --> 00:26:17.250 with a harvest. It ends with a final coming home. 00:26:17.450 --> 00:26:20.529 And you may say, oh, that sounds really good 00:26:20.529 --> 00:26:23.609 to know that one day it'll all work out in the 00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:25.750 end, Rob. But how do we know this is true? How 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:28.390 do we know there'll be this great harvest home 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:32.210 at the end of time? Well, actually, the Bible... 00:26:32.730 --> 00:26:35.990 tells us that that harvest has already begun. 00:26:36.130 --> 00:26:38.869 And it began in Jesus Christ. And that's how 00:26:38.869 --> 00:26:41.049 we know that it will happen. Look what Paul says. 00:26:41.390 --> 00:26:44.509 Christ has been raised from the dead. Therefore, 00:26:44.650 --> 00:26:49.849 he is the first of the great harvest of all who 00:26:49.849 --> 00:26:53.029 have died. When Jesus died, it looked like complete... 00:26:53.369 --> 00:26:56.650 Crop failure. Empty field. The dream was over. 00:26:56.809 --> 00:26:58.950 But when he rose, you know what he became? He 00:26:58.950 --> 00:27:02.190 became the very first apple of the new harvest. 00:27:02.309 --> 00:27:04.690 The end harvest. He became the very first stock 00:27:04.690 --> 00:27:08.869 of corn from the final harvest of God. Right? 00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:13.000 And so now... We know that harvest is coming 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.019 because it already showed up in Jesus in the 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:18.079 middle of time. The resurrection of Jesus is 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:22.200 God's promise that the final harvest is coming. 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:24.279 So if you plant something and you don't see the 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:28.599 fruit, don't conclude, oh, I've wasted my time. 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:30.640 No, no, no. And when you pray for something and 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:32.960 you don't see that prayer come true, whatever, 00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:37.579 don't doubt that God exists, right? And when 00:27:37.579 --> 00:27:40.819 we bury someone that we love, We don't have to 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:43.500 believe the grave gets the final word. No, we 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:45.400 need to remember that one day God will gather 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.559 up everything that he's been growing. And some 00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:49.240 of it we get to see now. Some of it somebody 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:51.299 else will get to see. And some of it won't be 00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:55.400 seen except by God at the very, very end when 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:57.839 he gathers everything home. That's why we keep 00:27:57.839 --> 00:27:59.940 planting. That's why we keep working. That's 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:02.299 why we keep praying. That's why we keep loving. 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:06.240 Because the harvest actually finally doesn't 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.509 depend on us. It depends on God. And so after 00:28:10.509 --> 00:28:14.289 10 weeks of this growing season series, this 00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:17.390 is probably the best place to finish. Jesus tells 00:28:17.390 --> 00:28:20.109 his disciples to see all these people that are 00:28:20.109 --> 00:28:22.869 arriving, the great harvest. And he says, hey, 00:28:22.950 --> 00:28:27.950 lift up your eyes. Look at what God is already 00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:30.309 growing. Rejoice in the harvest that you can 00:28:30.309 --> 00:28:33.569 see. Keep planting for the harvest that you will 00:28:33.569 --> 00:28:36.630 never see. Trust God with the fields that look 00:28:36.630 --> 00:28:40.150 empty because none of it, none of the praying, 00:28:40.369 --> 00:28:42.490 none of the planting, none of the waiting, the 00:28:42.490 --> 00:28:47.150 grieving, the loving, none of it is wasted in 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:52.329 the hands of the Lord of the harvest. The first 00:28:52.329 --> 00:28:56.180 fruits. are already out of the ground. Jesus 00:28:56.180 --> 00:29:02.019 is risen. The harvest has begun. And one day, 00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:06.279 by the grace of God, we will all be gathered 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:11.960 home. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:14.039 in to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:16.640 This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.460 in Mississauga, Ontario on August 16th, 2026.