Sally Rausch: "The Harvest That Nourishes" (Sermon for June 14, 2026)

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:37-38


Every summer as a kid, my mom would load our family in the car in the early morning and we’d go blueberry picking. She had a whole system - a belt around our waist holding a plastic ice cream bucket at our hips, and rows upon rows of bushes waiting to be harvested. We became masters of the craft, positioning our hips under our outstretched hands so that as we pulled berries off branch they fell precisely into the container. We'd spend the morning like this, gathering ripe berries and eating almost as many as we picked, until the heat of the day sent us home with stained fingers and full buckets, the berries headed to the freezer to last us through the following July.

I found myself thinking about those summers as I read this week's gospel text. Harvesting is hard work, but it is also deeply satisfying work. It is work connected to the land, to seasons, to community, and to the simple delight of gathering at its peak what has been patiently growing for so long.

In a world where so much human labor is exploited or abused, where the work for justice can feel endless and exhausting, Jesus' words invite the questions: What are we laboring for? What are we harvesting?

This Sunday we'll explore what it means to become co-laborers in God’s harvest, and how Jesus calls ordinary, imperfect people - people very much like you and like me - back to the work we were made for.

Looking forward to being with you Sunday,

Sally