Don't Outsource Your Obedience: Keeping the Agape in Front of You (Matthew 9:35-38)(May 31, 2026)

Devotional

Day 1: Sheep Without a Shepherd in a World of Clicks

Jesus moved through every city and village, healing all diseases and seeing crowds as sheep without a shepherd. His compassion clashed with cultural divisions that reduce people to labels. The world fractures people into political, economic, or social categories, but Christ’s heart breaks for the harassed and helpless. Compassion resists the urge to dismiss those unlike us. It sees beyond labels to souls needing rescue. [07:48]

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you absorbed cultural divisions that harden your heart toward specific groups? How might Jesus’ view of the “harassed and helpless” reshape your interactions this week?

Day 2: Feeding Ourselves or Feeding the Sheep?

Ezekiel rebuked shepherds who fattened themselves while neglecting weak, injured, and scattered sheep. Religious leaders in Jesus’ day prioritized status over service, mirroring a temptation to serve our comfort over God’s mission. True shepherding means strengthening the spiritually sick, binding the wounded, and seeking the lost—not outsourcing care to others. [19:24]

“Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?… You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.” (Ezekiel 34:2–4, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life have you prioritized self-interest over stewarding God’s people? Who in your circle needs strengthening, healing, or seeking today?

Day 3: The Harvest Is His, Not Ours to Judge

Jesus called the crowds his harvest—not a neutral mission field but souls God claims and cherishes. Outsourcing obedience often masks disdain for those we deem “too far.” Yet Christ’s death was for the world, not just the agreeable. Seeing people as God’s harvest dismantles superiority and fuels urgency. [27:41]

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16–17, ESV)

Reflection: Do you subconsciously label certain people as “beyond reach”? How would believing they belong to God change your posture toward them?

Day 4: From Fire-Calling to Foot-Washing

James and John wanted to incinerate Samaritans who rejected Jesus. Jonah sulked when God spared Nineveh. Outsourcing obedience often masks a desire for judgment over grace. Yet Christ rebukes vengeful hearts, modeling a love that serves even opponents. The gospel compels us to wash feet, not demand fire. [22:00]

“When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them.” (Luke 9:54–55, ESV)

Reflection: When have you secretly wished judgment on someone instead of interceding for them? What step of humble service could disrupt that pattern?

Day 5: Praying Earnestly, Going Relentlessly

Jesus’ solution to few laborers wasn’t guilt but prayer: “Ask the Lord of the harvest.” Prayer isn’t passive—it aligns our hearts with God’s ownership of the mission. Yet prayer must propel us into the harvest, not outsource the work. We go because we’ve first knelt. [32:10]

“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:38, ESV)

Reflection: Is your prayer life a substitute for obedience or fuel for it? Who is one person you’ve avoided engaging that God is calling you to love this week?

Sermon Summary

Matthew sets Jesus in motion through all the cities and villages, teaching, proclaiming the kingdom, and healing every disease and affliction. The text shows a Savior who refuses to sort people into cliques and clubs. Jesus sees the crowds and is moved with compassion, because the crowds are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. His eyes do not filter people through political, financial, or geographic labels. His eyes are shepherding eyes. Where the Pharisees guarded status and drew lines, Christ crosses lines and draws near. He touches, he heals, he teaches, he stays with them.

The diagnosis lands hard. Sheep without a shepherd is not freedom. It is exposure. Judges says everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and Ezekiel 34 indicts shepherds who fed themselves and neglected the flock. By Jesus’ day, religious managers had amassed power while the weak went unfed and the lost went un-sought. So Christ names what he sees and redirects what his disciples feel. James and John want fire from heaven. Jonah wants a front row seat for judgment. Jesus rebukes that impulse and reminds that the Son was sent not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.

Then the call. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. The field is not neutral. It is his harvest. That little pronoun corrects resentments and resets loyalties. To despise the harvest is to misread the heart of the Lord of the harvest. The instruction comes simple and sharp. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Prayer is not a dodge from action. Prayer is obedience’s first move and mission’s supply line. When God answers, he often answers by sending real people from real pews into real places.

All of this exposes a habit that must die. Outsourcing obedience. Funding missions yet never opening a mouth. Expecting paid staff to do the people work of Jesus. Applauding programs while avoiding neighbors. The Great Commission will not ride on subcontractors. Christ calls his church to agape love that moves toward fellow image bearers, even those far from God, even those who mock or differ. The Lord who owns the harvest also owns his laborers. He provides the words, the courage, and the compassion. Turn loose whatever clenched thing keeps Christ from taking over mind, mouth, and steps. Repent of the division that has cooled compassion. He once gathered these very hearers from his harvest. Now he sends them into his harvest until he comes.

Key Takeaways

1. Christ ends cliques with compassion Jesus refuses the us versus them sorting that fueled the Pharisees. He goes to all the cities, heals every affliction, and sees people as sheep in need rather than rivals to defeat. Compassion is not naivete but covenant loyalty to image bearers he made and came to save. Let his gaze re-train the eyes so the crowd becomes a neighbor, not a nuisance. [13:46]
2. Freedom without a shepherd enslaves Sheep without a shepherd feel free, but exposure only multiplies danger. Scripture shows that doing what is right in one’s own eyes builds a prison of self where wounds go unbound and strays stay lost. Christ’s yoke is easy because his care is near and his leadership is good. Real liberty lives under his staff. [16:27]
3. See culture as a harvest, not enemy The field is his harvest, not a battlefield to torch. If the Lord owns the field, then the laborer cannot scorn it without misreading the Lord. Disdain dries up prayer and shuts mouths; compassion revives both. The harvest is plentiful, which means opportunity is not the problem, love is. [26:07]
4. Pray to the Lord of the harvest Prayer is not stalling. It is the first assignment Jesus gives in a field full of need. Prayer bends the will to his, readies hands and lips, and often turns the pray-er into the answer. Ask earnestly, because the field is his and the sending is his. [34:36]
5. Stop outsourcing your obedience Money, staff, and programs can supplement, but they cannot substitute for hands, feet, and speech offered to Christ. The Lord will not ask what the church funded before he asks what the disciple did. Start with the neighbor already in arm’s reach and trust Jesus to supply the words. [00:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:27] - Scripture Reading And Charge
[00:56] - Are We Outsourcing Our Obedience?
[02:42] - Missions Minded Or Mission Outsourced?
[03:44] - "Isn't That What We Pay You?"
[05:47] - Agape Love Beyond The Church
[07:48] - Culture Makes Cliques, Christ Compassion
[08:16] - Jesus Heals Every Disease
[10:59] - How Division Deforms Compassion
[13:46] - Jesus' Compassion For The Crowds
[15:34] - Harassed And Helpless Defined
[20:41] - Fire From Heaven Or Mercy?
[26:07] - See Culture As A Harvest
[27:07] - Into His Harvest, Not Ours
[31:09] - Great Commission And Earnest Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Observation Questions

What three actions did Jesus take in the cities and villages (Matthew 9:35)? How do these actions contrast with the Pharisees’ approach to people?
What two words does Jesus use to describe the crowds (Matthew 9:36)? How does the sermon connect this to the Old Testament examples in Judges and Ezekiel 34?
What specific instruction does Jesus give his disciples about the harvest (Matthew 9:38)? How does the sermon emphasize the phrase “his harvest” as a key detail? [27:07]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus’ compassion for the crowds have been surprising in a culture that prioritized religious cliques and social divisions? How does this challenge modern tendencies to label or dismiss people? [13:46]
The sermon argues that “freedom without a shepherd enslaves.” How does the metaphor of sheep without a shepherd clarify the danger of self-reliance or cultural independence?
What does it mean to view culture as a “harvest” rather than an enemy? How might disdain for people’s beliefs or lifestyles hinder obedience to Jesus’ mission? [26:07]

Application Questions

Where have you seen cliques or divisions (political, social, or cultural) affect your compassion for others? What practical step could you take this week to move toward someone outside your usual circle? [10:59]
The sermon warns against outsourcing obedience by relying solely on programs or paid staff. What is one area of ministry (e.g., sharing faith, serving neighbors) where you’ve been passive, and how could you take ownership? [00:56]
Jesus calls us to pray for laborers in the harvest. Who is one person in your life who seems “harassed and helpless” that you could start praying for daily? How might God call you to act as an answer to that prayer? [34:36]
The sermon mentions Jonah’s reluctance to engage Nineveh. Is there a group or individual you’ve avoided because of disagreement or discomfort? How could you shift from resentment to compassion this week?
What “clenched thing” (habit, fear, or prejudice) might you need to release to let Jesus fully guide your words, actions, and relationships? [40:43]

Sermon Clips

42s

“Our church should be about the great commission, not the great complacency. We should not be outsourcing our obedience to something or someone else. Should we be helping things? Should we be having material things that are in place that can help? Yes. But not at the expense of our own personal obedience. It's a supplement. It can all that other stuff cannot bear the weight when we stand before the Lord and he's gonna ask you, yeah, I know you funded that, I know you built that, I know you did this, I know you did that, but what did you do?”

28s

“Oh, I can't do that. I I don't have that gift. I don't know what to say. I don't know what's going on. I don't I don't I don't I don't I don't. But do we also not know that god will give us the words? He'll give us what we need to do everything that he has commanded? Yes. He he will. You're saying, well, I I can't go to the INB. I'm not a stage in life where I can go to the INB. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, have a conversation with someone that you know is lost.”

42s

“I find it interesting that there are passages of scripture that I have read, I feel like 200,000,000 times. And yet I missed something. It bothers me because am I reading the scriptures too fast? Am I just one of those where I've I've heard this my whole life? I remember hearing about this in bible school when I was six years old. Of course, I know this passage but this passage says, send out laborers not into the harvest. What's it say? His harvest. It's his.”

38s

“It's sometimes even harder for us to make ourselves vulnerable and actually pray for something else because that's not an agape love when all you want is somebody praying for you and you're not praying for somebody else. Jesus says the first thing that we're to do is to pray to what? Pray earnestly to the lord of the harvest. There it is again. His harvest. The lord of the harvest. The harvest is the lord. It belongs to him And if we belong to him, then we should be engaged in the harvest of the lord because it belongs to him and we belong to him.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Arapahoe Road Baptist Church This sermon · AI assistant

Are we outsourcing our obedience?

Whose harvest is the mission field?

What is agape love's role in outreach?