“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

It was earlier this year, in conversation with a fellow student at college, that I first heard about Street Pastors. Then I read a piece about it in the Sunday Telegraph two weeks ago. I wonder if any of you saw it as well? Street Pastors are described in the article as “part of an interdenominational Christian group of adults moving out of their middle-class, middle-aged comfort zones to make the streets feel safer while they are on patrol...The experiment began in Brixton in 2003, based on a Jamaican model, with trials taking off in London, Manchester and Birmingham. Five years on the street pastor project has spread to small towns and suburbs, where the civilian patrols deal less with gang culture and more with drunkenness and anti-social behaviour. This year, the number of areas patrolled has grown to 70, with 50 more groups planned by the end of this year”. A number of examples of the work they do are given, from which I select just one. “A woman in her early twenties...limps barefoot out of Vodka Revolution Bar, clutching sky-scraper heels. She tip-toes around broken bottles towards a taxi rank. Cathy, a primary school teacher in her fifties, fishes some flip-flops out of a bag to offer the shoeless clubber some protection. Free flip-flops are the latest addition to the street pastors' arsenal of goodwill”. Street pastors do not get involved in law enforcement. If they see trouble, they use a hotline to the local police; and the police welcome the work of street pastors which frees them up to deal with more serious issues. And, as the journalist put it, “to my surprise, it is the hoodies who are hugging the God Squad.’We love you street pastors' passing groups shout, taking pictures with their mobile phones”. Street Pastors are supported by the Home Office and Google will find you a number of websites about them.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

Between the elections of Tony Blair as Labour leader in 1994 and of David Cameron as Conservative leader in 2005, little fundamental seemed to divide our major political parties. All were competing for that elusive territory, the middle ground. But, now that may be changing. A major debate is developing concerning the proper role of the State in the life of the citizen. Traditionally, the Left has seen the State as the guarantor and provider of social support to eliminate poverty and to provide services like health, employment and education. If that emphasis was down-played by Tony Blair, the same is unlikely under Gordon Brown. David Cameron, on the other hand, argues for a reduction of the role of central government in favour of individual self-reliance and, importantly, social help and support determined and provided, so far as possible, by local communities through local councils, self-help organisations and charities. This difference of approach is potentially significant; and as the debate continues, it cannot be taken for granted that New Labour will continue to argue for centralised delivery over local community-based activism. It will not surprise you, I suspect, to learn that David Cameron enthused over the Street Pastor scheme. He said earlier this year, “It's absolutely fantastic the job street pastors are doing...What we need is more people out in the community supporting the police, who can't do the job of beating anti-social behaviour on their own”.

Now, whilst I think that Cameron’s idea has much to commend it, it is not my purpose this morning to argue that Christians should vote Conservative at the next General Election. My purpose is to link Cameron’s idea with our Gospel reading, so that, if it is given wings, as well it might be, Christians will be ready to take full advantage of the opportunity it will provide to labour in the Lord’s harvest.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

God calls every human being into a loving relationship with him. Not everyone answers that call; but you and I have. That's why we're here this morning. And answering God’s call to enter into a relationship with him makes us his disciples. There are many reasons why people come to church; they like singing; they welcome the chance to join in prayer and worship; they like to come and chat with their friends. None of those motives is to be despised; all are to be welcomed. But we must remember Archbishop Rowan’s gentle warning:

“The view that the Church is essentially a lot of people who have something in common called Christian faith and get together to share it with each other and communicate it to other people ‘outside’…looks a harmless enough view at first, but it is a good way from what the New Testament encourages us to think about the Church”.¹

God’s call to us is not only to enter into a loving relationship with him. As every human being is created in his image and he in-dwells each one of us, to be in a loving relationship with God, to love him as he loves us, requires us also to love one another. And loving one another requires us to do more than just to come to church.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

The Lord's labourers are disciples like us. And disciples make a serious mistake in assuming that the sort of Christian activism that really makes a difference, like street pastoring, is the preserve of ministers: priests, deacons, readers, pastoral assistants and parish evangelists; any more than police officers and judges, for that matter, can mend society. The imperative of going out into the Lord’s harvest, of ministering to the needy, is the task of every Christian. I am not suggesting for one moment that all of us should become street pastors. As St Paul tells us more than once, the Holy Spirit has equipped us with many and various gifts [e.g. 1 Cor 12:4-11]; but Jesus warns us that our talents are not to be buried or guarded; they must be put to use and at risk in the service of God [Matt 25:14-30].

There is a new spirit abroad in England, a new conversation as to how to address the problems of our society. The idea that this is the sole prerogative of the State has been tried, not only here, but across the world and been found wanting. In the Soviet Union, in China, in Cuba and elsewhere, its ideologically purest manifestation, communism, has been tested to destruction. State care is well-meaning, but it lacks the Gospel quality of love; of love exercised by individuals at community level, where, like the Good Samaritan, people take personal responsibility for the delivery of relief and the meeting of need. After the next General Election, whoever wins it, the old approach really may be abandoned in favour of the new. If and when that happens, the Church, Christ’s disciples, you and I, must be ready to meet that challenge, to answer the call to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest; just as street pastors are doing now.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

By the grace of God, when the call comes, we shall not be found wanting.

¹Williams, R. (2005). The Christian Priest Today. Justice Reflections. 68 (9) p.2.