Five ordained ministers from three congregations gathered 110 years ago this month in what is considered the beginning of CMC. Among five questions for discussion, one was based on the duty of our churches to spread the gospel. They recognized that our churches should respond in obedience to the command of Christ. In the decades that followed, the churches affiliated with CMC became involved in working with orphans and in both urban and rural church planting, followed by gradually establishing overseas ministry on five continents.
Several associations of churches in half a dozen countries have joined CMC as international affiliates. Add these to the present CMC membership, and CMC’s impact relates to more than 60,000 people. This is not something to brag about, but to be grateful that the Lord of the harvest includes us in the various phases of the harvest.
Twenty-three years ago…I shared my dream of attending our annual gatherings and hearing all kinds of unusual last names.
During this season in central Ohio, the farm fields of corn and soybeans are being harvested. The farmers do not sit in their barns and wait for the harvest to come in. They go out with the appropriate machinery and bring in the harvest. An effective spiritual harvest is not accomplished by merely putting a sign in front of the church building telling people they are welcome. A good harvest requires purposeful planning, preparing the soil, planting the seed, protecting the crop from unwanted weeds, and properly gathering in the harvest when it is ready.
Experience teaches that if the fruit is ripe, one does not need to yank it. But at the same time, if not gathered when it is ripe, the fruit will be lost. God arrives before we do and prepares persons for the harvest. He depends upon us as harvesters. He sends us to persons in whom he has already put eternity in their hearts.
Thank God that Peter obeyed the call to go to the home of the Gentile family of Cornelius, as soon as he understood that such persons should not be considered unclean. Thank God that Paul was obedient and paid the cost as an apostle to the Gentiles. Thank God for the vision of the early Anabaptist leaders to make Christ known even at the cost of their lives. Thank God that although the vision was somewhat slow in developing, God kept that vision alive and today the prime focus of CMC and its churches is on maturing and multiplying.
Twenty-three years ago I was assigned the responsibility of sharing at our annual assembly of CMC on “The Faithful Church.” I shared my dream of attending our annual gatherings and hearing all kinds of unusual last names and seeing a variety of racial groups in our body of believers. The racial diversity is slowly increasing. As I look at our Ministerial Directory, the list of names under Miller and Yoder is still extensive. Thank God for these persons and their faithfulness to their calling. But thank God, this list includes at least fifty last names that are not common among us. There is a risk. New persons bring new ideas and that brings changes. Thankfully, our churches have not just accepted these persons and then kept them out of the inner circle but have allowed them to move into leadership positions. We have been blessed by what these persons bring to us.
God is at work among us. We have not done all we could. But God has given us leaders with vision. He is building his church and he wants to use us as we mature and multiply. What a joy it will be when we get to heaven and have persons come up to us and tell us they are there because of us. Harvest time is an exciting time. Thank God for the harvest.
