SO SEND I YOU — TO LABOUR UNREWARDED

“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” — John 20:21 KJB

In 1954, E. Margaret Clarkson wrote the missionary hymn “So Send I You.”

It is not a comfortable missionary hymn.

It does not paint Christian service as an adventure filled with applause, success, recognition, and immediate results.

Instead, it speaks of sacrifice.

Loneliness.

Weariness.

Love that is not returned.

Labour that appears unrewarded.

And a servant who keeps going anyway.

One of its opening thoughts is striking:

“So send I you—to labour unrewarded...”

Those words confront something within every one of us.

We want our labour to matter.

We want to see results.

We want people to appreciate what we do.

We want to know that the sacrifices were worth it.

But Jesus never said:

“As my Father rewarded me, so will the world reward you.”

He said:

“...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

And if we are going to understand what it means to be sent, we must first look at the One who was sent before us.

1. CHRIST WAS SENT BEFORE WE WERE

Before Jesus ever said, “So send I you,” He Himself had been sent.

“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” — John 17:18

How was Christ received by the world He came to save?

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” — John 1:11

He healed the sick.

He fed the hungry.

He gave sight to the blind.

He raised the dead.

He preached truth.

He showed compassion.

He loved sinners.

Yet the world rewarded Him with a cross.

Clarkson's hymn speaks of being sent:

“...to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown...”

What a picture of our Lord.

He was despised.

Misunderstood.

Falsely accused.

Betrayed by Judas.

Denied by Peter.

Forsaken by His disciples.

Mocked by soldiers.

Rejected by the people He came to save.

Yet He never abandoned His Father's work.

At the end of His earthly ministry He could pray:

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” — John 17:4

That is success in God's eyes.

Not popularity.

Not applause.

Not recognition.

Not even visible results.

Faithfulness.

2. SOMETIMES GOD SENDS US TO LABOUR WITHOUT SEEING THE HARVEST

Those words—

“to labour unrewarded”

—can be difficult to accept.

Because naturally we want to see something happen.

If we preach, we want someone saved.

If we witness, we want someone to respond.

If we hand out a tract, we want someone to read it.

If we teach, we want lives changed.

If we pray, we want answers.

If we sacrifice, we want to know it accomplished something.

But Paul reminds us:

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” — 1 Corinthians 3:6

Notice the division of responsibility.

Paul planted.

Apollos watered.

God gave the increase.

Sometimes God calls you to plant a seed whose harvest you will never see.

Someone else may water it.

Someone else may reap it.

Someone else may receive the joy of seeing that soul come to Christ.

But Heaven never forgets who planted the seed.

Our responsibility is not to manufacture results.

Our responsibility is to faithfully sow the seed.

3. SENT TO LOVE WHEN LOVE IS NOT RETURNED

Clarkson then describes something even harder:

“to bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing...”

Missionary service is not simply crossing an ocean.

Sometimes the hardest mission field is the human heart.

We love people who may reject us.

We serve people who may misunderstand us.

We preach to people who may mock us.

We pour ourselves into people who may eventually walk away.

Paul knew something about that kind of love.

He wrote:

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” — 2 Corinthians 12:15

What a verse.

“The more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.”

Yet Paul said:

“I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.”

That is Christlike ministry.

Not loving because love is returned.

Not serving because service is appreciated.

Not giving because somebody notices.

But loving because Christ loved us.

4. SENT INTO LONELINESS

The hymn also speaks of being sent:

“to loneliness and longing...”

There is a side of Christian service that few people talk about.

Loneliness.

The missionary can be surrounded by people and still feel alone.

You can leave family.

Friends.

Home.

Familiar surroundings.

Your culture.

Your comforts.

And sometimes even those you are serving cannot understand the price you are paying to be there.

Paul knew loneliness.

Near the end of his ministry he wrote:

“At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me...” — 2 Timothy 4:16

Imagine that.

Paul had planted churches.

Preached across nations.

Suffered imprisonment.

Been beaten.

Been stoned.

Been shipwrecked.

Poured his life into people.

And when he stood before the authorities:

“No man stood with me.”

But the next verse changes everything:

“Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me...” — 2 Timothy 4:17

There may be moments when nobody stands beside you.

But if Christ stands with you, you are never truly alone.

5. SENT TO LEAVE WHAT WE LOVE

Clarkson's hymn speaks of being sent:

“to leave the loved ones...”

Those words become very real on the mission field.

Following Christ sometimes means leaving people you love.

Jesus said:

“Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother... for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold...” — Mark 10:29–30

Missionary sacrifice is not theoretical.

There are empty chairs at family gatherings.

Birthdays missed.

Grandchildren growing while you are thousands of miles away.

Parents getting older.

Children living their lives without you nearby.

Friends carrying on while God has called you somewhere else.

And sometimes people see where you went without ever understanding what it cost you to go.

But Jesus knows.

He left Heaven for us.

And when He says,

“So send I you,”

He asks us to follow the road He walked first.

6. SENT WITH A HEART THAT MAY BE BROKEN

Another powerful thought in the hymn is the cost of pouring yourself out for others.

Ministry involves your heart.

And anything involving your heart carries the possibility of having that heart broken.

Paul wrote:

“Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” — Acts 20:31

Paul did not minister from a distance.

He wept.

He cared.

He loved.

He carried people in his heart.

That means ministry sometimes hurts.

But perhaps one of the greatest dangers in Christian service is allowing hurt to make us hard.

Jesus was wounded by those He loved, yet from the cross He prayed:

“Father, forgive them...” — Luke 23:34

The servant of Christ must never allow the pain of ministry to destroy the compassion that called him into ministry.

7. SENT WITHOUT SEEKING EARTHLY REWARD

Eventually every servant of God must answer a question:

Who am I actually doing this for?

Clarkson's words about labouring unrewarded expose our motives.

Can I serve if nobody thanks me?

Can I give if nobody notices?

Can I preach if nobody applauds?

Can I continue if somebody else receives the recognition?

Can I remain faithful when the results seem small?

Paul gives us the answer:

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” — Colossians 3:23

If I serve for people's appreciation, people will eventually disappoint me.

If I serve for recognition, being overlooked will eventually discourage me.

If I serve only for visible results, barren seasons will make me want to quit.

But if I serve the Lord, everything changes.

Because the audience was never really people.

The audience was always Christ.

8. LABOUR UNREWARDED — BUT NEVER LABOUR IN VAIN

This is where we must make an important distinction.

Clarkson speaks powerfully of labour that seems unrewarded.

But Scripture assures us that no labour done for Christ is ever truly unrewarded.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” — 1 Corinthians 15:58

Maybe nobody notices.

It is not in vain.

Maybe nobody thanks you.

It is not in vain.

Maybe the person you witnessed to walked away.

It is not in vain.

Maybe you planted and somebody else reaped.

It is not in vain.

Maybe you gave years of your life and saw very little fruit.

It is not in vain.

Maybe serving Christ cost you far more than you imagined.

It is not in vain.

There is a reward coming that this world cannot give.

Jesus said:

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” — Revelation 22:12

The reward does not have to come here.

9. “AS MY FATHER HATH SENT ME...”

This brings us back to where we began.

“...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” — John 20:21

Those words are much deeper when we understand how the Father sent Christ.

He was sent sacrificially.

He was sent obediently.

He was sent into rejection.

He was sent to love the unlovable.

He was sent to seek the lost.

He was sent knowing suffering awaited Him.

He was sent to give Himself.

And He went willingly.

“...nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” — Luke 22:42

That is missionary Christianity.

Not:

“Lord, send me somewhere comfortable.”

Not:

“Lord, send me somewhere people will appreciate me.”

Not:

“Lord, send me somewhere I will be successful.”

Not:

“Lord, send me if I can see the results.”

But simply:

“Lord, if You send me, I will go.”

FINAL THOUGHT — SO SEND I YOU

One day the labour will be finished.

The last tract will be handed out.

The last sermon will be preached.

The last Bible will be given.

The last prayer will be prayed.

The last person will hear our testimony.

And we will stand before the One who first said:

“...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

On that day it will not matter whether the world knew our name.

It will not matter whether people applauded.

It will not matter whether our ministry looked impressive.

It will not matter whether we received our reward here.

What will matter is whether we faithfully completed the work He gave us to do.

So when the field is hard...

When the harvest seems small...

When the labour feels unnoticed...

When love is not returned...

When loneliness sets in...

When sacrifice becomes costly...

When people misunderstand...

When there seems to be no earthly reward...

Remember the words that began the hymn:

“So send I you—to labour unrewarded...”

And remember the words of the Saviour that inspired them:

“...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

We may labour unrewarded here.

But we do not labour unseen.

We may labour unrecognized here.

But we do not labour unknown.

And we may labour without seeing the harvest here.

But we have God's promise:

“...your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:58