Off you go, just as you are.  No, don't stop to pack your bag with spare clothes.  No, don't pack a picnic or grab something to snack on on the way.   No, don't take your bank card or cheque book, not even small change.  No car keys, no oyster card, no concessionary bus pass.  No, don't take anything, just go.

Scary!  But basically what Jesus told his twelve followers as he paired them up and sent them off.  Of course he wouldn't ask us to do that would he?  Would he?!

Some thoughts - some I shared yesterday, others that have come to mind since.

Take nothing with you - then you cannot be self-reliant.  You will have to work together with your partner, and more than that you will have to accept help and hospitality from other people.

Take nothing with you - you could be forever procrastinating as you need to do just one thing to be ready to go... just one more pair of socks, one more language class, one more evangelism course, one more last goodbye to the people or places you call home.

Go now.  Before you change your mind.  Before the enormity of what you are undertaking hits home.  Before you have time to formulate excuses.

Go now, because you will never be ready, the time will never be right, the circumstances will never be perfect.

You go with him, and you with her.  You two.  And you, too.

Go.

Scary?  Definitely.  But Jesus is waiting for us to come back and share our discoveries.  About God.  About each other.  About ourselves.

I have a suspicion that sometimes we try to take the sting out of Jesus' expectations.  We say things like 'God wants us to be happy' meaning 'God wants us to live a nice comfy life with all material trappings.'  We think we are free to choose where we serve and for how long.  I even hear ministers talking of career plans for goodness sake.  Jesus is not interested in any of that.  He just says go, and go now, just as you are, with the things you 'carry within'.  Work with the colleagues I assign you.  Do the things you've seen me do.  Stop prevaricating - go.