He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Luke 9:3
“Never forget that Christ cannot be reached without sacrifice. We have to get rid of everything that gets in the way: greatcoat, haversack, water bottle.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 457.
Today, many of my co-workers and fellow volunteers are returning to the corders of the world. This post serves as good packing instructions for them.
But you can’t understand it if you don’t know what a greatcoat, haversack, and water bottle are. The greatcoat implies covering. The haversack is like a backpack which refers carries supplies or tools. And the water bottle carried the most critical element of sustenance, water.
So Jesus with his instructions and Fernandez in reply remind us that it is not these tools which provide the power for ministry, it is Christ.
Only when we stop trusting in these tools do we understand His power. Only then can we wield them when we are free from dependence upon them. The workers understand this sacrifice expected of them by our Lord so they are ready and fit for service. Are you?