As more and more ships arrived in what would become the United States, new settlers got advice from previous settlers as to what would be helpful to carry over from England. Edward Winslow, a leader on the Mayflower and later governor of the Plymouth Colony wrote to those planning to come over:
"Now because I expect your coming unto us, with other of our friends, whose company we much desire, I thought good to advertise you of a few things needful.
"Be careful to have a very good bread-room to put your biscuits in. Let your cask for beer and water be iron-bound, for the first tier, if not more. Let not your meat be dry-salted; none can better do it than the sailors. Let your meal be so hard trod in your cask that you shall need an adz or hatchet to work it out with. Trust not too much on us for corn at this time, for by reason of this last company that came, depending wholly upon us, we shall have little enough till harvest. Be careful to come by some of your meal to spend by the way; it will much refresh you. Build your cabins as open as you can, and bring good store of clothes and bedding with you. Bring every man a musket or fowling-piece. Let your piece be long in the barrel, and fear not the weight of it, for most of our shooting is from stands. Bring juice of lemons, and take it fasting; it is of good use. For hot water, aniseed water is the best, but use it sparingly. If you bring anything for comfort in the country, butter or salad oil, or both, is very good. Our Indian corn, even the coarsest, maketh as pleasant meat as rice; therefore spare that, unless to spend by the way. Bring paper and linseed oil for your windows, with cotton yarn for your lamps. Let your shot be most for big fowls, and bring store of powder and shot. I forbear further to write for the present, hoping to see you by the next return. So I take my leave, commending you to the Lord for a safe conduct unto us." (link)
Colonists preparing for their journey got advice from lists such as this one: "A Catalog of such needefull things as every Planter doth or ought to provide to go to New-England"
(link) The list included: Victuals for a whole yeere for a man … apparel, tools, arms, household implements and spices. Newly arriving settlers wanted to be prepared for life in their harsh, but promising new land.
How many of you make lists before traveling? I find myself going through a "list routine" when I am traveling. Sometimes my travel lists are simple, other times I pack based on what might not be available at my destination. So, the times I have traveled to developing areas of the world, I go through and figure out what I really need to have and pack knowing those things might not be available at my destination. We want to be prepared in our journeys. We want plans and then some for any and all situations that might arise. We want to be in charge of and in control so that we can manage our new circumstances.
"Jesus ordered the disciples to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics."
This hardly seems like sensible travel advice for those being sent out to teach and heal with the authority of Jesus. On top of that he is hardly encouraging: "If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."
Back to the provision advice given to the new colonists … on a practical level, some of the things brought over were useful, others didn't fit into the realities of the new setting. At another level, nothing physical was really helpful in preparing the colonists for their new life. What they really needed to depend on was community and family and the faith that had driven them to seek out a new land in the first place. Then, as life went on and it became clear that there was a need for change in their relationship to England, it was also clear that lists of things weren't going to help them. There is an internet list of what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. While the list is a mix of fact, exaggerations, and apocryphal stories, it does tell a truth. And that is that the men who signed our declaration of independence did so at great risk to themselves and family. Nothing they brought over to this land to help them survive was truly useful in preparing them for the hardships they would face in their actions. What kept them was the courage of their convictions that they were doing the only thing they could do. They were willing to risk everything to live out their beliefs in a right and they kept on doing so after signing the declaration.
I think that might point to what Jesus is telling the disciples. That nothing they pack for their journey would be helpful as he sent them out, two by two to teach and heal with his authority. He sent them out telling them to depend on nothing but their faith and with the support of one another. Remember, they didn't go it alone.
We too are sent out by God to preach and teach in the example of Jesus Christ. There is nothing wrong with our wordly preparations. I want to take my favorite antibiotics when traveling to places where medical care is not readily available. When sleeping on church basement floors, I'd like my air mattress thank you very much. We want to be prepared to do the work we are sent to do. I believe God wants us to take care in our preparations, to be and to do the best we possibly can do. The problem comes when we believe that our preparations are enough … that we can depend on them to control the situations God sends us into. The truth is, no matter how humanly well prepared we are to deal with something it is never enough. Unless we are spiritually prepared to do the work God gives us we will not be able to stay the course. We have to go out with the grounding of God's love for us, the faith that keeps us and with the support of others on the journey with us. It doesn't mean we will always find success … Jesus prepared the disciples for failure, remember? But we will know God with us.
We just wrapped up another awesome week of Vacation Bible School. To pull off the week is a massive undertaking. It takes so much that preparations for next year's VBS are already underway. Yes, our program is carefully planned and organized. But, the moment we forget who has sent us to do this work, the moment we forget why … we will loose the courage to do this work. Because the week is tough, we deal with tough issues, and God knows that anytime almost 200 people are involved in something there will be conflict and difficulties. And so we remember that it is God who keeps us through this time, and it is only God that we can truly depend on to keep us and to see us through.
Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
In the same way we are sent, called to step out in faith on the awesome journey God sets before us.
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