For many of us, packing light is a hard thing to do. I've been working hard over the years to learn to pack lighter for my trips, but still it's hard to imagine how I can really leave some things behind.

I'm sure it was hard for the first disciples to figure out why Jesus would send them on a journey without such basic things as money, food or even a change of clothing. It was also probably hard for the Gospel writers to figure it out, because each of them have slightly different lists of what Jesus said the disciples should and shouldn't take. In Mark's version, the disciples are supposed to wear sandals and take a staff with them. In Luke's version (9:1-6), they can't take a staff, but sandals aren't mentioned, so probably sandals are allowed; while in Matthew's version (10:5-13), they can't bring sandals or a staff!

This packing light stuff is weird, and it's hard! But as I was reading this story again this week, it seems to me that Jesus wasn't just telling his disciples to leave behind a bunch of stuff. It also seems that Jesus was trying to get them not to pack and bring along a lot of unrealistic expectations.

Those first disciples had seen Jesus do a lot of incredible things. He had begun to achieve a lot of fame. And many people were saying all kinds of great things about him.

But then Jesus went home. He started to teach in his home synagogue and talk to people who had known him since he was a little kid. And things apparently didn't go so well.

Everybody knew what Jesus had done elsewhere, and probably they were happy to have a hometown boy bringing glory and fame upon their town (especially when that town was Nazareth...!)

But then they get offended when Jesus doesn't "mind his place" in the extended family system of the town! He assumed the role of teacher and prophet and healer sent by God. And the people didn't like it. "Be a great religious leader out there, but don't come back here and start telling us what to think and do!"

In the end, the folks in Nazareth didn't:

• Speak well of Jesus ... ("who does he think he is...?!")

• Want what Jesus had to offer ... (he could do no deed of power there, NOT because he wasn't capable, but because the people weren't willing to receive it ...)

• Find Jesus' fame and reputation particularly impressive ...

So right on the heels of Jesus being rejected and ignored by people who you'd think would be receptive, Jesus sends his disciples out to other nearby villages. He gave them the same "authority" he had. But at the same time, he also implied that they should expect the same reception he got.

Sometimes, of course, that reception would be great! But Jesus specifically tells them how they should respond if people won't receive them, and treat them the way he got treated in Nazareth. And in so doing, Jesus is also calling them to travel light by leaving behind the expectation that being faithful and doing what he asks them to do will make them famous, and popular and cause people to speak well of them.

So, the disciples went out "and proclaimed that all should repent." Yet Mark doesn't report that a single person repented! Instead, he does report that the disciples were able to cast out demons and heal some folks of their diseases. That is, the disciples probably got exactly the same reception that Jesus got in Nazareth ...!

It seems, though, that the disciples weren't discouraged by either what happened to Jesus or what happened to them. They had lightened their load by ditching unrealistic expectations. They didn't expect that everybody would be happy to receive them. They didn't expect that everybody would listen to them. And they didn't expect that everybody would suddenly change and be like them.

And because they were able to ditch those expectations, they were freed to simply be faithful to what Jesus called them to do. And more and more, that's an important thing for us to remember as well.

Jesus also calls us to lighten our loads by not packing so many pre-conceived expectations about what being a follower of Jesus is supposed to be about, either as an individual believer or together as the church.

It often seems to me that what drags a lot of Christians down and makes it hard for people to joyfully be faithful is the expectation that doing what Jesus calls us to do will:

• Make people speak well of us ... it's supposed to be great that we go to church or serve others or share God's love - but often, it just makes us look weird to others (putting "God first" is a great idea to people, until it gets in the way of "real life")...

• Change people's minds about stuff ... somehow we think that if we just "clearly" tell people about God's love, they'll feel it and believe it (it's not new - Luther also thought this)...

• Make us successful and popular again ... the way we think it was when "everybody" went to church (both liberal and conservative commentators share this expectation) ...

But that's not really the way it was even from the beginning. And Jesus' call to us, just as to his first disciples, is simply to be faithful - to speak and act and journey on in life as messengers and companions of Jesus.

And if there are any expectations we're supposed to have, it's these: We should expect that God will work through our faithfulness, even if it's small ways that we don't plan (after all, people experienced healing even when no "deed of power" seemed to be happening.) We should expect that God sees our faithfulness, even when nobody else seems to notice or even criticizes us for it. And most importantly, we should expect that in the end, the success of our journey finally depends upon God's faithfulness and power, and not on ours.

Amen.