“And he commanded them that they should take nothing for the way, but a staff only: no scrip, no bread, nor money in their purse, But to be shod with sandals, and that they should not put on two coats.”

My ten-year old Buick has logged 117,000 miles so far. Along the way, my wife and I have learned a thing or two about packing a car trunk. We use a typewritten packing list because, in the past, we have left behind everything from road maps and eyeglasses to toothbrushes and medicine. (My guess is you’ve had a similar experience.) Our packing list fills an 8-1/2”x11” sheet.

When Jesus sent His disciples out, two-by-two, their packing list consisted of a pair of sandals and a walking stick. They had no food, no tunic, no sack, no money. No credit cards. If they ran out of something along the way, they couldn’t run into the nearest Walmart or Walgreens to pick it up. They were learning to step out in faith.

It has been said that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it. Jesus not only sent His disciples out to teach but also to be taught:

• By becoming dependent on the kindness of strangers, they learned humility.

• By leaving everything behind, they learned that the trappings of this world are traps.

• By sharing their testimony, they learned to give of themselves.

• By living among the people, they learned that faith isn’t taught - - it’s caught.

All of us lug around excess baggage. They’re the things we thought we needed, couldn’t do without, but that now have become the dead weight of credit card bills. They’re the symbols of prosperity, the things we work overtime to buy - - dust collectors that clutter our lives and get between God and us. Things that give us a false sense of security until a crisis strikes and we’re forced to take stock of our lives and decide what we truly value.

I remember how my neighbor reacted when an electrical spark set his home ablaze. Seeing the flames leap from the roof of his home, he rushed up the hill to save his family. The firemen couldn’t restrain him until he learned his wife and kids had gotten out safely. That’s all that really mattered to him. The things that lay in smoldering ruins counted for nothing.

If there is one thing I’ve learned in all my travels it’s this: the suitcase is always heavier on the return trip. We somehow manage to pick up souvenirs, books and odds and ends that have to be squeezed into our lives. Once, on a trip through Canada, I found what I thought was a rare example of an Eskimo stone carving. Unfortunately, that “rare” statue turned out to be a fixture in every souvenir shop we visited.

It’s so easy to give ourselves over to things and confuse our longings with our belongings. In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that we can’t rely on our things. They’re a crutch, not the walking stick that the faith-filled need to follow in His footsteps.