Next to the calling of the disciples, I expect that Matthew’s story about their sending forth is one of the most confrontational stories in all the Bible.

Can you imagine? There you are, perfectly content to be a follower, when Jesus comes home all worn out one day with his hair hanging in his face and his clothes ringed with sweat and dirt.

He looks around at those of you who have been with him all along and says, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. I need some help, and I’m nominating you.”

Then he holds his big hands out over your heads and says a prayer that travels down your backbone like a chill, giving you authority over demons, over disease—even over death—and when he has finished, you open your eyes and look at each other to see if you can tell any difference.

Next you take a deep breath to test whether anything has changed inside. Do you feel wiser, stronger, more capable? Nope. Just blessed, sort of. Just tingly and curious and, well, ready—not for anything in particular, just generally ready for whatever is next.