Jesus was not sending these 70 people on vacation, that’s for sure!Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals…what???  If I was going away and those were my instructions, I would be stressed out!  No luggage, no extra clothes and really…no extra shoes!  I am not sure I could abide by that!  And they are not going to an all you can eat buffet- Jesus tells them to eat only what is offered to them.  Oh and guess what, Jesus says there are definitely going to be people who not only don’t like you and disagree with you, but actual prey on people just like you. Jesus tells them straight up I am sending you to the wolves…and you are like lambs…Jesus might as well have said- “They are waiting to get you!” Wow!  What an assignment!  Can you imagine hearing these instructions?  If we continue to read more into Chapter 10, we see that these 70 folks actually went on this journey.  This journey with no supplies, no promise of food, and no promise of shelter. But with a sure promise to run into nasty, mean and divisive people. That takes some courage, if you ask me. We have spent the last several weeks learning about, talking about and thinking about courage. Each of the first 3 weeks we looked at Jesus as our model for courage- Jesus’s clarity of call, Jesus’s conviction and Jesus’s candor.  Last week we saw the courage of the men who lowered their friend through the roof to see Jesus. Each week we are challenged to look at our own courage.  How courageous am I? How courageous are you? How willing am I to do something challenging or new or hard or unknown?  And then today’s scripture should have us asking, are we courageous enough to do what Jesus asks of us? I don’t know about you, but there are times when I feel like I don’t have the right supplies, I don’t have the right information, I don’t have enough confidence that I will be safe and I certainly don’t want to go deal with mean or difficult people! Even if I think Jesus is asking something of me, my fear, anxiety and doubt can so easily take over! I thought a lot this week about these 70 people…where did they find their courage? What did Jesus say that gave them enough courage to follow these crazy and scary instructions?  I read this scripture a lot!  I had a seminary professor who encouraged us to look for the connector words when we were searching the scriptures.  Look for the words that tie thoughts together.  Words like but, so, then, because…And then I saw it…listen to verse 2… He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  I saw the “therefore”- before it comes the problem and after it comes the solution.  I am hungry, therefore I will eat dinner.  I am cold, therefore, I will put on a jacket.  Jesus says, there are not a lot of workers to do this hard work, therefore…ask the Lord.  Jesus says the solution to the problem is PRAYER! And then right after that in verse 3, Jesus says GO!  Pray first and then go!  Prayer, a relationship with God, that’s what gives us courage. In our memory verse there is another connector word…because…, it says we can boast in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us….  What comes after the word “because” answers the question…  How do we get endurance, character and hope?  Why do we get endurance, character, hope and I would add courage…God gives them to us.  God pours them into us.  I visualize the pouring of a foundation.  Can you see it?  The liquid cement flowing out of the truck into the frame that will support the walls of the house. God’s love filling up your heart! God’s love provides us with a foundation, with the fortitude, to build and live a courageous life even when there is adversity or pain!  Because our foundation is strong, we can find the confidence to do what is difficult or challenging or scary.  We know that being a disciple of Jesus requires us to reach out, to speak truth to power, to be vulnerable, to go into places we don’t know and meet people who are not like us…we can do that courageously because our feet are planted firmly in the love of God.  We have this HUGE tree in front of our house!  It is ginormous!  The branches reach out and up!  Many of the branches are the same size as the trunks of some other trees.  It is covered with green leaves now and squirrels make it their natural playground.  But, in the winter it withstands snow and ice too. When the wind blows, those huge branches actually move.  And yet, the tree stands upright.  The strength of the root system, the part we cannot see but is vital to the life of the tree, must be stronger than strong. Just like that tree, our strong foundation, our fortitude, allows for growth and movement and transformation in our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ! Pray and then go! John Wesley understood this very idea and uses the terms Acts of Piety and Acts of Mercy.  Wesley taught that in order to live the life of discipleship, we must practice both acts of piety and acts of mercy.  Acts of piety help us to strengthen our foundational relationship with God.  Acts of piety are things like regular worship, prayer, fasting, studying the scriptures, celebrating the sacraments.  These acts of piety give us an opportunity to experience and encounter God.  They allow us to open our hearts and for God’s love to be poured into our lives and our foundation strengthened.   But, John Wesley knew that was only part of living the life of discipleship.  The other side is what Wesley called Acts of Mercy.  Feeding the hungry, visiting those who are sick or in prison, giving generously, seeking justice, ending oppression and discrimination…These are the very things that Jesus asks us to do as disciples. And yet, these are the same things that seem daunting, scary and may be even impossible for many of us.  They require us to go to places we have never been, questioning if we have the right tools or supplies, the right knowledge, the right skills.  And not even sure if we are going to be welcomed or treated kindly or hospitable. Jesus knows that we will enter the dens of wolves, we will encounter resistance, and yet we are called to continue the work for the good of all of God’s people.  It is the acts of mercy that require courage! So, I see that we have a choice here.  We can let our fear and uncertainty hold us back, or we can move forward with courage.  But, here’s the good news…this courage does not come from our own strength, we don’t’ need to “muster up” enough courage- this courage we need to live as Christ’s disciples is grounded in the foundation of the power and love of God! What an amazing gift we have been given! Before we go, we pray…Pray and then go!Be grounded in the love of God and then go and serve others! This is another way to understand what Jesus called the Greatest Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Jesus tells us that we need to have a foundation based in God’s love- this foundation should fill our hearts, souls and minds.  A poured foundation…And then we need to love our neighbor and ourselves.  We cannot spend our entire lives in acts of piety- safe worship space, Bible study, prayer, only within the walls of the church. Out of this strong foundation must sprout the acts of mercy- the boots- on- the- ground work of serving and loving God’s people- all of God’s people, which includes our neighbors and ourselves!   I think of the cross- the vertical piece- rooted in the ground and pointing to God.  And the horizontal piece- reaching out to the world.  This horizontal piece cannot stand on its own, can it?  It requires the foundation of the vertical. The cross, the very symbol of our faith, is not complete without both components…our relationship with God and our relationship with others. It is grounding in the love of God which gives us the strength to reach out… There’s another message of fortitude in our Gospel reading today. Luke says that Jesus sent out the people in pairs.  Whew…at least they didn’t have to go it alone. If I had to leave without luggage, food or even a map, I am glad I would have a friend! Jesus gives the gift of companionship, of support.  We don’t have to think too hard to realize that it’s usually far easier to do something new, something hard, something challenging, if we have a friend to come with us. We can do hard things courageously when we do it together! WOW!  Even as I hear myself say these words, I wonder what this means for us here at Lima United Methodist Church? I reflect on the last 15 months and I see our collective fortitude.  Despite anxiety, pain, uncertainty, I see how we, as a body of Christ, have stayed grounded in the love of God.  I see how we have stay committed to staying connected to God through worship and sacrament, both in person and online, bible study, and prayer. I see how we have relied on God to be the firm foundation even when the storms were blowing our branches, even when we felt unsure, unsafe, ill-equipped. Because who knew how to prepare for a pandemic, right? And yet, we didn’t just turn inward.  We didn’t only concentrate on our time with God.  No, Lima Church has continued to reach out.  We have continued to support the ministries of the church- we have provided food to the food bank, we have continued the ministry of feeding the homeless, we have called our friends and neighbors, we have made trips to the grocery store, we opened our Bus Stop Program to support families with school aged children, and so much more!  And we continue to be justice seekers…in the middle of a pandemic, we voted to become a Reconciling Congregation.  My friends- that is courage! And we don’t just serve who we have always served- we are looking ahead- we are trying new things- we are partnering with Help Builds Hope and Zoe Empowers.  We are already planning for ways to engage the students and parents of the Lima Christian Nursery School into the life of the Church.  We are planning a HUGE rummage sale for the community! We are trusting that our strong foundation will allow us to courageously seek new ministries and new outreach opportunities in our own community and in the world! And we are doing this together- in pairs, in small groups, in families, in the whole church. This is Ascension Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus returning to his place with God. Jesus had died on the cross, been buried, rose from the dead and walked among his friends- talking, teaching and preparing. But now he returns to his righteous place. I had the opportunity to hear a clergy colleague share his thoughts about this day. He reminded us how we cannot be in more than one place at the same time.  Jesus, in his physical state, had the same limitation. But now…ascended and reigning as Lord from the right hand of God, Jesus can be everywhere.  Our gospel lesson today starts with the information that Jesus sent these 70 people “ahead of him”.  He was going to follow them…perhaps even meet up with them…he was not going to leave them to do this daunting work alone.  My friends, we have been given this amazing gift of God’s love.  With this firm and unwavering foundation we find courage to do what seems impossible!  But we don’t do it alone—we do it together—you, me, us and we…and the promise that the power and authority of Jesus will follow us wherever we go!  To God be the glory!  Amen!