Humor writer Ed McManus said one day he was late leaving home for work. There was a knock at his front door. It was wet and cold outside. He opened the door and there stood two Jehovah’s Witnesses, damp and shivering in the cold.

They asked if they could come inside. Well, he couldn’t leave them standing there, so he said okay. He brought them into his living room and offered them a chair.

They were quiet for a long time, so he asked, “What happens now?”

The older one said, “We don’t know. We never got this far before.” (1)

Jesus is sending his disciples out to do evangelism. He gives them precise directions about how to proceed:

“After this the Lord appointed seventy‑two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The …