SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:1-11.16-20
TEXT: 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ THEME: A Mission of Peace. INTRODUCTION The last time I preach on this passage, I thought the modern-day application of sending the 70 out in twos, was having our sermons posted live on Facebook. Going out into the cyber universe was a way we could enter many homes. We were doing that just before the pandemic sheltered us in. Then we expanded our broadcast with an abbreviated worship service. We became a hybrid church with an online presence and with those in person practicing aloha. Looking at this passage a few years later, our focus is shifted off of evangelism and concentrate on the Good News of Peace. SCRIPTURE Jesus is laying the groundwork for the worship of God to be beyond the confines of the temple in Jerusalem and expanded into the communities where believers live. Traveling through Samaria, in the country north of Judea, Jesus is sharing the peace of God among the Gentiles. First with the man with so many demons he identified as Legion, then among towns whose imaginations of God had been stifled by prejudice and fear. Now Jesus sends out his traveling companions ahead of where he intends to go, to share the peace of God. As they enter homes, they are to bring peace. They are not trying to convert their host or argue theologically, but to bring a foretaste of the peace of God with them; in the way they act, in the way they speak, in how they behave, in how they treat their host and in how they treat each other. They are living the peace of God among strangers, before Jesus gets there. The Peace of God has good manners. From this text we can see that the peace of God eats what they are served with appreciation. This is a very intimate type of sharing. This makes me think of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” as he goes all over the world and eats the food his hosts offer. They present their very best, as a culinary gift and he receives what they serve, with curiosity, appreciations, grace, discovery, trust and acceptance. Almost as if saying, “Peace to this House”, Good friends are made like this, and in the simple act of receiving a meal is a sign that, “the Kingdom of God is near”. God’s love brings peace. Those who have God’s peace prays to cure the sick. God’s love creates the incarnation. God’s love has Jesus traveling towards us, reaching out in Samaria. God’s love is taking Jesus to Jerusalem for a showdown with Caiaphas, Herod and Pilate. The Peace of God is relational. The peace of God brings the presence of Christ with us. In Christ’s presence there is freedom. Forces that possess us are subdued. Those things that seek to harm us are matched, And the power of God is near. Jesus and his disciples bringing the peace of God near to those in Samaria. APPLICATION In the Gospel of Luke, we see the effects of the Spirit of God in our world as an example of the Kingdom of God being near. How does the peace of God change the way we live? When we are at peace with God, it gives us the capacity to be at peace with ourselves and to be at peace with others. Shifting from seeing ourselves as sinners to being loved by God changes our focus from seeing the negative to seeing the positive. God loves us. Our world is good. Human beings are good. The world is not a place filled with evil that needs to be destroyed but is redeemable, justice can be accomplished, human rights can be acted upon, and we can continue to achieve rights that recognize and respects the dignity of all people. Our planet is not too far from being able to be healed, but the longer we wait the more valiant efforts it will require. Where our relationships have been wounded with hurt, the peace God brings offers us grace and forgiveness. Reconciliation is part of this love that brings about peace. I grew up watching samurai movies. They are based on revenge. One person’s death is being avenged by an attack upon the rival clan. This path of death and destruction is never satisfied. There is never enough payment or hurt inflicted that will satisfy the avenging side. Only forgiveness can bring peace and stop this madness. When the paired up 70, were poorly received, they are to wipe of the dust off their feet, recognizing how they were treated, but leaving that negative behind and not taking that hurt along with them. Giving up the right to hurt them back, the let it go with forgiveness and move forward with peace. Our vision of the future is not in trying to recapture the past. In that regard the Supreme Court got it wrong and selective in how they applied their recollection of history to one case but not another, as a rule to determine the future. If we hold to that standard then every firearm should be replaced with a musket, the firearm of that day. Try and conceal that weapon. The Peace of God also gives us the ability to look critically at our contribution to a situation and admit our part in creating this problem or conflict, so we can take responsibility for our actions and change our behavior, so we don’t find ourselves in that situation again. We are a human example of the peace of God in our lives by how we behave. CONCLUSION The nature of scripture is that it has many layers to it. There is never just one way to read it. What we discover about when and who it was written to. The setting, and what the author may have been trying to address. We can see how humans have not changed very much in over 2000 years. We are still flawed, wonderful, surprising, amazing creatures in God’s image. And we are in need of God’s peace in our lives, that comes from being loved, and having tons of grace bestowed on us.
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