let your peace come upon it

Monday, January 7, 2008

Psalm 104; Matthew 10:5-15

"Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food... As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it..."
(Matthew 10:10, 12-13)


Jesus sends out his disciples to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," proclaiming "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" while healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons. So while the mission is a grand one, beyond their powers to accomplish, those they were to go to -at least at this point - were their own people.

What strikes me in this first section is the dependent relationship they were to cultivate with those they would visit and minister to. Take no money, no bag, one undergarment, no sandals or staff... stay at whatever house receives you, blessing it with your peace.

We are on mission. How are we to relate to the world around us? To our culture? To the people on our way every day - in our family, at work, in our neighborhood? This passage instructs us to build basic human relationships with the people we meet in our daily sojourn. Recognize that just as they may need our message of the kingdom, we need them in some fundamental ways also.

Too often Christians act like they have already fully entered some other realm of existence that the bad, unholy people around us cannot be a part of and in fact if we do rub shoulders with them and express any kind of humility or dependence on them that our purity and holiness will be jeopardized. Or we just act like most everyone else in our culture, and have superficial relationships but never share what's most important to us. Yes, there comes a time to "shake the dust off" our feet and move on to other relationships - but not until we greet and bless those around us with the peace of the Lord. Too often we only act like disciples on mission when we're with other Christians, at church or in a small group.

This dependent relationship can take may forms. I think of Jesus sitting by a well in Samaria and asking a woman for a drink (John 4); he initiated relationship with her by asking for her help. It might be asking for help or directions or to be shown how to do something. It might be in truly honoring someone for how well they do their job, or care for their children, or play an instrument. It really is mostly an attitude of humility, and love, and respect that recognizes that I've not arrived in heaven yet, that I'm not perfect or self-contained and am still part of the human family. People are so much more open when they feel honored and respected and blessed.

Of course, we are to depend on the Lord alone for our provision and the power to minister. But this text teaches us that one way the Lord provides for us, including a context in which to share the good news of the kingdom, is through our relationships with those around us.