"Publishing Peace" - The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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[Luke 10:1-6] After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go. And He said to them… “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.”

Publishers of Peace

I’ve been traveling with a lot of baggage lately. In the past two and half weeks, four thousand miles, house to house. At each house and hotel I’ve entered, the baggage has come in, and out, with me. Lugging baggage in and out is exhausting. It’s a relief to finally put it down. Peace.

Every Sunday, you come into to God’s house with baggage. Lord willing, you leave without it. This is the place to come in with baggage and to be freed from it.

Come in with the baggage of sin. Past and present. Come in, filled with the baggage of the news and politics. Heavy and frustrating to carry around in you. Come in with the baggage of mistreatment and hurtful words, heavy scars and wounds to carry inside.

Come in with the baggage of worry. About your money and finances. Come in with the baggage of fear or confusion about what happens in the world.

Come in with the baggage of guilt. Your mismanagement. The weight of what you have failed to do, what you’ve left undone. And what you’ve done.

The week gone by accumulates baggage each day. Here is the place to bring it in and put it down in God’s home. To have peace because of the good news.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news, who publish peace and bring good news of salvation.” [Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7]

The Divine Service, the Sunday worship service, is a publishing of divine peace. We remember that on Easter evening, when Jesus first greeted His disciples after His resurrection, He showed them His pierced hands and side and said, “Peace be with you” [John 20:19-22].

The Divine Service – which is the Lord’s service for us – is Jesus’ continued Easter proclamation of “Peace be with you”, spoken to you by the Lord through His sent minister. The worship service is a service of declaring, of publishing to the world, God’s peace with guilty sinners and those in need of healing.

“Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men” [Gloria in Excelsis]. “Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” [spoken right before the sermon]. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” [spoken directly after the sermon].

“The peace of the Lord be with you always” [directly after the consecration of the Lord’s Supper]. “O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, grant us Thy peace” [Agnus Dei, as we come up for Communion]. “…depart in peace” [the blessing after Communion].

“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word” [Nunc Dimittis]. And the final benediction, “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” 

Those are just the direct references to peace. The whole rest of the service is geared toward peace, from Confession and Absolution, through the readings and the sermon, and every part of the Liturgy.

The service is geared toward peace because the whole service is the communication of the good news that Jesus, the Lamb of God, has died and risen for you. The whole service says, “God has forgiven your sins, your baggage, in the blood of Jesus. Sins of this week. Sins farther back.”

And to the hurting and burdened, the whole service says, “In His wounds you are healed” [Isaiah 53:5]. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… for your soul” [Matthew 11:28ff]. Jesus has carried all your baggage in Himself on the cross. “It is finished” [John 19:30]. You can lay it down.

Without Jesus, you still carry your own baggage and have God’s anger against your sins. With Jesus, He has carried your baggage and God’s anger is put away. You have peace because God, your Creator, is now at peace with you because of Jesus’ self-offering on your behalf:

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them” [2 Corinthians 5:19]. “…through Him to reconcile to Himself all things… making peace by the blood of His cross” [Colossians 1:20].

In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus sent seventy-two disciples, two-by-two, to proclaim this peace to every town He was about to visit. If those in a town or a house believed it, the peace of God would remain with them. If they did not believe the forgiveness and healing of the good news of Jesus, peace would not remain but flee from them.

When you enter this house, know the purpose God intends. Don’t be like a patient who loves their sickness more than the doctor’s cure and therefore spits out the medicine.

Don’t leave here carrying the baggage you came with. It belongs to Jesus now. And don’t give each other new baggage on Sunday morning. You are here for peace.

If we neglect, reject, or lose sight of the purpose God intends – our peace – we may even leave worse than how we came. Our peace flees. Don’t do that.

Instead, let us each come with baggage. Give it to Jesus. And go in peace. That is God’s purpose in the weekly service. To apply to your week what Jesus has done on the cross for your life.

This morning’s Scripture readings and verses in the Divine Service are full of peace. “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river… As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you…” [Isaiah 66:12-13]. “How beautiful are the feet of those who publish peace” [Isaiah 52:7].

And geared toward peace, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” [Galatians 6:1]. “Say, ‘Peace be to this house!’” [Luke 10:5]. And we prayed in today’s Collect, “Continue to send Your messengers to preserve Your people in true peace.”

The seventy-two had their unique calling, as did the twelve apostles, as do pastors and other servants of Christ. And each one of you, as His baptized children, in your various vocations – in your various callings – at home and in the world, you are called to be publishers of His peace, to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you” [1 Peter 3:15].

Each of us are called to receive the peace of Christ and then to have the courage, and the love, to let others know where our peace comes from. My peace comes from knowing Jesus. His peace is for you too.

Every week, brothers and sisters, come into God’s house with your baggage, leave it at the feet of Jesus’ cross, receive His forgiveness, healing, and peace in the words of this Divine Service. Leave unburdened and tell others the reason for the peace within you. Amen.