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Reaching Out | Part III

Giving

As Christians, when we bring Jesus’s good news to our world, we are representing God himself. The world is looking to us for hope in the dark. What should our response be?

In Chapter 10 of the book of Luke,  Jesus gives us some practical tips as to how we are to share in his mission:

‘Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 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.’

Oddly enough, our first sentence is not, ‘Do you believe you are a sinner?’. It’s not, ‘Have you heard of Jesus?’

What is the very first thing our Savior commands us to say?

Luke 10:5b ‘First say, “Peace be to this house!”’

Jesus comes bearing the gift of peace.

Remember when he came as a baby to Bethlehem? The angels flooded the sky with ‘good news of a great joy’! There were smiles!  There was singing!  In essence, God said, ‘Peace be with this nation! You’re so divided — riven through with disagreement and argument and strife. But I have come to bring peace!’

When we bring Christ’s message, we are to go with genuine smiles. We have the greatest gift of all for the people in our lives. In the midst of their brokenness and despair, what’s the first thing we say?

‘I bring peace to you.’

This is so beautiful. We bring peace to their house.

Sometimes, as Christians, when we finally get up the courage to go and talk to people about Jesus, we’re not smiling.  They might see the anxiety in our face. Do they know we’ve practiced our arguments and memorized our lines — preparing to win the debate we know is coming? Maybe not, but they can probably sense our nervous and aggressive attitude. We’re ready to warn them about judgement, to make a proclamation, or drop off literature.

We don’t arrive bearing gifts.

We should say, ‘Peace to this house’.

Sometimes we get the idea that we can only tell people about Jesus if we rehearse our lines and thoroughly prepare. We don’t do the very thing that ought to come quite naturally. We don’t tell people just how good our Savior is! Why not? Why are we at a loss for words?

We can always tell people of the greatness of our God and the wonderful things he has done. We can say, with love and compassion, ‘Here is how Jesus restored me to life! He can do that for you!’ We can offer to pray with them. We can stand with them in faith and encouragement.

We can bring them Jesus’s perfect peace.

Read the other posts in this series:

Reaching Out: Part I | Never Go Alone

Reaching Out: Part II | Depending on God

Reaching Out: Part III | Giving