Peace in the House
A Conversation Among Multiple Churches
Peace as the First Move
Before we read Scripture, let’s name what’s happening in this room. This is not a time to solve every problem, and it’s not a time to trade best practices like comparing programs. This is a space to listen for a faithful next step—something real, local, and shared—that helps peace take root among neighboring churches and in the communities God has entrusted to our care.
Many churches are carrying anxiety: about numbers, finances, leadership fatigue, and the speed of change around us. When anxiety rises, the instinct is to default to what can be controlled—structures, plans, and decisions. But the gospel often begins somewhere else: with presence, trust, and small acts of courage that make room for God to work.
So this conversation turns to a simple scene from Luke 10. Jesus sends people out not as lone heroes, but two-by-two. They don’t lead with a pitch; they lead with a blessing: “Peace to this house.” They receive hospitality, they stay long enough to notice what’s happening, and they let peace become the first sign of God’s reign. Listen for what kind of low-risk, relational experiment might grow from that sending.
Luke 10:1–9
The Lord Sends the Seventy-Two
1After these things the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to come.
2And he said to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
3Go on your way. Look—I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
6And if a child of peace is there, your peace will rest on them; but if not, it will return to you.
7Remain in that same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves their wages. Do not move from house to house.
8Whenever you enter a town and they welcome you, eat what is set before you.
9Heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
The Lord Sends the Seventy-Two
1After these things the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to come.
2And he said to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
3Go on your way. Look—I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
6And if a child of peace is there, your peace will rest on them; but if not, it will return to you.
7Remain in that same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves their wages. Do not move from house to house.
8Whenever you enter a town and they welcome you, eat what is set before you.
9Heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’
12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15And you, Capernaum—will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades.
16“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The Return of the Seventy-Two
17The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!”
18And he said to them, “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19Look—I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will harm you.
20Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Holy Spirit
21In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it was pleasing in your sight.
22All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23Then, turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
The Parable of the Samaritan
25And look—a lawyer stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?”
27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28And he said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this, and you will live.”
29But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead.
31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.
34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend beyond this, I will repay you when I return.’
36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”
37He said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”
Mary and Martha
38Now as they went on their way, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
39And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his word.
40But Martha was distracted by much serving; and she came up and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
42but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Notes
v01“seventy-two… in pairs” — The mission is communal, not heroic; witness is validated and sustained through shared labor.
v02“ask the Lord of the harvest” — The first “strategy” is prayer; mission begins with dependence, not control.
v03“lambs among wolves” — Jesus does not romanticize the work; vulnerability is assumed, not avoided.
v04“carry no purse… greet no one” — This is urgent, focused travel and practiced reliance; the mission is not funded by anxiety.
v05–06“Peace… child of peace” — Peace is offered as a gift, not forced as an outcome; it rests where it is received.
v07“remain… the laborer deserves wages” — Stability matters; do not treat hospitality as a ladder for better options. Mutual provision is honored, not shamed.
v08–09“eat what is set… heal… kingdom… near” — Table fellowship and embodied mercy carry the announcement; the reign of God comes with tangible care.
Notes
v01“seventy-two… in pairs” — The mission is communal, not heroic; witness is validated and sustained through shared labor.
v02“ask the Lord of the harvest” — The first “strategy” is prayer; mission begins with dependence, not control.
v03“lambs among wolves” — Jesus does not romanticize the work; vulnerability is assumed, not avoided.
v04“carry no purse… greet no one” — This is urgent, focused travel and practiced reliance; the mission is not funded by anxiety.
v05–06“Peace… child of peace” — Peace is offered as a gift, not forced as an outcome; it rests where it is received.
v07“remain… the laborer deserves wages” — Stability matters; do not treat hospitality as a ladder for better options. Mutual provision is honored, not shamed.
v08–09“eat what is set… heal… kingdom… near” — Table fellowship and embodied mercy carry the announcement; the reign of God comes with tangible care.
v10–11“wipe off the dust… yet know this” — Even rejection becomes testimony; the message remains true even when unwelcome.
v12–15“more bearable… woe… brought down” — Accountability is proportionate to light received; privilege without response becomes judgment.
v16“listens to you… listens to me” — The emissaries represent Christ’s own presence; to dismiss them is to dismiss the Sender.
v17–20“even the demons… names… written in heaven” — Power is not the ground of joy; identity and belonging with God are.
v18“Satan fall like lightning” — Jesus frames their ministry as participation in a larger defeat of evil, not a personal achievement.
v19“authority… nothing will harm you” — This is vocational assurance, not a guarantee of comfort; mission authority is real, but not a promise of risk-free discipleship.
v21“rejoiced in the Holy Spirit… revealed to infants” — God’s disclosure is not a merit badge for intelligence; it is gift, received by the humble and open.
v22“no one knows… except” — The passage holds a high Christology: the Son uniquely reveals the Father, and revelation is relational, not merely informational.
v23–24“blessed are the eyes” — The disciples stand in a moment longed for across generations; gratitude, not entitlement, is the proper response.
v25“to test him” — The question is framed as debate, but Jesus turns it toward life.
v26“How do you read?” — Scripture interpretation is not neutral; the reader’s posture matters as much as the text.
v27“love… heart… soul… strength… mind… neighbor” — Whole-person devotion to God is inseparable from practical love of neighbor.
v28“do this, and you will live” — Not works-righteousness rhetoric, but covenantal clarity: life with God is enacted, not merely discussed.
v29“wanting to justify himself” — The impulse is boundary-making: reducing neighbor-love to something manageable.
v30“down from Jerusalem to Jericho” — The road signals danger and exposure; the victim is anonymous, so compassion cannot be filtered through affinity.
v31–32“priest… Levite… passed by” — Religious proximity to holiness does not guarantee mercy; piety can coexist with avoidance.
v33“a Samaritan… moved with compassion” — The expected outsider becomes the faithful neighbor; mercy is redefined beyond tribe, purity, and reputation.
v34–35“bound up… oil and wine… two denarii… repay” — Compassion is costly, practical, and accountable; love spends, interrupts, and follows through.
v36–37“proved to be a neighbor… Go, and do likewise” — The question shifts from “Who qualifies?” to “Who will I become?” Neighbor is a vocation, not a category.
v38“welcomed him” — Hospitality is real discipleship, not a lesser calling; receiving Christ is a holy work.
v39“sat at the Lord’s feet” — Mary is pictured in the posture of a disciple; Jesus welcomes her attentiveness as legitimate learning.
v40“distracted… much serving” — Service becomes distorted when it is driven by anxiety and comparison rather than love.
v41–42“anxious… one thing… good portion” — Jesus does not shame service; he names disordered urgency. The “one thing” is attentive communion that re-centers everything else.
Vocabulary
v02θερισμός (therismos) — harvest (image for God’s work ready for gathering)
v02ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) — to send out; to thrust out (forceful “dispatch,” not casual)
v05εἰρήνη (eirēnē) — peace; wholeness; well-being
v06υἱὸς εἰρήνης (huios eirēnēs) — child/son of peace (idiom: one receptive to peace)
v07μισθός (misthos) — wages; pay; reward
v09βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou) — kingdom/reign of God
Vocabulary
v02θερισμός (therismos) — harvest (image for God’s work ready for gathering)
v02ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) — to send out; to thrust out (forceful “dispatch,” not casual)
v05εἰρήνη (eirēnē) — peace; wholeness; well-being
v06υἱὸς εἰρήνης (huios eirēnēs) — child/son of peace (idiom: one receptive to peace)
v07μισθός (misthos) — wages; pay; reward
v09βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou) — kingdom/reign of God
v13μετανοέω (metanoeō) — to repent; to turn; to change one’s way of mind/life
v16ἀθετέω (atheteō) — to reject; to set aside; to treat as invalid
v19ἐξουσία (exousia) — authority; delegated power
v20ἐγγράφω (engraphō) — to write in; to inscribe (names “recorded” in heaven)
v21ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalyptō) — to reveal; uncover (God’s disclosure as gift)
v25κληρονομέω (klēronomeō) — to inherit; to receive as an inheritance
v27ἀγαπάω (agapaō) — to love (covenant love enacted, not merely felt)
v27πλησίον (plēsion) — neighbor; the one near (redefined by the parable)
v29δικαιόω (dikaioō) — to justify; to vindicate oneself
v33σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai) — to be moved with compassion (gut-level mercy)
v35δηνάριον (dēnarion) — denarius (typical day’s wage; costly mercy)
v37ἔλεος (eleos) — mercy; compassion in action
v40περισπάω (perispaō) — to be distracted; to be pulled away
v41μεριμνάω (merimnaō) — to be anxious; to be preoccupied with care
v42μερίς (meris) — portion; share (“the good portion”)
Sent Before Prepared
- Consider the disciples’ background and formation in this story—ordinary people, without academic training. In what ways are we similar to them, and in what ways are we different?
- In Luke 10, Jesus sends them before they feel fully ready and tells them to receive hospitality rather than manage outcomes. On a scale of 1–10, how often does “we’re not trained enough” function as a reason to keep our faith mostly inside the walls of the church? What would move that number down by one point?
The Last 90 Days
- If an outsider who knew nothing about the way of Christ observed our last 90 days, what would they conclude our church exists to do? What evidence would they cite—calendar, budget, conversations, decisions, anxieties?
- Name one concrete “house” God keeps putting in our path (a person, place, group, or institution). In what specific ways have we received hospitality from them—allowed them to host us, teach us, and shape the agenda—rather than approaching them as a project to manage?
Where Peace Rests
- Why is beginning with a simple blessing—“peace to this house”—often a more faithful (and lower-control) first move than how we usually begin: with explaining, recruiting, fixing, or proving credibility? What does a blessing make possible that a pitch cannot?
- In Luke 10, the disciples don’t decide the whole strategy in advance; they watch where peace “rests,” and then they stay. Where have signs of receptivity already appeared—open doors, trust, mutual curiosity—and what would it look like to follow that peace instead of forcing outcomes where there is little openness?
Living the Gospel Together
Below are a few invitations for shared action. Every region, every congregation, and every leadership team is in a different place in its life cycle—with different capacity, trust, and bandwidth. So there are no “right” or “wrong” small steps here. There is only the choice to take a small step together, or to stay where things are.
Use these options as a guide—not a prescription. Choose what fits your context, or adapt them into a simple experiment that makes sense for your churches and your community. The goal is not a grand gesture, but a concrete next move that helps peace take root beyond our walls.
Invitation 1: One Shared Practice
Considering your congregational history and current capacity, what is one other congregation you could share a short-term practice with over the next season (4–8 weeks)?
- What would be a reasonable shared practice—small enough to keep?
- How could that same practice be intentionally outward-looking (so it blesses a “house” beyond the churches involved)?
Invitation 2: Two-by-Two Listening
Choose two people from two congregations (pastor/elder, elder/elder, or pastor/pastor) and make one visit in the next 2–4 weeks to a “house” in your community (a school, clinic, food pantry, civic leader, neighborhood group, small business, recovery ministry, etc.). Go as learners—no pitch, no recruiting.
- Who are the two people who can go together—and what “house” will they visit?
- What is one question they will carry to learn what life is like there?
A simple way to begin: “We’re trying to know our community better and to be good neighbors. Would you be willing to tell us what you do and what you’re seeing right now?”
Debrief afterward (15 minutes): What surprised us? Where did peace seem to rest? What’s one next step?
Invitation 3: Stay and Learn
Choose one “house of peace”—a place or partner where there is already openness—and commit to a small, repeatable presence for 8–12 weeks. Keep it simple: show up, receive hospitality, bless, and learn. No new committee required.
Examples of “stay” rhythms (pick one):
- a monthly shared meal with a community partner
- a weekly volunteer hour at one site
- a rotating “porch visit / coffee hour” in a neighborhood space
- a monthly listening circle hosted by someone outside the church
- a monthly listening circle hosted by someone outside the church
Which “house” will we stay with for 8–12 weeks, and what clear, repeatable rhythm will we practice there?
How will we keep it relational (receive and bless) rather than turning it into a program—and what will we look for as signs that peace is “resting” there?
Scripture on this page is from The Shared Word Translation (SWT), an ongoing translation project within ChurchCommons.org.