The idea is to follow Jesus’ strategy when He sent out the
seventy-two. He told 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. Luke 10:5-6.
The peace of Christ flows through "sons of peace." God has prepared them, and His grace is evident in them. Jesus said to look for people in whom God is at
work, people who will become the open door to a neighborhood, village, or region.
The gospel will enter where God’s grace has already prepared the way.
Years ago in one of my church plants I had
knocked on hundreds of doors and made contacts with many unchurched people who seemed
interested. But I didn’t have one solid “person of peace,” and I was
discouraged. I’ll never forget the lonely week when I felt like quitting.
I was not a rookie and had been facing
church planting challenges for years. But this discouragement seemed more
intense. Part of it was that I was sick that week. An infection made my body
achy and slightly feverish. I just felt like staying in bed. But somehow I knew
that if I didn’t drag myself out of the house, I might give up entirely.
So I drove to a new housing tract not far
from our house, and began knocking on doors. About half-way down the block the
door opened, and when I began to talk to the woman of the house, I felt immediately
that she was the "daughter of peace” I had hoped to meet. She was a warm, hospitable
person who opened her home for a neighborhood Bible study.
Finding her was a breakthrough in getting
that church started. People in her neighborhood became Christians and began
attending the new church. She was a “daughter
of peace.”
Christ gave us more than good advice. Finding the “son of peace”
is about looking for where He is working and then following Him. It’s not
launching out with our plans and asking Got to bless them. It’s planning as
much as we can, all the while seeking evidence of the grace of God as they key
to our next step.
That’s how Christian ministry must be done. But even more basically,
it’s how we live the Christian life. Because when you and I are looking for the
opening, the solution, the next step, the right direction, the key to moving forward, we’re
really looking for the Son of Peace, Jesus.
We’re looking for His grace to lead us. He is the key to everything.
He’s the Door, the Way, the Beginning and the End. All we hope for, the good and the eternal, the longing of our hearts and the healing of our souls, peace with God and peace with man - it all comes from the Son of Peace.
