“Be At Peace with One Another”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
“Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us;
Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us;
And in the day when hell itself assails us,
Grant us Your peace, Lord.
“Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging,
Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging,
Peace when the world its endless war is waging,
Peace in Your heaven.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
659:3-4)
Epistle Reading............................................ St. Mark 9:38-50
(esp. 50b)
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Prologue: The word “peace” is an extremely significant word in the New
Testament as demonstrated by the fact that the Greek word for it appears 92
times. It’s a relational word that means to be united, unified, or
connected together. You see, reflecting on this particular verse, it’s
important to realize that “The rock salt of Palestine, however, could lose
its flavor. The words are a solemn warning against complacency. Anything
that causes strife among the followers of Jesus is not true salt. Those who
have true salt will be at peace with one another. This is not peace at any
price, but peace based on a true understanding of the [atoning
self-sacrificial] mission of Jesus.” (Donald Guthrie in Jesus the Messiah:
An Illustrated Life of Christ. Copyright © 1972 by The Zondervan
Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI. Page 186.) So, let’s consider a sampling of
its use to gain a better grasp of it.
Jesus instructed His disciples when He sent them out, “As you enter the
house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it,
but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” (Matt 10:12-13 ESV)
Shortly after that He also told them, “Do not think that I have come to
bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
(Matt 10:34 ESV)
In responding to a woman’s plea to be healed of what seemed to be an
unhealable illness Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:34 ESV)
The angelic messengers announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds by
singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with
whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14 ESV) and when Joseph and Mary presented Him
to the Lord at the Jerusalem temple shortly after His birth, old man Simeon
declared, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according
to your word … .” (Luke 2:29 ESV)
As He approached His passion Jesus comforted His disciples by telling
them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world
gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them
be afraid.” (John 14:27 ESV)
Saint Paul began his letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and
Philemon with “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ” (Rom 1:7 ESV) or some variation thereof. And, he often closed his
letters with a peace-encouragement as he did his second letter to the
Corinthians, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one
another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and
peace will be with you.” (2 Cor 13:11 ESV)
Two of the most well-known statements of peace from Saint Paul’s pen
are the familiar blessings, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor 13:14
ESV) and “… the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7 ESV)
In addition, Saint Paul also provided what is arguably the best
description of peace when he wrote to the Ephesians, “But now in Christ
Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has
broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the
law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new
man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God
in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came
and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were
near.” (Eph 2:13-17 ESV)
Of course, we dare not forget the scene on that first Easter Day
evening about which Saint Luke reported that “Jesus himself stood among [His
frightened disciples], and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’” (Luke 24:36 ESV)
Saint John expanded that report when he wrote that “the doors being locked
where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among
them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he
showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they
saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father
has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ Eight days later, his disciples
were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were
locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”
(John 20:19-21, 26 ESV)
The divine service liturgies that we follow in Lutheran Service
Book are generously-laced with peace statements. For example, in Divine
Service I (largely duplicated by Divine Service II) we hear and speak or
sing: “In peace let us pray to the Lord. For the peace from above and for
our salvation let us pray to the Lord. For the peace of the whole world,
for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all let us
pray to the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on
earth. The peace of the Lord be with you always. Lord, now You let Your
servant go in peace; Your word has been fulfilled. The Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace.” (Lutheran Service Book. Copyright © 2006
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 152-154, 163, 165-166.)
So, in the shadows of all those “peace” references we hear Jesus
tell His audience in today’s Gospel Reading …
“Be At Peace with One Another.”
In other words, be united, unified, and connected together with
one another. Don’t be divided, contentious, or against each other because,
after all, ...
I. Disrupted Peace Results in Division Among Disciples. (38-41)
38John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your
name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But
Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name
will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40For the one who is not
against us is for us. 41For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of
water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his
reward.
The simple concern and message here is one regarding jealous or
arrogant judgment … a self-centered “better-than-thou” attitude. It’s what
today’s Old Testament Reading illustrated, “Now two men remained in the
camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on
them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the
tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told
Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ And Joshua the son of
Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them.’
But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the
Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’”
(Num 11:26-29 ESV)
You see, what we have here is that sinful situation that easily
plagues many people. “This man did not belong to the little band of
disciples, he was going over the field on his own responsibility. John’s
zeal, therefore, had caused him to make an effort at preventing his work.
John’s idea was that he had done a good, a commendable thing before the
Lord, and eagerly looked forward to the praise which he felt must be
forthcoming.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular Commentary of the Bible: The New
Testament Volume I. Copyright © Unknown Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Page 217.)
However, “Jesus promptly told them that they were wrong. That the
man drove out demons in Jesus’ name proved he was a believer, unless of
course there would have been specific evidence to the contrary.” (Harold E.
Wicke in People’s Bible Commentary: Mark. Copyright © 1992 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 135.) In other words, Satan had
successfully instilled in them, as he often does in people today as well,
the sin of jealousy that leads to discord, division, and separation from one
another and, if not confronted and corrected, may well lead to temporal
separation from almighty God Himself. The utterly disastrous result of
refusal to repent of, confess, and strive to correct sin will be eternal
separation from God in the unquenchable fires of hell.
That’s why it’s so vitally important to …
II. Recognize and Appropriately Respond to Sin. (42-50a)
42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it
would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and
he were thrown into the sea. 43And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it
off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go
to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to sin,
cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to
be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It
is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two
eyes to be thrown into hell, 48‘where their worm does not die and the fire
is not quenched.’ 49For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good,
but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?
Now that’s severe attention-grabbing talk! The simple
oh-so-serious reality is that “Sin leads to hell. It’s the place of eternal
torment. To ‘go into hell’ is what will happen when we choose that which is
evil. To ‘be thrown into hell’ is to be condemned to hell; God pronounces
the judgment. That is what all face who sell out to sin.” (Harold E. Wicke.
Page 136.)
So, how do you escape that which you rightly deserve because of
your sinful uncleanness? The exclusive answer is … Jesus! He alone lived
the holy life that God demands but we’re unable to do. He alone endured the
unjust scorn, ridicule, and physical punishment that we deserve. He alone
shed His holy blood unto a holy death on an unholy cross to atone for our
sins. And, He alone arose from the dead in victorious triumph over sin,
Satan, and death itself thereby proving that “A. [He] is the Son of God; B.
His doctrine is the truth; C. God the Father accepted [His] sacrifice for
the reconciliation of the world; [and] D. all believers in Christ will rise
to eternal life.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright ©
1986, 1991 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 139f.)
Yes, “the blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1
John 1:7 ESV) … including the sins of jealousy, unrighteously judging
others, discord, division, and whatever else Satan, the world, and our
sinful flesh would use to separate us from one another in home, church,
school, work, or community. That very cleansing enables us to mend and
restore broken relationships according the holy advice Saint James gave in
today’s Epistle Reading, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and
pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous
person has great power as it is working. My brothers, if anyone among you
wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that
whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from
death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:16, 19-20 ESV)
As forgiven saints—children of the heavenly Father—realize that
“It is God’s Word, whose law burns and whose gospel heals. Take God’s Word
into your heart as it is, and you will have salt in yourself. By means of
it, you will also be able to be at peace with one another … .” (Harold E.
Wicke. Page 137.) To that end, God’s Holy Spirit, who entered your heart
through Holy Baptism, comforts your heart through Holy Absolution,
strengthens faith in your heart through Holy Communion, and renews your
heart through the reading and hearing of God’s Holy Word, will lead you to
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away
from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4:31-32 ESV)
In conclusion, therefore, let us retain on our hearts and minds
the words contained in today’s Collect, “Everlasting Father, source of every
blessing, mercifully direct and govern us by Your Holy Spirit that we may
complete the works You have prepared for us to do.” Uppermost among those
works is that we …
“Be At Peace with One Another.”
As such, let us here in time do together with united hearts and
voices what we will be forever doing hereafter in eternity, namely, as the
Introit for today’s propers exhorts, “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of
the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the
Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord
is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! Your name, O Lord, endures
forever, your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.” (Ps 135:1-3, 13 ESV)
Let us do so repentantly lamenting the tragic reality that …
I. Disrupted Peace Results in Division Among Disciples. (38-41)
At the same time, let us always and faithfully …
II. Recognize and Appropriately Respond to Sin. (42-50a)
Enabled by the Holy Spirit to do so, we can then joyfully exclaim
what the Gradual for today’s propers states, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name!” (Ps 103:1 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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