How to Stay With the House of Peace

Jesus instructed his disciples and sent them out in 2’s (see Matthew 10 and Luke 10);

‘Once you find the House of Peace, do not move around from house to house but stay in that one house until you leave town’

The Persons of Peace were those who gathered their household or influenced a number of others to gather around Jesus…

With that in mind, I want us to stay with 5 Persons of Peace whom Jesus found…

Matthew
Mary & Martha
Zacchaeus
Samaritan Woman
Legion

To dwell with them until we understand what it means to truly ‘Stay with Persons of Peace’ in our day, age and culture…

Jesus: The First Person of Peace

It takes one to know one. Many people go out Searching for the Person of Peace but have never been one so don’t really know what they are looking for. Jesus sent his disciples out to Find the Person of Peace (see Matthew 10:11) but he had already been one himself so knew what he was talking about.

Jesus invited the first disciples to where he was staying immediately (See John 1:35-2:12 – you can find out more about how Jesus gathered His First Five Disciples HERE!)

Matthew [Matthew 9:9-13]

Matthew was sitting at his tax collectors booth when Jesus said;

‘Come, follow me and be my disciple’

Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to a house party in which Matthew invited his fellow tax-collectors and other notorious sinners. The crowd he gathered were perceived so badly by the religious authorities that they asked Jesus’ disciples;

‘Why does your teacher eat and drink with such scum?’

As a result of this comment, Jesus declares; ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I’ve not come to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners…’

Can you imagine meeting someone in the workplace and then going with them as they gather their work colleagues in order to meet Jesus?

A little while later, Jesus sent Matthew out, possible with another disciple called Thomas (Matthew 10:3) to find other Persons of Peace in a similar way to how Jesus had initially found him.

He sent Matthew out in a two to announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. Whenever they entered a city or village, they were to search for a worthy person (Person of Peace) and stay in their home until they left town.

A while later Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew that recorded some of the things Jesus did and said

Martha, Mary & Lazarus [Luke 10:38-42]

When Jesus and his disciples arrive in Bethany, Martha opens her home to him. She is in the kitchen preparing the meal while her sister Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, hanging on his every word…

Martha complains that Mary isn’t helping her! Jesus responds; ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious about many things but only one thing is truly necessary. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her’

Bethany where they live is located less than 2 miles from Jerusalem. It’s recorded that Jesus revisited Bethany at least 5 times in the gospels. For example, Jesus went back to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46)

Zacchaeus [Luke 19:1-10]

Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus over the crowds. He was a short man. When Jesus saw him, he stopped and said to him; ‘Come down from that tree, I’m coming to your house today’. When Jesus went to his house, there was a murmur among the crowd who said he’d gone to the home of a ‘sinner’. When Jesus had been in Zacchaeus’ house for a little while, Zacchaeus declared, ‘Lord, if I have cheated anyone out of their money, here and now I will repay them 4 times the amount and I will give up to half of my wealth to the poor’. On hearing this, Jesus declared; ‘Salvation has come to this house, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham’

Are you actively inviting yourself to the homes or into the social circles of Persons of Peace?

If you want to know how…read to the end…

Samaritan Woman [John 4:3-42]

Jesus had to go through Samaria on his way back home to Galilee from Jerusalem. As he came to the village of Sychar he saw a woman at a well and asked her for a drink of water. This led to a spiritual conversation in which Jesus had a word of knowledge about the woman who previously had 5 husbands and the man she was currently with was not her husband. She went back and told her village, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done’. The whole village came out to see Jesus as a result and invited him to stay in their village. Jesus stayed for a couple days and the villagers said, ‘We now believe, not only because of your testimony, but because we have heard for ourselves’

When you go out sharing the gospel, are you prepared to stay with those who respond for a significant period of time like Jesus did here?

Legion [Luke 8:26-39]

Jesus arrives in the region of the Gerasenes with his disciples. As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. After Jesus drove the demons out of the man, he sat at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane. The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with Jesus. But Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘No, go back to your family; and tell them everything God has done for you.‘

So he went back through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him. In fact – he went through the 10 Towns of the Decapolis region and everyone was amazed at what he told them.

Do you instruct the people you connect with to go back to their families and tell them everything God has done for them?

Discover the Person of Peace

I would encourage you to reread those 5 Person of Peace Stories again and meditate on them…

Matthew 9:9-13
Luke 10:38-42
Luke 19:1-10
Luke 8:26-39
John 4:3-42

Ask these Questions:

What were the characteristics of the Person of Peace

–What did he/she do?

What did Jesus/his followers do?

What was the result?

Your People of Peace

When you meet people, you can meet a need, offer to pray for them, listen to their story and share your story. You can ask them 4 Questions on the back of this:

Would you like to know more?
Where can we meet you?
Who else do you know who might be interested?
What date and time can we next meet?

I would love to hear your stories of finding persons of peace…please get in touch and share!

If you enjoyed this article – you might find the following articles helpful:

Finding The Person of Peace (Groups Vs Individuals)

Finding The Person of Peace (The 4 Questions)

Finding The Person of Peace (Household Salvation)

Finding The Person of Peace (Traffic Lights)

Gathering the Oikos of the Person of Peace

How God Uses Visions to Lead us to the Person of Peace