In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
I think we can all agree that people are pretty bad at establishing and maintaining peace. Just think for a moment about the things going on in the world, in our country, in our communities. It’s not that peace isn’t something we want. After all, the Law of God that’s written on our hearts gives us a certain inclination to peace and order which we can see in our human attempts to organize societies, for example.
Sometimes these attempts at establishing peace are closer to home. I’m thinking of those ‘House Rules’ signs that are readily available to match your home’s unique décor. Some of them have good and helpful rules:
‘if you break it, fix it’, ‘if you make a mess, clean it up’, and such. Some try to be a bit more biblical: ‘love one another’, ‘work hard’, ‘forgive’ … But in spite of our natural longing for order and our inherent understanding of right and wrong, we never seem to achieve the peace that we desire. The reason, of course, is that since the Fall we are also, by nature, sinful and unclean and have an overwhelming propensity for mucking things up, creating confusion and disorder, and outright rebelling against God who is “not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33), as Scripture says.
As children of God, Christ’s Holy Church is our home of peace. God brought us into this home of peace by the one Baptism for the remission of sins. And the peace that we have by virtue of Holy Baptism is continually renewed in us by confession and Absolution: the ministry of reconciliation, as St. Paul calls it (2 Cor 5:18) – being reconciled to God by confessing our sins and receiving His gift of forgiveness. And that renewed peace is strengthened in us all the more by the real presence of Christ who gives His true body and blood for us Christians to eat and to drink: nourishing our faith.
The Holy Sacraments that Christ instituted – to minister peace with God for us sinful people with troubled consciences – are also Sacraments of fellowship for us. Christ’s Holy Church, in addition to being a place of sanctuary for sinners in need of forgiveness and a refuge from doubt and confusion, is also a home for us as God’s family. And in today’s Epistle, St. Peter lays out the divinely inspired ‘House Rules’ for us as the family of God.
First, the Church is to be a home of brethren. “All of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” We are to have one mind in this holy house: a common confession of faith that unites us in spite of our varied opinions and unique personalities. We’re to be mutually sympathetic and compassionate on account of our many individual faults, weaknesses, and difficulties: placing ourselves in our brother’s circumstances – just as God became man in the person of Christ to sympathize with our human weaknesses and reconcile us to the Father. Likewise, we’re to have pity for those who are suffering with all tenderness and humility: avoiding that which causes pain or aggravation out of Christian love.
The Church is also to be a home of guarded tongues. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” By Baptism and faith, Christians are heirs of the divine blessings of forgiveness and salvation. And as heirs of the divine blessings, we are to bless and be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Christ – even the ones we’re not so eager to bless and be a blessing to – because, as Scripture says: “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor 12:24-26)
And the Church is to be a home of holy work and prayer – ora et labora, pray and work, as the old saying goes. St. Peter quotes Ps. 34, saying: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Your life as a Christian is lived under the eyes and ears of God who directs your work and listens to your prayers and supplications. This is our comfort when we stumble in our labors … and when our worship and prayers falter. No matter what suffering comes upon you in this world of sin, as a Christian you have no need to fear. “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” Why? Because by grace, through faith, you “regard Christ the Lord as holy.” Peter was drawing on the Prophet Isaiah here who, when Judah was faced with the coming Assyrian invasion, said: “do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary …” Christ the Holy One is our true sanctuary from all the fear that we’re faced with because He entered the heavenly sanctuary as our great High Priest, having atoned for our sins by means of His own blood, where He intercedes for His household of faith and peace day and night. That’s the peace of God which passes all understanding.
But while we rejoice in the peace of sins forgiven and richly poured out on us repentant sinners in Christ’s house of peace, we aren’t called to simply sit idly by: selfishly enjoying that peace without sharing it with others.
St. Paul, after Christ called Him by the Gospel on the road to Damascus, made his way to Jerusalem to share the peace of sins forgiven with others. And we learn from this passage in Acts that “the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31). The Church had peace. It walked in the fear of the Lord. And by Christ’s Spirit, it multiplied. This is how our Epistle Reading and our Gospel Reading fit together.
From the Gospel, we learn that Christ is always laboring in His house of peace, and we should be too. The fishermen had called it quits for the day. They were out of their boats and were cleaning their nets. They may have been worn out and overwhelmed with feelings of despair over their lack of success, but Jesus wasn’t. He got into the boat and continued to teach the people with His life-giving Word. Then He called upon Peter to “put out into the deep and let down [their] nets for a catch.” Peter was to be brave and trusting but leave the results to Christ. Even though we labor, it is Christ who fills the net. Indeed, the best workers in Christ’s Church are those who are humble … who know their transgressions … who know that apart from Christ they can do nothing (Jn 15:5). To such as these, Christ gives peace to their anxious consciences and success to their work.
It’s true that no matter how much we try to show people that there’s no bondage in Christ’s net, there will still be those who prefer to remain in the vast ocean of sin and self-will. But our power is Christ’s power and our work as the Church is Christ’s work. When we understand this, we are able to labor in peace … without fear.
We are the people “pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God.” We have been drawn out of the ocean of sin by Baptism and faith. We are kept secure in Christ’s house of peace by His Word, His absolution, and His Supper. And as we labor to see that the net of the Gospel is cast out far and wide, we rest peacefully in the knowledge that, in spite of our failures, it is Christ who will fill the net of His Church.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Pr. Jon Holst