This may seem obvious, but let me first say that Jesus is not speaking of the building when he says “the house.”  It would be bettertranslated as The Household.  That is the people of the house.  So let’s retranslate: “When you enter the house, greet it. And if the people of the house are worthy, let your peace come upon the whole household, but if the people of the house are not worthy, let your peace return to you.”  That should make better sense.

The idea here is compound:

1.     There will be no enemies.  If the Disciple is not received warmly he keeps his own peace.  He is not to get angry, or wish any harm to the people.  He is to remain at peace within himself.

2.    If the people greet the Disciple in a warm fashion, but do not behave in an upstanding and worthy fashion, he should not stoop to their level.  Keeping his own peace here means to observe his own moral and social standards.  For instance, if he is invited to attend a banquet in honor of one of the many idolatrous gods he should not go, and if he chooses to go, he should gently and courteously refrain from any kind of worship.

3.    Bearing in mind that at this point, very few people were actually followers of Christ, the disciples would, in their travels, associate with people of many faiths.  It was their job to associate with people who were living what the Disciples considered polluted lives and yet they were expected to associate with and befriend these people without either insulting them or taking on their pollutions.  That is probably more difficult that many of us would understand today.

I believe that a number of things would make the household worthy;

1.     Willingness to listen.

2.    Willingness to seriously consider what the Disciple had to say.

3.    Being genuine seekers after the Truth.  Remember, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Anyone who is seeking the truth with honest effort is someone who is looking for Jesus whether they know it or not.

4.    There are probably a lot more indicators, but these stand out in my mind.  Perhaps that they are just plain honest, decent folks.

The last phrase; “if they are not worthy, let your peace return to you” is as important as anything that goes before.  Any missionary encounters a great many people and it is highly likely that his message will not be wholeheartedly received by very many people.  It is far more likely that a missionary, even an excellent one, will succeed only in planting a seed.  Much of the fate of that seed has to do with the attitude that the missionary has with regard to walking away from the planting.  If a missionary only wants to see the seed sprout immediately and put forth in full flower right away and failing that leaves with a long face and an angry huff, then the soil that the seed has been planted in may have just been poisoned by the Missionary’s own actions.

Jesus says, if your gift seems to be rejected leave in such a way that you are at peace with God having charge of your work and the results that come from it.  That is a demonstration of faith and a powerful witness to the faithfulness of the God you serve.  That faith that God will care for your planting could say more to a person searching for God than all of the words that you assembled to convince them to have faith in God in the first place.

The Peace that Jesus is speaking of is not spoken of as the Holy Spirit himself, nor is it spoken of as a gift or as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  At the conclusion of our Sunday Service each week I bless the people with the words: “The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of God and of His son Jesus Christ….”  Our Peace is a gift from God the Father.  This Peace that He bestows on us is not a simple thing like the absence of conflict, it is that, but it is also a deep abiding confidence in His goodness toward us, His care for us, and His desire for us to excel at all things that He wishes us to do.