“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9
Many years ago, I was leading a Wednesday Bible study and was covering the teaching of Jesus where He challenged His followers to turn the other cheek and walk the other mile. I indicated that Jesus was wanting us to reject our normal retaliatory attitude and replace it with one that had the possibility of generating peace.
Most of the people nodded along as I was explaining this. But one man was becoming increasingly agitated and eventually offered his opinion on the matter. “Frankly, sometimes I think people just need a good whoopin’.”
Doesn’t that accurately reflect what many of us feel inside at times? Sure it does. We may feel OK about not initiating a fight, but if they hit first, we’re just responding if we hit back and supposedly that makes it OK. It’s in the face of that kind of conventional wisdom that we hear Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”
Immediately, all sorts of questions come to mind. Does being a peacemaker mean I have to be a doormat? Isn’t the idea of being a peacemaker a little dangerous in a world like ours? What if others don’t meet me half way, then what?
While we may not be able to resolve all of our questions, there are some truths about walking the pathway of intentional peacemaking that people who live extraordinary lives understand. Here’s the first thing.
People who live extraordinary lives understand the true nature of peace. When I grew up, my parents had a rule – especially my mom. No fighting. Period. I can distinctly remember her going out in the yard when she saw neighborhood kids fighting and telling them that she didn’t allow that in our yard, and they needed to go home. That happened even when I wasn’t even in the middle of it.
My dad’s message was a little more pragmatic. “If they hit you,” he said, “walk away. If they hit you again, walk away again. If they hit you a third time, bust them in the chops.” Of course, he was counting on the fact that I would probably never get to the third time which was true.
But even though the message of non-violence got through to me very clearly, it sadly missed the point. For if I thought a playmate of mine was being a jerk, I knew better than to haul off and smack him in the mouth. But I sure thought about it. In fact, I envisioned what it would look like to strike him with Batman like precision right in the teeth. But I didn’t. Why? Because I was being a childhood peacemaker. Or at least I thought I was.
When Jesus spoke about being a peacemaker, He has more in mind than the absence of conflict. Rather He was talking about the presence of God’s wholeness. It’s the Old Testament idea of shalom which is translated peace. In biblical thought peace is an incredible thing. It means completeness, wholeness, health, tranquility, rest, harmony and the absence of agitation or discord. In other words shalom is the way God always intended life to be.
Sadly, though, we’re often satisfied with a cease fire. As long as there isn’t open hostility, we’ll call it peace. But those who live extraordinary lives know better. They want more than a cease fire. They’re looking for reconciliation – the restoration of wholeness.
Take family life, for instance. The lack of open bickering or physical outbursts is a good thing. But it’s not peace. Think instead about the presence of things like acceptance, honesty, safety, and respect? That’s the stuff of peace. Those who live in the middle of God’s blessing understand that. But they do more than just understand it. They follow the pattern of all those who walk the pathway of intentional peacemaking.
People who live extraordinary lives pursue actions that bring about peace. Notice what Jesus didn’t say. He didn’t say that the peace wishers are blessed nor peace lovers. He said it was the peace makers who are blessed. So if we’re to live in the middle of God’s blessing, we must act in ways that make peace possible.
Here’s what separates those who live extraordinary lives from those who don’t. It’s the actions that are taken to promote peace. People who live extraordinary lives take those actions. And don’t think for one minute that it’s easy for them. It isn’t. In fact, I think that’s why Jesus listed this beatitude next to the last. He knew that there’s no way we’re going to be peacemakers until we’ve first gone through the process of claiming our spiritual poverty, mourning over its presence in our lives, and in humility seeking the mercy of God that helps us to become pure in heart. Only then will we have the spiritual resources to pursue peace when in everything in us in our normal state wants to do something else.
Here’s what I mean. Think about the typical dispute between a husband and wife. Under normal circumstances the goal of the dispute for both of them isn’t to resolve the issue with a desire for true peace but to be right and win the argument. In other words, we want to get our way. We don’t want to create peace.
So the battle is on, and let’s say that we win. We get our way. Think carefully, now. What is it that we won? I’ll tell you what it is. We’ve won an increasingly tense environment and a growing estrangement from the one we pledged to love to death do us part. But we didn’t win peace.
However, if we’ve been walking the spiritual pathways that Jesus described in the Beatitudes, a different thing starts to happen. First, we’re acutely aware of our spiritual poverty. In other words, we know how easy it is for us to be self-centered or hard headed and how that’s contributing to the current dispute.
Then in humility of self, we find that we want to understand what our partner is feeling more than we want to persuade them to our viewpoint. What’s more, we’re grieved in our hearts that our relationship is strained, so rather than allowing a grudge to form or to attack, we choose to extend mercy. Because we desire a purity of heart we’re willing to confess the role we’ve played in creating the current problem.
Finally, we’re willing to take whatever steps that are needed to correct the problem, because we want peace to prevail in our marriage. Can you imagine what would happen in a marriage if differences were handled in this fashion? I think it would be revolutionary. The same thing is true in all of our relationships. It’s those who walk the pathway of intentional peacemaking that are able to live in the middle of God’s blessing.
What are you sensing in your heart right now? Some of you are having to admit that you’ve liked the idea of peace, but you haven’t been willing to take the actions that make peace possible, because you’ve valued winning more than peacemaking. And the result hasn’t been good.
Are there some people in your life with whom you need to start pursuing peace? If so, remember, you can’t do anything about how anybody else will act. You can only control your own actions. But if you will choose actions that have the potential to bring about peace, you will experience the fulfillment that Jesus promised to those who walk the pathway of intentional peacemaking.
People who live extraordinary lives are known as belonging to God. That’s what Jesus meant when he said that the peacemakers will be called the children of God. He wasn’t suggesting that peacemakers become the children of God by making peace. Rather they are known as the children of God by making peace. By their actions they’re seen as truly belonging to God. Why? Because that’s what God’s like.
Throughout the scriptures, God is depicted as keenly interested in establishing peace. That’s why one of the titles given to Jesus is the Prince of Peace. That was His mission – to create peace between sinful people and a holy God and thus with one another. Therefore, when His followers work to create peace, they’re simply following the pattern they see in their Lord. That’s why the world is able to recognize that they truly are the children of God.
I will never forget one of the first business meetings we had in previous congregation. We were discussing some little project on the church grounds and two of our men were in a little disagreement over what to do. Before long, however, the little disagreement became a big disagreement as the men started shouting at each other.
The group that had gathered was horrified. Before I realized what was happening, I found myself telling them that I had been a Baptist all my life and that honest discussion was good and valuable. However, behavior like that wasn’t even Christian much less Baptist.
I couldn’t believe I said it. Neither did anybody else. Both men were old enough to be my dad. But I witnessed an amazing thing. Almost in unison, I heard both of these men apologize to each other and to the rest of the church for their actions. After the meeting was over, they spent some time together listening to each other. They were able to reach a compromise and reestablish their relationship with each other.
That’s how people who live extraordinary lives are seen. They remind people of God as they seek to bring peace to a world that is so desperately in need of it.
At this point, I feel confident that we would agree with Jesus’ call to be peacemakers thus showing that we belong to God. Most of us probably can see some of the implications this has for race relations, world conflicts, the use of weapons etc. We would be right.
As a result, we may feel passionate about any number of peace making initiatives and want to do something about it. That’s all well and good. But that’s not where peacemaking begins. It doesn’t begin outside of us. It begins within. We have to be peacemakers, before we can truly do peacemaking.
Only God can create a peacemaking heart that not only seeks peace but seeks it in peaceful ways. Like all the other pathways on which we’re called to walk in order to live in the middle of God’s blessing, this one is no different. It starts in the heart.
So let me make a suggestion. Over the next few days spend some time reflecting on your current relationships. Note any of them where there is a lack of peace. Ask the Lord to help you explore some of the reasons behind this – not reasons outside of yourself but within. Do you want to win more than you want peace? Do you want to appear strong more than you want peace? Do you want to be in control more than you want peace?
As you begin to identify areas in your heart where you aren’t a peacemaker, you will need to confess that to God. Then you’ll need to take the next step in actually doing things in those very relationships in order to promote peace. You may need to make some phone calls, write some letters, or make some visits. Forgiveness may be needed or more patience expressed. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of caring more about hearing another person than being heard.
Whatever it may be, know this. If you can’t pursue peace on a personal level, you are ill equipped to do it on a larger scale. So start within and allow the Lord to do a work in your heart.