Time for Peace

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

When I visit in the nursing home or hospital, I like to ask if there are any prayer requests – besides the obvious. I would visit Betty Hammond at Jenkins, and her prayer request was always the same. She would ask me to pray for peace. I knew she wasn’t being flippant or casual by asking – this wasn’t a Miss America contestant saying, “What I really want is world peace.” Betty truly wanted to see peace on earth.

I think in our inner core, we all want peace. The difficulty is how we define peace. With everything going on in the news, you might have missed that last week marked the twelfth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Would there be peace if we somehow “won” there? What about if we immediately withdrew our troops? Or, perhaps a more legitimate question – will there ever be peace in the middle east? Is peace simply the absence of fighting, or, as someone once said, is peace simply when both sides stop fighting long enough to reload?

When I was growing up, I had this best friend named David. When we were in middle school, my sister hated David with a passion. Any time they were around each other, they were at each other’s throats. One time, though, David was at my house and after he left, my sister said, “Did you see that!? We didn’t fight!” But that’s not true peace. That’s just a cease-fire.

We sometimes think of peace in terms of “As long as I’m the one in power, and as long as I’m not attacked, then there will be peace.” This isn’t what Jesus was talking about. In fact, if you look at the context into which Jesus spoke, Israel was not the world power. They were under nominal peace under Roman rule, which meant, as long as they didn’t upset their Roman rulers, they could live at peace. So this wasn’t true peace either. If you think of it in these terms, would a slave who worked for a “pretty decent master” who “didn’t beat him much” really live at peace?

In Jesus’ time, there were some Jews who were called Zealots. At least one of Jesus’ disciples was a Zealot. This was the militaristic arm of the Jews, those who hoped to throw off the Roman rule. They sought and hoped for a warrior Messiah who would flex his muscles and return the power to them. Those who were expecting a military Messiah were probably shocked to hear Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” That wasn’t their kind of Messiah! Their Messiah was a warrior! For the Zealots, peace would be attained through power. Might makes right. That may look like peace for the winner, but for the loser, it doesn’t.

Peace doesn’t come because you beat someone into submission. I often ask couples who come to me for premarital counseling, “How do you fight?” Sometimes I get that doe-eyed, “oh, we love each other. We never fight.” But there are two reasons a couple doesn’t have conflict in a long-term relationship: one is that neither one of them cares about anything. The other is that it’s not a full partnership. One member of the couple makes all the decisions and the other member doesn’t have any say. That isn’t peace; it’s a recipe for disaster.

So if all of that isn’t peace, what is? True peace is best found in the Jewish concept of Shalom – which is wholeness of body, mind, and soul. This kind of peace doesn’t just come because someone is not currently at war with someone else. It is much more than that, because Jesus promises that he gives true peace even in the midst of terrible circumstances. As he was preparing to be crucified, Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus does not say that peace means being without conflict. As long as we live in this sinful world, there will be conflict. The biggest enemy to peace isn’t war or fighting. The greatest enemy to peace is sin. Sin separates us from God and thus separates us from one another. John MacArthur goes so far as to say: “Regardless of the circumstances, where there is conflict, it is because of sin.” In Isaiah 48:22, God says, “There is no peace for the wicked.” Sinful humanity cannot create peace. All of the protests and all of the disarming we could do can never create peace. This is the reason that Communism didn’t work: sin got in the way. As long as there is sin, we will not have peace.

This brings up something that seems counter-intuitive. Because sin is the root enemy of peace, and where sin remains, there cannot be peace, a peacemaker roots out sin. Peacemaking is not easy, nor is it peaceful.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus makes the wild statement: “Do not think I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” This statement has always confused me, because isn’t Jesus all about peace? He is – in fact, He is the Prince of Peace. So what’s this about a sword? Hebrews 4:12 can help us figure it out. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Think about it this way: if I had to have surgery, would I tell the surgeon, “Whatever you do, don’t cut me!” That would be stupid and dangerous. Think about cancer: you probably know someone who has had a cancerous growth removed and who has not had any recurrences of the cancer. Can you imagine someone who is otherwise healthy deciding that they’d rather have the cancer spread and kill them rather than to have a skilled surgeon remove the cancer?
The peacemaker relates to sin much as the surgeon relates to cancer.

I’ve told you this before, but it makes my point. When I was in college, I got a good start with church, but I got sidetracked pretty quickly. One day, my fraternity brother, David, came into my room and after a little small talk, he told me, "You first invited me to church, but lately I don’t see you living that lifestyle."

That comment hurt a lot, but it was true. But David didn’t say it to hurt me; he said it to help me. David, by bringing up the truth about how I was living my life, was a true peacemaker. Peacemakers often bring pain before healing, because peace cannot exist where sin remains. Peacemakers will not “let sleeping dogs lie.” They will not protect the status quo if it is ungodly and unrighteous. They are not willing to “make peace at any price.”

If we are to make peace, we can’t avoid facing truth, and we can’t avoid facing others with the truth just for the sake of harmony. In the short term, I’d have rather had David just leave me alone, but I could not truly be at peace with God or with others until my disharmony with God was confronted. We often shy away from truth because it doesn’t feel loving to confront, but if we want to look at Jesus’ example, he was both at once.

In John 4, we read of Jesus’ visit to Samaria, where he encountered a Samaritan woman at the well. This is a well-known story of Jesus breaking cultural taboos to reach out to the marginalized, but here’s something interesting: Jesus confronted the woman about her living arrangement when he asked her to go get her husband. She tried to change the conversation by talking about worship, and He confronted her false ideas about worship (Samaritans worship on Mt. Garazim while Jews worship in Jerusalem – Jesus said that true believers worship in spirit and truth).

Truth (with a capital T) always confronts sin, because our God is the God of peace. I’m not a big one on bumper sticker slogans, but it’s true that with no Jesus, there’s no peace, but when you know Jesus, you can know peace.

This is the first step to being a peacemaker. You first must be at peace with God. The beatitudes are a recipe for that peace. Being at peace with God comes when we are in right relationship with him, when we are poor in spirit, knowing we cannot do it on our own but that Jesus did. When we mourn our sin. When we hunger and thirst after righteousness. God gives us peace. The hymn says, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” It always begins with me having peace – peace with God. We cannot be peacemakers if we are not at peace with God.

But Jesus doesn’t just say, “Blessed are the ones who are at peace with me,” though that is true – it is a life-giving blessing to be at peace with God. But God calls us to more than that. Which is why, when people say, “I don’t need church. I can worship God best on the golf course,” my response is, yes, you can worship God there, but you can’t be the Christian God calls you to be without other people. Because you’ve been called to be a peacemaker.

A peacemaker not only makes peace with God, but a peacemaker leads others to make peace with God. We can only get so far in making peace with others when they are not at peace with God. We aren’t a country club who live in our peaceful little corner while “those people” fight. No, we are sinners cleansed by Jesus Christ and sent into the world to bring his peace to the world! One way we do this is by finding a point of agreement. When we do this, we don’t compromise God’s truth; indeed, when the Apostle Paul ministered in Athens, he found them worshiping all kinds of gods. In Acts 17: 23, the Bible reports that Paul found an altar with an inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. He told the people, “Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” Notice that Paul didn’t start by denouncing their polytheism. Paul didn’t start by telling them they were on their way to Hell for worshiping false gods. Paul started where they were and found a point of agreement, something they could both believe in. I have friends who I debate theology with, but we didn’t start there. We started with friendship based on a point of agreement. Someone who doesn’t agree with you won’t all of a sudden decide to listen when you start out by attacking them, but when a relationship is built, they may just listen.

A peacemaker also makes peace with others. Our relationships are vertical (with God) and then horizontal (with others). The Bible tells us that even if we are bringing a gift to God, we are to leave our gift at the altar and go make peace with our brother before we offer the gift. Notice that it says “brother.” And remember that context when it comes to rebuking others about their sin.

In Matthew 18:15-17, we’re told that if someone in the church sins against us, we are to confront them one-on-one. If they don’t listen to you, take another church member or two with you to confront their sin. If they refuse to listen to you, you’re supposed to bring it to the church, and if they refuse to listen to the church, they are to be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector. Not to confront sin doesn’t preserve peace, but makes a truce with sin. Sin that is not dealt with will disrupt and destroy peace. In Jeremiah 8:11, God denounced the corrupt leaders of Israel for proclaiming "peace, peace" when there was no peace.

Jesus calls his followers to be peacemakers, and the blessing is this: Peacemakers will be called sons of God. Our more modern translations say “children” of God, but that doesn’t grasp the significance of what Jesus was saying. Remember that when Jesus was saying this, there was a difference between being a son and a daughter. Sonship was a relationship that gave the son the dignity and honor of the Father and it was sons who were entitled to inheritances. Jesus does not limit this blessing to the male portion of the audience; instead, He opens this blessing to women as well! Now, regardless of gender, each peacemaker has equal claim to sonship.

And since we are God’s children, beloved sons and daughters, God gives us gifts. In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus says this: Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread will give a snake? Or if your child asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! The parallel verse in Luke 11:13 goes like this: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The ultimate gift that God gives his children is Himself. Consider Colossians 1:20: Through (Jesus) God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
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Through Jesus’ death on the cross, God made peace with us and calls us to be peacemakers as well. We are blessed to be God’s children. Complete fulfillment will happen in heaven, but partial fulfillment happens now. All heaven rejoices as another member is added to God’s family – all heaven rejoices because God named each one as His child.

A little post-script: Know that God’s peacemakers will not always have the peace of the world. Next week we’ll look at our final beatitude: peacemakers are often persecuted. In Christ we have forsaken the false peace of the world and consequently will not have peace with the world. But while we live in a world full of conflict and strife, know that you are a beloved child of God given all the rights and privileges of being his son or daughter!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God!