Blessed are the Peacemakers …

Peace is never easy to achieve in our troubled world. Indeed, peace is increasingly in short supply in the secularized, divided democracies of the West. Angry mobs constantly make their presence felt on city streets – as we’re currently seeing in France.

So what does Jesus mean when he says in his seventh Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons and daughters of God” (Matthew 5:9)?

The Beatitudes or Eight Blessings are not features of eight different types of people. Peace-making is one of the characteristics Jesus expects of all his people.

Following the flow of his words, he says that those who, instead of feeling proud of themselves, understand the brokenness of their relationship with God. They grieve over their own sin and over a world that turns its back on God. Instead of following the power play and plotting of the world to achieve kingdom ends, they walk the tougher path of humility and service. They hunger for truth and righteousness, show mercy to the helpless, pursue purity, and work for peace.

Jesus’ Beatitudes search our character – what our hearts are like. They reveal that none of us lives up to God’s expectations. None of us is a worthy beneficiary of the kingdom of heaven through our efforts. Rather, taken in context, the Beatitudes reveal his expectations of his followers.

Jesus is the greatest peacemaker who has ever lived. Only he can make peace between us and God. Only he sets out principles necessary for there to be genuine peace with one another. Through his death and resurrection, he uniquely holds out the removal of the stain of sin that has broken our relationship with God. He has given new meaning to the ancient Jewish greeting: Shalom. At the heart of God’s good news is the making of peace.

In Romans 5:1 Paul the Apostle writes: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,…

This peace includes well-being and wholeness. Indeed, when we find peace with God, we will want to work at living at peace with family, with God’s people, at work and in the community.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Jesus is not referring to people who yearn for peace, but to his people who actively work at peace. For with this Beatitude, he is not only speaking about gospel peace-making he is also saying that his followers are to be peacemakers in the broadest sense. God’s people should be at the forefront of living selfless lives and treating others with respect, seeking solutions to ease tensions, reducing conflict, and helping angry and conflicted people understand one another.

None of this is easy, especially when we personally have been hurt. It’s not always easy to forgive, to be reconciled, to make peace. It’s easy for us to forget the wisdom of Proverbs 15:1 – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

And in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 26, the Apostle Paul enjoins us: Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,…

In Sydney in 2020, three children from a family and their cousin were walking to a local shop to buy ice-creams. As they walked, a car careered off the road into them. All four died. In the midst of their deep grief the parents of the three children publicly forgave the driver who pleaded guilty before the courts.

Now forgiving doesn’t mean that wrong goes unpunished. And peace is not the same as appeasement. Nor does making peace mean we shouldn’t take steps to ensure that a wrong doesn’t recur. To be a peacemaker means doing everything we can under God, and without compromise, to bring about harmony.

Jesus says that when we think and behave like this, we will be called the sons and daughters of God. For to be a peacemaker is to be like God. People around us will see this. Consider what happens when God’s people disagree. Those who keep calm and listen to both sides with fairness and courtesy, and who work at finding a solution that is consistent with God’s Word, are usually respected. The truth is that all of us who call ourselves God’s people should behave like this. It is how Jesus behaved. Peace-making is one of the qualities of his people.

Through the Beatitudes Jesus tells us that the moral integrity of our lives matters. We can’t earn our salvation, but if we constantly follow the desires of our hearts and we are not being changed by Jesus’ teaching, we must ask whether we are truly God’s people.

And there is another facet to peaceful living that we overlook. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul says: …I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the truth.

Prayer for leaders is so important. We forget that through our prayers we can influence national and international affairs, asking that leaders will bring about conditions of peace and security for everyone. Significantly, these conditions provide a better context for promoting God’s gospel.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons and daughters of God”.

Prayer. God of the nations, whose kingdom rules over all, have mercy on our broken and divided world. Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all men and women and banish from them the spirit that makes for war; so that all races and people may learn to live as members of one family and in obedience to your laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason