Being a peacemaker has always required a great deal of strength.
Today’s headlines are filled with stories of wartime aggression, violent destruction and personal pain. The sad part is that, since I have not mentioned a particular geographic location, that statement will never go stale. For as long as we live on earth, we will face this kind of behaviour; today in one place, tomorrow in another.
Standing against that kind of behavior is a costly endeavor. It always requires self-sacrifice.
The high cost is demanded because of the nature of those on the offensive. They are always self-serving, driven by evil. They are both vile and violent. They engage the armies at their disposal to steal territory, capture or destroy resources and enslave the population. The price of their aggression is often measured in broken bodies and shed blood.
Into this landscape God calls His peacemakers. In fact, into this landscape God sent His Son, the ultimate peacemaker.
Today’s verse tells us that BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, FOR THEY WILL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD.
Knowing that He would send His own Son into the world to establish peace, God spoke prophetically through Isaiah and identified several key characteristics about His Messiah. We were told that unto us a Child would be born, and to us a Son would be given. He would be so strong that the government would rest upon His shoulder, because being a peacemaker always requires a great deal of strength. His name would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The peacemaker God was sending would carry the very governments of the world in the same way a shepherd carries a wayward lamb. And, in the end, He would establish His peace; for He is the Prince of Peace.
His arrival was announced by angels proclaiming the dawning of the era of peace, who cried out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Nothing around Him looked peaceful. A violent nation held control with a rod of iron. But the dawn of His presence initiated a change that would not – could not – be stopped. The One who would establish His government, sit upon the throne and proclaim, “Behold, I am making all things new” had arrived.
His greatest enemy attacked Him then, leading the regional monarch to assassinate every male child under the age of two. It wasn’t the first time that innocent children had become a casualty of war, and it would not be the last. Mother’s voices were raised in anguish and refused to be comforted. And yet the Father knew their pain, and He was bringing His Comforter into the world. He would not only KNOW their pain, but He would share their pain as His Son’s life was extinguished at the hands of this same government.
It is His words that make up our verse today …
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, FOR THEY WILL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD
He declares peacemakers are blessed. That blessing begins with Him, for He is the greatest peacemaker. He offers to strip the enemy of his greatest weapon – the ability to accuse us of our sin.
That will require His life to be placed within us, and His authority to be given to us. So He took bread and wine, and created a sacramental mystery of union; a celebration of peace. First He took bread and said, “This is My Body, given for you.” In the same way, after supper, He also took the cup saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
If we say we have no sin, we’re just kidding ourselves. He knows we all have sin in our lives, and so do we. He knows it brings pain, destruction and death – and so do we. We may fool others, but there’s no fooling ourselves and there’s no fooling Him. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The process of making peace begins here. His actions are faithful because they may be relied upon. His actions are just because the price required has already been paid. He makes peace WITH us by creating peace IN us; and the process advances. The government of His Kingdom advances.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Since we have this peace within us, He calls us to share this peace with those who need to know about it. He places His life within us, adopts us into His family as His sons and daughters. We who have received His peace are sent to give His peace. We are given the ministry of reconciliation, as though God were making His appeal through us.
We become peacemakers.
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, FOR THEY WILL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD
We are children of God, adopted though we may be. We are voices of peace in a world that is filled with anything but.
