9-17-2024

Good Morning All,

Matthew 5:9; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

    Peace is a unique experience.  It has been the longing of man since Cain killed Abel.  Much of our popular entertainment will have “peace” as a theme somewhere in the story line.  Sometimes it is easy to see such as the Beatles and “Give Peace a Chance” or Peter, Paul, and Mary with “Blowin’ in the Wind.”  Sometimes it is forceful like in Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” (an attack on Nazism).  Sometimes it is a little more subtle.  One of the most powerful anti-war movie/TV shows during the Vietnam War was a movie about the Korean War called M*A*S*H.  We all claim to want peace just like we all claim to be tolerant; it has to be on our terms.

     That is the trouble with man’s definition of peace.  You and I can be at peace as long as you do what I want.  Since I don’t really trust you anyway; I am always making sure that I am stronger than you and ready to “enforce peace” (can anyone say oxymoron?).  Too often, peace is just the absence of fighting, a lull in a battle that will always rage in the hearts of sinful man.

    Jesus calls us to a different reality.  He calls us to be peacemakers, reconciling man to man and being God’s hands in reconciling the world unto himself.  This is no easy task; we will not do it by our own will or volition but only through God’s grace will this occur.

     This year is an election year, the rhetoric and the poison has reached incredible levels fed by incredible sums of money and people who make fortunes by stirring up the pot. In the middle of all this, God calls us to be peacemakers.  Peacemaking is not a passive act.  It requires us to get our hands dirty.  It requires interrupting injustice without resorting to injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer.  It involves neither fight nor flight but the careful, Spirit-led, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice.  It forces us to see the face of the oppressed in our own faces, and the hands of the oppressors in our own hands.  Remember this when confronted by those who advocate policies or lifestyles which oppose God’s Will but also remember it when they ask what our motive is.  We see this when we stand against abortion and homosexuality, but do we see it when God’s calls upon his people to be compassionate to the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the aliens in our lands?  God wants all to be saved and calls us to show compassion to all that we meet even those who are “wrong.”

    We are called to be faithful to Christ and his teachings.  When in the Garden, when Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus; Jesus rebuked him and healed the man whom Peter struck.  Even on the cross, Jesus prayed for his enemies as well as his family and friends.  Do we pray for our enemies or those whose views are different than ours?  Do we ask God to forgive them?  Do we forgive them?  “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.”       

Gracious Father, too often we are slow to be peacemakers.  We seek retribution instead of reconciliation.  We seek to make gains and not give grace.  Forgive us for our failures.  Use us and give us the courage to be your voice for those who have no voice, your hands for those who need your comfort.  Send your mighty Spirit to move us, as your kingdom of priests, to ever praise your name.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret