Blessed? - Part 4
The Peacemakers
5th May 2012
Matthew 5v9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Sometimes, when two people are disagreeing, one of them will appeal to a third person, asking that person to say who is right. Often the third person will respond by saying something like "Don't get me involved". I used to think this was a wise response, but now I'm not so sure.
It's not easy to be a peacemaker. It's much easier to walk away, and let them sort it out themselves. And why not? It's their dispute, not yours. Don't get involved. But Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who do get involved.
Peacemaking requires us to enter into somebody else's argument. But it's not about adjudicating in the dispute, saying "You, Person 1, are right, but you, Person 2 are wrong". It's about bringing peace, often by saying "Whoever is right and whoever is wrong, can't we love each other anyway?" and "Even if you have hurt each other, wouldn't it be better if you forgave each other and moved on" (of course, if we're dealing with non-Christians, we may have to find other ways of expressing these things).
In verse 7, we read that Jesus said "blessed are the merciful". Now He says, "Blessed are the peacemakers" - blessed are those who encourage others to be merciful.
But to be a peacemaker isn't usually about getting involved in disputes between others. It's usually about putting an end to a dispute which we ourselves are involved in. If you're in an argument or a fight of some description with someone else, then Jesus says that you're blessed if you're the one who stops fighting first. Then you're making peace, even when the other person is not.
And if both parties refuse to do this, it can so often be the very opposite of blessedness. Disagreements turn into grudges. Grudges turn into feuds. And feuds can last for years - even for generations - often for long after everybody involved has forgotten what the original disagreement was even about.
We have here a very clear distinction between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. If we walk in darkness we can choose resentfulness and self-justification over forgiveness and humility - and we will know no peace. But children of the light must surely chose to forgive, and love, even when we were right all along and the other person was wrong..
If we are genuinely Christians, then we know how much we've done and said that was wrong, and we know we've been forgiven. And we should be able to forgive others. This is mercy, given to others because we ourselves have received mercy. And it makes peace.
The merciful are also peacemakers, if our mercy extends to those who have wronged us, as Jesus's mercy does.
And if we are merciful, we will be called sons of God because, at least in this area, we will bear something of the likeness of our Creator and Saviour.