Blessed are the Peacemakers // Matthew 5:9
I love superheroes and the stories of those with special power who perseveres in the face of adversity. At the point when it appears that evil will win, the hero bears down and finds the deep inner power needed to win the day. This is our story. We see it in Jesus, and Jesus makes it available for us. The Spider-Man comics gave us the famous line, “With great power comes great responsibility,” which reminds us we have work to do. Let’s take note that Jesus said peacemakers are blessed, not peacekeepers. To say peacekeeping presupposes there is a peace worth keeping. The world tells people of faith that we must compromise our values to keep the peace. We see so much corruption and chaos in our culture from the things being impressed upon our children to the outright lies we see/hear on the news. Is that a peace worth keeping? Being a peacemaker means:
- Living by the peace Jesus taught;
- Knowing the Truth and allowing it to see us free; and
- Helping others find their freedom in the Lord.
Unfortunately, comfort, convenience, and consumerism tend to drive us nowadays. This is central to one of our overarching themes in this series on the Beatitudes about how we put ourselves at the center of the world, expecting everyone and everything to revolve around us. These are vestiges of worldly peace. We are easily deceived as long as we feel that peace is being maintained. The peace of Jesus is different. So, now we are peacemakers as opposed to peacekeepers, because the worldly view of peace is not worth keeping. We need the Biblical, godly worldview to tell us what we see going on around us is wrong, what is true, and how to help lead people into a right relationship with God. It might be uncomfortable, is likely inconvenient, and is probably costly. It’s worth it, though, which is precisely why Jesus said those who take their convictions seriously and work to make godly peace are blessed.
