The Good Life: Matthew 5:9: “Blessed Are the Peacemakers…”

One of Jesus’ best blessings was for the peacemakers. But what does that have to do with me?

MATTHEW 5:9: “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD.”

INTRODUCTION

We have two sons and a daughter. The children are very close together in age. John and Peter are the oldest and youngest and Susan was in the middle.
When the boys were little, sometimes they would quarrel. Susan would come between them and make peace.
She didn’t know it, but she was a peacemaker.

I want to tell you about another peacemaker.
This happened in the little town of Ibillin, Israel, in 1966.
There was a great conflict in this town.
Father Chacour, an orthodox priest, had recently come to the town to pastor the Orthodox Church there. The little town was full of strife and anger.
He was greatly troubled by the hatred he saw all around him.

He went into the town and preached about the necessity of making peace with one another. But no one listened.
One day he received a note from one of his congregation. It said, “Begin first to reconcile brothers, sisters, and families together.”
He took those words to heart.
On Palm Sunday, 1966, the church was overflowing.
As he celebrated the Lord’s Supper he felt burdened because he could see how much his people were at odds with one another.
He said, “Every time I turned around to bless the congregation to give them Christ’s peace, I was reminded all over again that there was really no peace among these people.”

So Father Chacour made a startling decision.
He walked down the center aisle and at the back of the church locked the only two doors to the church and kept the key.
He then marched back up the aisle, turned around, and told the people both that he loved them and that he was saddened to find them so filled with hate and bitterness for one another.
He addressed his congregation. He said:

“While I was celebrating the Lord’s Supper I found someone who can help you.
That person is Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can bring peace to this village, and he is here with us.
So on Christ’s behalf, I say this to you: The doors of the church are locked. Either you will kill each other right here in your hatred, and then I will celebrate your funerals free. Or you will use this opportunity to be reconciled together before I open the doors of the church.
If that reconciliation happens, Christ will truly become your Lord, and I will know I am becoming your pastor and your priest.”

Ten minutes passed and no one said a word. The people sat in silence, locked inside their church.
Finally one man stood up. It was a villager serving as an Israeli policeman, who was in uniform.
He stretched out his arms and said, “I ask forgiveness of everybody here. I forgive everybody. And I ask God to forgive me my sins.”
He and the priest then embraced with tears streaming down the policeman’s cheeks.
Chacour then called on everyone to embrace one another and “tears and laughter mingled as people who had said such ugly words to each other or who had not spoken to each other in many years now were sharing Christ’s love and peace” (quoted in L. Gregory Jones, "Embodying Forgiveness: a Theological Analysis," pp180-181).

I told that story because I think it’s a great story and it illustrates what Jesus was talking about when he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

But what does it have to do with you who live at Village Ridge?

This is one of the most peaceful places I know.
I never even hear people raising their voices at one another.
There may be people who don’t get along, but I doubt there are many.

What does it have to do with Charlotte and me?
The members of our family are at peace with one another.
We live in a peaceful neighborhood and go to a church where people love one another?

I. “Peace” is a special word in the Bible

A. The word “peace” in the Bible means more than just the absence of conflict.
Both the Hebrew word “Shalom” and the Greek word “eirēnē” mean “wholeness” or “a sense of well-being.”
That is why Paul addresses so many of his letters: “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”: grace and peace sum up all the blessings of salvation.

B. Jesus said that the peacemakers will be called “children of God.”

There’s a peculiarity in the Hebrew language. When they wanted to ascribe a certain quality in a person they could say he was a son of that quality.
Thus, a worthless person was called “a son of worthlessness.”
To be called a “son or daughter of God” is the highest honor and the richest grace. It means that we are like God and are doing God’s work.

II. First I want to talk about peace with God.

A. We read: “Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).
And again: “I have said this to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

And in Colossians 3:15: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you ere called in the one body”

B. But the peace that God gives us came at great cost to himself.

The Bible teaches that without Christ we are at enmity with God.
We were estranged from God—like the Prodigal Son who was living in the far country.
And God is the original peacemaker.

God doesn’t make peace by simply saying, “Let there be peace.”
God made peace by sending his Son, our Lord Jesus, to die and rise again for our peace.
We read,
“In Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).

C. People live in fear—fear of sickness, fear of death, fear of poverty. If we can help them find God, we can help them to have peace in their hearts.

Maybe just a word or two expressing our hope in God—or how much it means to feel God’s comfort in hard times—may turn their minds toward salvation.
Many of your fellow residents have at some time in their lives gone to church or had fellowship with Christian believers but have gotten away from God.
Maybe something you say can remind them of church and God and lead them back.

If someone shares a disappointment or a deep discouragement, you may say something like this: “I have had an experience like that, but I find comfort in knowing that God loves me and will never leave me.”

To help people find peace with God is one way to be a peacemaker.

III. And we can help people find peace with themselves.

A. People may have no conflicts with other people, but they may have conflicts within.

People may have stored up disappointments and bitterness and doubts that destroy their peace of mind.
I have known people who came to the end of their lives with resentments still burning in their hearts.
They need the peace that only God can give, and maybe you can help them find it.

B. Offering friendship can help bring peace into the lives of other people.

We make peace when we help people to feel loved,
…when we offer our friendship,
…when we offer sincere compliments,
…when we listen to peoples’ troubles.

Paul wrote to the Romans: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another…” (Romans 12:15-16).

I know that some people like to be left alone. But many others are lonely and want a friend.
Maybe the best gift you can give to people is to appreciate them, to notice them, to act like you’re glad to see them.
Your kindness may lead them to God.

CONCLUSION

The Bible says,
“The wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without uncertainty or insincerity.
And the harvest of righteousness
is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17-18).