Can We All Just Calm Down? (Creative)

(Stg 1) Problem Arises

Can We All Just Calm Down? I’m sick of this! All of it! This war that we have with each-other. We are always fighting with one another, and the consequences are growing more terrifying every day. And I’m not exempt here. I’ve contributed. I’ve warred over so many things, a lot of them stupid. I’ve argued with my wife over which brand of peanut butter is the best, I’ve argued on social media over which Spiderman is the best (Andrew Garfield), I’ve argued with my friends over which theological perspective is the best, I’ve argued with my family over when Christmas decorations should go up I’ve argued, and argued, and argued, and if you’re human, you’ve done the same.

We’ve all gotten in mindless debates over trivial things that contribute to this war. We are the problem. And when we weigh the war we’ve started and compare it to how unnecessary the argument was, we should grieve. We were willing to tear down another image-bearer for nothing. And we know it’s wrong too, we don’t feel especially great after spending mental and emotional energy attacking another human being, but we still do it. Can we all just calm down?

But how far does this problem spread, where can we trace it? Let’s take a step back.

(Stg 2) Plot Thickens

Ozark: Maybe we can get a clue in our community. Let’s look at our campus as a whole. We Ozarkians are meant to be a beacon of light, of the moving kingdom getting ready to send out workers, and in many respects we are. But you’ve seen the war. I’ve seen the war, and we’ve been part of the war. Maybe it’s the war of arrogance. Believing that because we know more Bible or theology, or because we’re more spiritual, then we’re better than someone else. We hold the precious and holy things of God above the heads of others and use them to be unholy, to attack, to have war. Or maybe it’s the war of gossip. Instead of taking others under our wing and discipling them when they screw up, we attack them behind their back. We tell our friends, “look how immodest that person is”, or “look how wordly that person is acting.” And sometimes the only difference between our gossip and the gossip of non-Christians is that we continue it under the guise of “we just care and love the person.” Can we all just calm down?

Churches: Let’s take another step back. If our community is like this, maybe it spread from our churches who sent us. When we look at the church, and I’m talking about local church bodies here, we may see a beautiful picture of obedience, discipleship, worship, and evangelism. But we may also see a darker side of church. Of leaders and laity at war. Of disciples and deacons and elders and everyone at each other’s throats over things as miniscule as the position of plants in the lobby. Maybe you’ve seen it in your own church bodies. The older generation wants to keep their cherished traditional hymns, they know no other thing. And the younger generation want to adjust worship it to accommodate to the changing times. And it causes a war, not physically, but politically. What’s the end result? The church splits. The younger generation doesn’t even want to walk into a service where a hymnal is used, and the older generation doesn’t want to step foot in a church where their favorite songs won’t be sang. They are both sides of the same coin, the coin of selfishness, war, and sin. Can we all just calm down?

Families: Maybe it’s the families that fill these churches that are the source of such war. Could it be that war in the family has been normalized? The divorce rate in 1900 was 1 in every 20 people (which is 5%), and now it’s 1 in every 2. That a 900% increase. Today it’s normal for spouse to be pitted against spouse, to consider your wife a nag and your husband a bum, and infidelity is considered a form of marriage therapy in some circles. Children have been told, “do what makes you happy”, don’t listen to your family. The family is increasingly seen as something to be utilized for the first 18 years of your life and then left behind. Now children can get puberty blockers and hormones from school counselors without the permission of their parents, and who is to blame? The media and movies that millions of children have access to are pumping the message through their minds that they might be born in the wrong body, and I don’t know of any Jr. High kid who wasn’t a little insecure about their body. Children are at war with their parents and parents are at war with each other. Can we all just calm down?

Media: So maybe our media is to blame for infecting the minds of our families. Maybe it’s the media we watch on our screens, that blast us with opinions we need to believe to be justified and tells us to make war with those who disagree. Maybe it’s the movies and shows we watch that make war with our minds through the nudity or gore, or senseless violence. And we justify them through the thrill of a good story. Or maybe it’s that social media which has attempted to make us omniscient. To always know what is happening, and comment on what we think about it. And we eat it right up, the part of us that always wants to be God comes alive on social media, and it extends to how we treat each other. See, we make terrible gods, that sit on terrible thrones, and so our opinions and our gossip and our arguments flourish on social media, where we can be god and don’t even have to look others in the eye to tell them how we really feel. Can we all just calm down?

Politics: Maybe it’s the politicians who seem to rule our opinions and our conversations. The politicians that divide us between red and blue, who can spark the passion of war within our entire nation by their speeches and policies. The politicians that scream at each-other all day, threaten each other physical violence in the middle of comittee hearings, and try to pit American against American by painting the other side as the reason the country is in danger. Those same politicians that create war between us bid on that tension for re-election, and we fall for it every time. For too many of our country, our politics are our religion and we are always waging a holy war. Can we all just calm down?

Nations: But it’s not just our nation that is always at war, it’s so many more. The bloody battles we often name warfare are waged on this front. Nation against nation, group against group, man against man. These are the defining battles that take the lives of image bearers. These are wars that have resulted in millions of deaths, genocide, rivers turned red from the dead that litter their shores. Both soldiers and civilians. Both attackers, and the attacked. No-one escapes this kind of war, even those who live through it. We see it on the news, Russia attempting to annex Ukraine, leveling hospitals and city buildings with rockets. Hamas attacking Israel, firing bullets and rockets into festivals, homes, and vehicles. And it goes back so far. From Israel, to Al-Quaida, to Nazi Germany, to Rome, to Cain and Abel, war has been so unavoidable and so costly. Can we all just calm down?

Worldviews: But why would a person have it within themself to take the life of another? How could such war happen between people that affects us all the way down to our churches and Family. Could we sum it up to worldviews? The worldviews that pit us against one another in war, are they so opposite that they are affecting everything? The worldview of a Nazi vs a Jew, or the worldview of a republican vs. a democrat, or the worldview of a husband vs his wife, or the worldview of an atheist vs a Christian. Is there a greater gap than these opposing worldviews? Is there a greater war? Yes. And it lies at the root of all of it.

(Stg 3) Path Emerges

The greatest war between every single human is the war between humanity and God.

We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

Thomas Merton

But we have such good news, our God is a peacemaker. And he has closed the gap of war between us and him.

(Stg 4) Plan Unfolds

The war that made us children of wrath, the war that made us impossibly far from God has been made peaceful. When God the Father sent his son into the world to fight sin and death and win, because of his great love for us. He waged his war in love, even while we waged ours in sin and hatred for him. While we live our lives being soldiers in hundreds of wars, our God is a peacemaker. And of course he won. Our God made peace through the death and resurrection Christ and now we can have peace with God.

So where does this put us? What are we to do when we have the peace of Christ, and yet the whole world is at war. And I think the answer is this: We should imitate our God. Let’s read Matthew 5:9

Matthew 5:9 CSB

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed: This word, blessed, leads up all the beatitudes in this section. It could be translated, “Happy” and I think that’s right. The purpose of the beatitudes is to show us how the children of God are blessed now in light of a future reality. Each blessing is descriptive of the behavior and future of us as believers. The beatitudes thrive on hope, and that hope should bring us joy. But this blessing isn’t just because of circumstances, but it’s also because of God’s favor. In God’s upside-down kingdom, in our submission to God, not only do we receive Joy from God, but we also receive his blessing, his favor, and no war can overcome that, God does not change, and his blessing is everlasting for his people.

Are the Peacemakers: And those who are blessed in this verse are those who are peacemakers. The peacemakers aren’t those who avoid conflict, but the ones that actively seek reconciliation in its midst. To make peace doesn’t mean avoiding the wars of life, but bringing two estranged parties together in the mission of God. Because that’s where we were, estranged.

And this peacemaking is so contrary to the world’s view of peacemaking. We can see that if we look into the time of Jesus. So many of the Jewish people thought that Christ’s kingdom would be brought down by a war with Rome, the force of arms, but Jesus promises that kingdom for the peacemakers.

For they will be called Sons of God: We look most like our Father when we are making peace. There is no more godlike work to be done in this world than peacemaking, and that’s what Jesus is saying here. We are called sons and daughters with God because our adoption through Christ, and peacemaking is living that adoption out. Every single Christian is meant to make peace in every possible aspect of our life.

But even with this great declaration, what can we do? We surely can’t stop every war in every time and place. And so what’s our next step? We make peace as much as we can, in every way.

(Stg 5) Possibilities Await

Forgiveness: Maybe this peacemaking looks like overcoming your natural desire for war and retribution when someone wrongs you, and forgiving them, doing your best to repent every time you think about their sin, so you can be at peace with them.

Evangelism: Maybe this peacemaking looks like Evangelism, to be God’s hands and feet to bridge the gap between him and sinners. Jesus preached peace to the far and to the near, and we should too. And as our families, and nations, and worldviews do turn to God, we will have greater fellowship and peace with them. Bringing sinners to Christ and uniting churches together is a great work of peacemaking, and an essential one for the kingdom.

Discipleship: Maybe this peacemaking looks like discipleship. In bringing others closer to the God of peace, teaching about him, and equipping others to be peacemakers. Sometimes this kind of peacemaking requires conflict because of the unseen war. To admonish someone because of the war they are waging between themselves and God or others, even if they can’t see it. Jesus did that, and so should we.

Conflict Resolution: Maybe this peacemaking just looks like conflict resolution. When we see conflicts between two people or groups of people, maybe it looks like trying to bring the two together in reconciliation.

Counseling: Maybe this peacemaking looks like counseling someone through their hard times, being willing to listen rather than speak, bearing their burdens and helping them stay grounded in God, who gives them peace in their minds and hearts.

We look most like our Father when we make peace, so go and make peace. Hoping expectantly for that day when we will be called sons and daughters of God. When all will finally be calm.