The Path to Peace- Blessed are the peacemakers...; Build your Life #9, the 7th Beatitude

Intro: I planned for us to be at this Beatitude at least a week or two ago, but in God’s providence, I don’t think it is any coincidence that we come to it on Father’s Day, a passage about being called God’s children.

We are in a series of messages on the Beatitudes & today we come to Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The word “peacemakers” stands out to me.

What do you like to make?Some people make music, others art, some crafts, & some of us like to make a mess.

How many of us like to make peace? To make peace with someone is to stop fighting or disagreeing with them & start living & working happily with them. To make peace with something, is to start to accept what was previously worrying or annoying you.

What do we mean by peace? Eng. 1) freedom from disturbance; tranquility; 2) a state or period in which there is no war, or a war has ended. Biblical peace is so much more than tranquility or peace time.

1. Biblical peace means you are ALL RIGHT(not alright, alright, alright but ALL RIGHT).

In the OT, “peace” (shalom) has the fundamental meaning of having a full or whole life- characterized by welfare, prosperity, wholeness, right relationships, & absence of hostility. When a Jew offered a friendly greeting of “Shalom,” he was wishing for more than the absence of trouble, or for their tranquility, but for ALL that made for a complete, whole life: finances, family, health, etc... ALL OF LIFE IS ALL RIGHT.

The NT word that translates peace carries more the ideal of tranquility, but it definitely retains that quality of “shalom.” By the time of Jesus, the Jews lived in their ancestral homeland, but it was an occupied militarized zone controlled by Rome. The Jews were allowed to retain their religion so long as they paid tribute to Rome.

This was Rome’s MO- they were kind of like the mafia on the doorstep of a mom & pop store, you let us come in & take over, we will protect you, & you will have peace (Pax Romana). If you don’t let us come in & establish peace, we will still come in & bring peace, but not the way you want.

This idea led to the common adage- “if you wish peace, prepare for war.” Roman peace was a forced peace- a false peace, fleshly peace, peace that was fleeting. Biblical peace is a life of wholeness & tranquility that is characterized by right relationships with God & man. Jesus is telling them to make that kind of peace. How can you make something you don’t have? How do you get that peace?

2. Biblical peace means you are MADEright with God.

Romans 5:1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches that in our natural state, we are lost: dead in trespasses & sins, walking according to this world & in its spirit of rebellion, sons of disobedience, living in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh & mind, by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:1-3).

According to Eph 4:18-19, we are alienated from God, ignorant of the things of God, blind in our hearts toward God, & we give ourselves over to all kinds of uncleanness & greediness. We are enemies of God.

Romans 5:8–10, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Colossians 1:21–22, And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

To have peace with God means you are made right with God. Christ is the peacemaker between us & God, but what He does is more than just call for a cease fire between two feuding parties (e.g., Hatfields & McCoys), Christ takes two enemies and makes them family.

3. Biblical peace means you are GIVENthe right to become Children of God.

I remember a plaque that used to hang in my uncle’s house, it read- Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.

There is a country song by Elvie Shane- “My Boy.” It’s about his relationship with a woman who has a son, & he steps into his life as his dad. Chorus says:

He ain't my blood, ain't got my name | But if he did, I'd feel the same

I wasn't there for his first steps | But I ain't missed a ball game yet

And that ain't ever gonna change | I could never walk away

Yeah, he's my son and that's my choice| He ain't my blood, but he's my boy

Many of you have heard that my son was recently married. What you may not know is that my daughter-in-law has a son from a previous marriage, & his dad is not in the picture at all. So, my son is raising that boy as his own. Based on his marriage to Allie, Will has become Asher’s dad, & Asher has the right to be Will’s son.

Because of our relationship with Jesus, we are not only made right with God, but He gave us the right to be the children of God.

John 1:12-13, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Many people have a wrong idea about the Fatherhood of God. He is not the Father of everyone, only of those who believe in Jesus.

Jesus does more than just broker peace between God and man, He brings these two enemies together into a Parent-Child relationship.

Through Jesus, an enemy is adopted into the family. Romans 8:14–17, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

God becomes your Father, you are granted divine Sonship alongside of King Jesus, you become joint heirs together with Him. The proof of this familial, relational peace is the presence of the Holy Spirit within.

4. Biblical Peace means you HAVE the RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY to be a Peacemaker.

Peacemaker- a mediator who tries to bring about harmonious relations between opposing parties. We’ve already talked about the peace part of it, at this point we will talk about the maker part of it.

Peace means that you are ALL right. Christ is the one brokers that peace between us & God, making us right with God and giving us the right to become children of God. Because of Christ, you have the right to be a peacemaker like Him.

You don’t know this about me, but I love westerns. I love western books, I love western movies, & I love western folklore. A piece of western folklore is the “Peacemaker”, a Colt single action army revolver.

Samuel Colt was the inventor & a great marketer. His slogan- “God created men, Col. Colt made them equal,” meaning- any person could, regardless of physical strength, defend themselves with a Colt gun. One particular revolver, the model P, became known as the Peacemaker. It was called “The Peacemaker” because it was widely used by frontier sheriffs who were trying to keep the peace.

Now what does that have to do with our text for today? Nothing, except for the moniker peacemaker, the nickname for one of Colt’s guns, and what Christians should be known for- peacemakers; not by using guns but by proclaiming the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News of what God has done in Christ to secure our salvation. Ephesians 6:15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

When the angels came to proclaim the birth of Jesus, they said- “(10) I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people… Glory to God in the highest and on earth PEACE, goodwill toward men.” Isaiah 6:9prophesied that Christ is the Prince of Peace.

4 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS WORK OF PEACEMAKING:

Peacemaking is a DIVINE work. 2 Corinthians 5:18–19, Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Reconciliation is the ACT of reestablishing friendly relations after disagreement or enmity.In Christ, God was reconciling a hostile world to Himself, & believers, having been reconciled, have been given the responsibility to be reconcile others.

Peacemaking is an ACTIVE work. It demands that we are not passive but actively pursuing peace in all its fullness (shalom)- not the absence of conflict but wholeness & well-being. ALL RIGHT FOR ALL PEOPLE.

1 Peter 3:11, Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Peacemaking is HARD work. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament- It is hard enough to keep the peace. It is still more difficult to bring peace where it is not. Hebrews 12:14, Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

Peacemaking will NOT always work. We can endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3), we can even “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19), but we cannot control what the other person will do. Romans 12:18, If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

ILL: Prayer of St. Francis, aka The Prayer of Peace- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

The path to peace runs through Jesus. Christ is our peacemaker; He tells us that peacemakers will be blessed. Peacemakers are truly fortunate, happy people because, while they may not be well-known sheriffs, they will be well-known for something much greater- children of God.

We are peacemakers whenever we bring the Gospel of peace to unpeaceful people & places.

The peace of God comes not by force, but by faith.

As we have received the peace of God, so must we share His peace with others. But we cannot share what we do not have.