The Peacemakers
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Pray...
Intro:
The Pax Romana
“Roman Peace”
The Pax Romana lasted from 27 BC (Augustus) to AD 180 (Marcus Aurelius).
a period of stability, order, economic abundance.
As long as:
trade flowed,
roads were safe,
taxes were collected,
Rome called it “peace.”
Yet, how was this “peace” achieved?
Rome’s “peace” was built on silencing opponents and crushing any dissent.
Peace meant submission, not reconciliation.
Revolts were met with overwhelming force.
Unity was maintained by fear, not restored relationship.
Peace was achieved through dominance
The empire kept roughly 150,000 soldiers stationed across its borders.
Revolts were crushed.
Cities that resisted were destroyed or enslaved.
Anything or anyone who threatened “Peace” was eliminated instantly.
This is peace by intimidation, not peace by unity.
Caligula (few years after Jesus) became notorious for cruelty,
using fear to maintain control.
All in the name of “peace”
What does this look like today?
Dictatorships… same playbook.
Western Culture...
Social Media
“Cancel Culture”
Modern digital culture often handles conflict by cutting people off rather than engaging.
Peace is achieved by removal, not restoration.
Dialogue is replaced with silence or exile.
Reconciliation is seen as weakness or compromise.
And Jesus teaches us,
“Blessed are the peacemakers...”
It was counter-cultural in the 1st Century
and it is STILL counter-cultural today.
We default to conflict avoidance rather than active peacemaking.
This is characterized by outward politeness paired with inward hostility.
Keeping distance from those at odds.
Viewing disagreement as a personal attack.
Overstating opposing positions to create "straw men" that are easier to argue against.
Blaming processes to avoid hearing difficult truths.
Peace is not merely the absence of disagreement.
Listening to understand rather than to correct or redirect.
Remaining present even when others do not seem to listen.
Knowing the Peace of God
Knowing the Peace of God
(Timer: ___ minutes left)
(Usually between 8:15 and 12:30 to get to 1st point)
peace - the absence of hostility
In Greek culture, it was the opposite of “war”.
It is linked with treaties of peace or the conclusion of peace.
the verb form of the Greek root word...
“to make peace” or “reconcile”
“to promote peaceful harmony”
The word in our verse, “peacemaker”
peacemaker — a mediator who tries to bring about harmonious relations
To help end hostilities
The promised kingdom is characterized by peace.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Any hope at bringing peace around us has to come from God.
He is the one that makes peace with God.
We are no longer in enmity against him.
He regenerates our heart.
He gives us new affections.
We can now pursue the peace of God around us.
Jesus has reconciled us to the Father.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled...
What we were...
alienated - separated from
hostile - battling against, enemies
So how is someone at peace with God?
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This peace is not an emotion. It is a status.
the war between us and God is over
the hostility caused by our sin has been removed
God is no longer against us in judgment
we are no longer resisting him in rebellion
the relationship is now whole, reconciled, and secure
What this peace is NOT
It is not inner calm or tranquility.
It is not the experience of God’s comfort.
Peace with God is objective, unchanging, and rooted in Christ’s finished work.
What this peace IS
1. A legal peace
Justification removes guilt and declares us righteous.
2. A relational peace
Reconciliation restores fellowship.
We are welcomed, embraced, and brought near.
3. A covenant peace
God binds himself to us in steadfast love.
He is for us, not against us.
4. A transforming peace
Because hostility is gone,
obedience becomes joyful rather than fearful.
“God converts man into a messenger of peace.”
How is this accomplished?
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
“The perfect peacemaker is the Son of God (Eph. 2:14f.)” (McNeile). Thus we shall be like our Elder Brother.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Peace is often brought about through hardship and difficulty.
Peace runs toward what is broken.
I often get the question in various situations,
“What are we going to do?”
We move toward the issue and the people affected...
and we allow God to lead in the middle of it.
Think of it this way.
Even before Jesus was put on the cross,
he had to decide to leave glory and enter into a broken, sin-stained world.
He moved toward the mess.
He took on the burden of the broken.
The Peacemaker stands in contrast to the poisonous tongue that breeds contention and bitterness.
Showing the Peace of God
Showing the Peace of God
(Timer: How much time left?)
to preserve the peace that it be not broken,
and to recover it when it is broken.
peacemakers - “repairers of the breaches”
“makers up o’ strife” (Braid Scots)
“The vehicles of the blessing which cometh’s from God.”
Peacemaking Is Rooted in the Gospel
Peacemaking Is Rooted in the Gospel
Christ is the model and source of peacemaking.
His work defines ours.
He “made peace through the blood of his cross.”
He preached peace to the near and far.
Our peacemaking is participation in his ministry of reconciliation.
We are to seek this peace (Heb. 12:14).
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
“Peacemaker” (εἰρηνοποιός) means something active, not simply peaceableness.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
peace… linked to “one body”
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Peacemaking is a proactive discipline.
It requires maintenance.
Without being cared for… peace will break down.
Looking
Compassion
Move toward brokenness
rather than retreating to the safety of convenience.
App. Our 5th Membership Question;
Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
Today during Sunday School...
Part 2 of our discussion of how we are structured as a church
What are your rights and responsibilities as a member?
How do we elect elders, deacons, pastors?
What does the word Presbyterian mean anyways?
The internal move of God in us...
poor in spirit
mourn (especially over their own sin)
meek
hunger for righteousness
When these things are growing in us,
then we can pursue peace around us.
Think about why this is true.
In order to really be one who bring people together, you must be:
poor in spirit - willing to take the low place.
Don’t think too highly of yourself.
Low before the Lord...
and low before the people you are looking to reconcile.
mourn (over your own sin)...
If you can see your own sin,
then you do not sit in judgment over someone else’s.
It allows you to be soft-hearted,
even when people sin is obvious.
It also gives you empathy for the sin struggles that are on display.
meek - not self- asserting.
To reconcile two people,
it really can’t be about you.
You being noticed or approved CANNOT be in the conversation.
Gentle strength
Why important?
B/c typically, there are two people that are NOT acting gently towards each other.
So the strength to respond in gentleness is necessary to bring peace.
hunger for righteousness
It’s more than wanting to see righteousness in your own life.
You desire it for people around you.
You long to see the character of God grow in the people around you.
You long to see his righteousness of full display in this world.
It’s when these characteristics are increasing and growing...
you are well-suited to be a peacemaker.
Peacemaking Is Costly and Countercultural
Jesus spoke into a world of political tension, revenge norms, and factionalism. Peacemaking was radical. It still is.
First-century Jews expected violent revolt against Rome.
Jesus blesses those who bridge divides instead of widening them.
Making peace is not appeasement: the true model is God’s costly peacemaking
Peacemaking often requires sacrifice, humility, and risk.
For “him who parts a fray, to have blows on both sides;”
John Calvin
As it is a laborious and irksome employment to reconcile those who are at variance, persons of a mild disposition, who study to promote peace, are compelled to endure the indignity of hearing reproaches, complaints, and remonstrances on all sides. (John Calvin)
Peace sometimes requires hostile action.
there is such a thing as ‘cheap peace’ also. To proclaim ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace, is the work of the false prophet, not the Christian witness.
Tim Keller - “Jesus Christ came and he made peace by confronting people, by setting his face like a flint to die. Real peace always makes waves. Peacemaking always makes waves. Always.”
May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
App.
Internal vs. External: Do you say nice things outwardly while harboring hostility inwardly?
Conflict Avoidance: Are you avoiding a relationship or a person because it is "safer" and more "convenient" than pursuing peace?
The Nature of Disagreement: Can you stay in the presence of someone who disagrees with you without feeling that your personhood is being questioned?
The Power of Prayer: Are you neglecting prayer as the primary means to bring peace between people who are at odds?
Peacemaking Is Both Personal and Communal
The Beatitude applies to interpersonal conflict, church unity, and social righteousness.
Personal relationships: forgiveness, mediation, early conflict resolution.
Church life: unity, reconciliation, resisting gossip.
Society: pursuing justice that leads to true peace.
Resembling the God of Peace
Resembling the God of Peace
(Timer: How much time left?)
“sons of God”
sons resemble him
“Christ’s reference is, that is to say, not so much to the nature as to the privileges involved in sonship.”
“The perfect peacemaker is the Son of God (Eph. 2:14f.)” (McNeile).
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Jesus provides the ultimate example of entering brokenness.
Despite a world defined by rebellion and evil intent,
he left heaven to enter a sin-stained reality.
God’s people are called to mimic this move
by running toward the broken things of the world
rather than moving away from them.
Thus we shall be like our Elder Brother.
“Jesus takes our hostility and gives us his peace, so that enemies become sons.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“be called sons of God.”
People around us will identify us as God’s true ambassadors,
those who reconcile the estranged are doing something just like God:
Peacemaking Reflects God’s Character
The promise “they shall be called sons of God” is identity language. Peacemakers resemble God because God is the ultimate peacemaker.
God reconciles the world to himself through Christ.
When believers make peace, they display the family likeness.
Sonship is both present identity and future public recognition.
Peacemaking Is Evidence of Adoption
The reward is not merely future blessing — it is recognition. Peacemakers are publicly acknowledged as God’s children because they resemble him.
Sonship is likeness.
Likeness is demonstrated through peacemaking.
Peacemaking is a sign of genuine discipleship.
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
“My King Forever”
You gave Your life for mine
So let my life
Become an offering
To the One who is worthy
Benediction:
From Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
[May he] equip you with everything good that you may do his will,
working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
