Blessed are the Peacemakers
Notes
Transcript
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
In some church traditions there is an portion of the service called the “passing of the peace.” To some this tradition has become extremely casual moment that many people don’t understand the meaning of.
It becomes something more of a stand the greet your neighbor, and welcome them. Here we generally make the effort here to do that before and after the service.
Many churches did away with this practice during 2020. And that was because they didn’t really have a strong meaning behind it.
In addition to that, it can make people uncomfortable. I knew a woman who would leave the sanctuary for that portion of the service because she felt like it was “fake”. And when traditions are empty and routine they are easy to cut or despise.
But there is a much deeper meaning to this tradition. Sometimes we speak of churches as being “liturgical churches”. This often applies to what we might also call high church traditions… ex: Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran, etc. who follow a strict liturgy each week. This often includes specific prayers, readings, confessions, the Lord’s Supper, etc.
I do want to say, liturgical church is a misnomer - every church has a liturgy - if a church has a bulletin with an order of service you have a liturgy. And this is appropriate if we are to do everything decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40). A strong liturgy can be great, but if not maintained well it can be meaning human tradition.
However, in the churches that maintain a proper passing of the peace, it is not just a moment to shake the hand of the person next to you and catch up in a few short minutes but it is intended to be a meaningful reminder of the gospel. Or at least it once was.
For this reason, it is done in these churches immediately before their weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper. The intention is that you would turn to the person next to you and remind them “peace be with you” and they would respond “also with you.”
These are significant words because this is what Jesus said to his disciples when he first appears to them after his resurrection. The Risen Lord, the Prince of Peace, stands before them and says “shalom… peace be with you.”
The passing of the peace is to remind each believe of the peace that Christ has brought between them and God, but also between them and one another.
And this is the perfect greeting because of what Jesus has done. He has made peace by the blood of his cross.
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
In Colossians 1:20, Paul speaks of Jesus making peace. And it is one of a few areas in the New Testament where the same idea is used as our beatitude.
Jesus uses the noun form of the same word. And this is the only place in the New Testament where this noun is used.
However, there are two other instances of similar language in the New Testament that I want to point out so as to help us
The peacemakers. This is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used. However, even the discussion of “making peace” is only limited to a few other places in this New Testament.
In order help us understand, and define peacemakers, I want to look at where other language was similarly made.
Jesus has made peace between us and God.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
In Ephesians, Paul similarly to Colossians, speaks of Jesus making peace. But in Ephesians 2, Paul is referencing making peace between the jew and the gentile.
Jesus has made peace not only between us and God, but also he has made peace between us and one another.
Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker. He is the Prince of Peace. And people of the prince of people ought to be peaceful people.
And James suggests just this as he writes in:
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
So to bring all of those verses together to aid us in our understanding of Jesus works in Matthew 5:9 this morning:
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
We are able to, and expected to, make peace with others because Christ has made peace between us and the Father by the blood of his cross.
Jesus has made peace by tearing down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. And Jesus has made peace between us and one another. So in Christ we ought to, as much as it depends on us, live peaceably with one another. (Romans 12:18.)
The New Testament regularly speaks of pursuing peace, seeking peace, striving for peace, and living in peace.
But here we have the specific role to be makers of peace.
ειρηνοποιος - pert. to endeavor to reconcile persons who have disagreements, making peace.
Because of what Christ has done to reconcile us to the Father, and to each other. We ought to do the same for one another.
Once again, this beatitude is not a natural disposition - as none of the beatitudes have been natural dispositions. This isn’t celebrating people who happen to have certain personality traits.
We need to be careful that we don’t think this is a blessing on those who are good at negotiating peace treaties.
Instead it is celebrating the word that the Lord is doing in those whom he calls to himself.
Much like those who have experienced mercy, expect to show mercy to others - so also are those with whom Jesus had made peace, expected to make peace with others.
We often take about “holding your peace” or “keeping the peace.” And both of these are actually the opposite or making peace.
It used to be the tradition in weddings going back to the 1500s that the priest would say “If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now; or else for ever hold your peace.” This was to prevent illegal marriages, involving issues of bigamy, underage marriage and close family relations. Technology has made these exemptions unnecessary.
The instruction was that you speak at the appropriate time or maintain silence. This is not making peace - this is keeping peace.
Keeping the peace is not the same as making peace. Keeping the peace is maintain the status quo. Being careful not to step on anyone’s toes - so as not to cause a stir. Making peace is seeking reconciliation between parties who are at odds.
To make peace is to find resolution - not to bite your tongue.
A peacemaker is not quarrelsome, but he also is not passive.
To be a peacemaker does not mean to stay out of it - or to let them figure it out - but rather to be a peacemaker means to step into the midst of a conflict with the desire of bringing peace between two parties who are at odds.
A peacemaker seeks resolution between opposing parties.
To be a peacemaker might mean that you need to get your hands dirty.
As Christ has made peace between us and God, we ought to also make peace between us and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We should be makers of peace in the church, as well as makers of peace in the community.
There are instances in life where peace will not be possible. This ties into next week’s beatitude about persecution. However, remember the words of Paul in Romans 12:18
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Pursue peace as much as you can.
Evangelism…
One specific way that we make peace is by telling others of the eternal peace that they can have with God. Every Christian is called to evangelize. And every Christian is called to make peace. One way that you can aid in making peace is to point someone to Christ. To show them that because of their sin - they are not good with God. But they are separated from God. And that only hope they have for peace between them and the Father is through the Son who died on a cross to make peace.
If Jesus has brought peace between estranged sinners and God the Father, and if he has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between jew and gentile - then Jesus and his gospel can bring peace to all relationships.
One of the big issues that occurs in the books of the OT prophets is that there were opposing false prophets making a proclamation of “Peace,” when there was no peace. They told Micah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah - there’s peace, everything is okay, everything is fine. But that wasn’t the case. In those books there was coming judgment because they were ignoring their sinfulness. But in Christ Jesus, there is true, lasting peace.
We often have the tendency to pretend like there is peace when there is conflict - because we don’t want to be bothered. We’d rather just ignore it until someone forgets about it… that’s not making peace. That’s avoiding conflict resolution for your own pride.
The redeemed of Christ seek to make and advance peace. It is through the gospel, and the advancement of Christianity throughout the world that men have peace with God, and have peace with others. And thus the Sons of God would desire for more peace to advance through the world by the sharing of the gospel, and the forgiving of those who have wrong them. That God might be glorified.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Sons of God
Now I want to devote the rest of our time to focusing on the 2nd part of the Beatitude. What a wonderful promise at the end of that - they shall be sons of God.
But what does it mean to be Sons of God?
Much like the rest of the beatitudes, being a peacemaker is not how one earns sonship. It is not something you earn or work for - it is what the Lord does for you.
The promises of Beatitudes describe what is true of the believer. However, over the past few weeks we have seen that Jesus is teaching of us the doctrines of Salvation: Justification, forgiveness, repentance, regeneration, imputation. People sometimes think these are Pauline doctrines - but Jesus introduces them here in the beatitudes - and in this morning’s beatitudes we are introduced to the doctrine of adoption.
Adoption is just like it sounds. Someone who was not part of the family is brought into the family of God.
I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating, even though many people think “we are all God’s children”, that is not what the Bible actually teaches. The Bible teaches us that we were alienated and hostile in mind.
In Christ we are made sons of God.
Adoption… in many cases, some translations have sought to soften this language by making it gender inclusive to “sons and daughters” or even “children”, however, that has the potential to miss a very important aspect of adoption… inheritance. The Sons are the ones who are the inheritors.
Sometimes the New Testament does indeed use children and child of God. And it conveys the same theme of adoption - but here it references sons.
And we have already seen inheritance in the text: the meek shall inherit the earth, believers shall inherit the kingdom of God, and so through this adoption the Father has qualified us to share in the adoption of the saints of light (Col 1:12).
The language of Sons of God and children of God is all over the New Testament. It is a major theme in John’s writings.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
For those who believe in the Lord Jesus, we are given the right to become children of God. And John continues on to write that this is not of will of man, nor of blood or the flesh - but of the will of God.
Then later in his his first epistle he writes:
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
AND SO WE ARE. (great phrase). Confidence…
And that confidence flows out of the peace we have before the Father.
We have confidence in our adoption because of the Love of the Father.
Paul picks up this same theme in Galatians 3:26 where he writes:
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
And what a beautiful promise, and privilege it is that the redeemed in Jesus are called sons of God.
One of the grand joys of adoption is the comfort that it brings when applied. When you know that you are your Father’s Child you can boldly approach the throne of God, and receive mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:16)
And we can have confidence that if in prayer, we ask the Lord anything according to his will he hears us.
The Bible teaches that the peacemakers are the sons of God. And when you look at the world around us we see not peace makers but aggressors and warmongers. So one of the evidences of salvation, that you truly are in God’s family is - do you seek to make peace with others? Do you love your enemies? Do you seek to show others the peace that you have recieved in Christ so that they themselves may know the Prince of Peace?
How can you go about making peace in our community?
Meditate upon the extreme joy that comes from being a child of GOd.
