Learn more about what it means to be a Christian

The Beatitudes begin a section in the gospel of Matthew called "The Sermon on the Mount." The Beatitudes speak about the nature of a person who would presume to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. John 1:12 states, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God… Through a relationship with Christ, we inherit certain rights. The Beatitudes give us a description of what a person looks like when he or she lives up to those rights.

Specifically, we are thinking about the seventh Beatitude on the list, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Historically, I have usually looked at this verse in terms of what a peacemaker does, but today I want us to consider what a peacemaker is. What makes a peacemaker?

Obviously, a peacemaker is, by nature, a child of God. A peacemaker does not just possess the right to become known as a child of God, a peacemaker has tasted the peace that God gives through Jesus Christ. Because of that experience of peace, we can become people of peace.

The prophet Isaiah sang to God, The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. So, a peacemaker is one who possesses the peace that God grants to us based upon our faith in Him. But I am not thinking of possession in the same sense that we might possess a car or some other object. This possession is like the possession of certain traits that are embedded into our DNA. I have blue eyes, wavy brown hair, and long, flat feet because those traits are embedded into the basic components of my body. In the same way, Jesus tells us that the traits of peacemaking will identify us as children of God because they are embedded into our identity.

The result is that we become people who, by nature, choose and work for a path of peace in all of our relationships. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

Hal Brady, a Methodist pastor in Columbus, GA, recounts in one of his books a favorite story of the late Dr. Wallace Hamilton, novelist and playwright, liked to tell of an Indian sheep farmer who had a big problem. His neighbor's dogs were killing his sheep. It got so bad, he had to do something. So he examined his options. First, he could have brought a lawsuit and taken his neighbor to court. Second, he could have built stronger fences so the dogs couldn't get in. But he had a better idea. He gave some lambs to his neighbor's children. When these lambs began to multiply and their little flock began to develop, the neighbor tied up the dogs and the farmer’s problems were over.

Now, I would imagine that some of you thought of another option for that farmer. He could have shot, or otherwise harmed, one or more of his neighbor’s dogs as retribution. After all, the dogs had killed his sheep; some people would feel like he had the right to kill the dogs. But the point here is the difference between what the farmer has a right to do, and what his nature tells him to do.

Jesus says that as children of God, it is our nature to choose the path that builds peaceful relationships. Not just that we choose peace from a set of other options, but that we choose peace because that is who we are, and it is the way that we live. This is not a suggestion; it is the word of Christ that if we want to be citizens of the Kingdom of God then this is the way that he expects us to live.

The modern term for that is "default," which means a preset, automatic choice. My computer insists that I establish a default printer. I can use as many different printers as I want, but I have to have to have one as a preset choice so that when I create a document then the computer will automatically format it for the default printer, unless I specifically tell it to do something different.

For a child of God, peacemaking becomes the default choice. Our preset, automatic response to conflict should be "how do I create peace in this situation." Being a peacemaker allows us to be creative, to use our imaginations to solve conflicts in such a way that peace reigns. Peacemaking gives us the freedom to rise above anger, or the tools of manipulation that we often use to get our way.

Some people might see peacemaking as weakness but, in fact, peacemaking requires great strength. If you look at the life of Jesus, you can see that he never dealt with anyone from a position of personal weakness, but always from personal strength. Even when other people thought that they were in control of him, they never understood his enormous personal strength.

Peacemaking requires the personal strength to look beyond the common solutions of intimidation and retribution to find creative ways of solving our conflicts that allow peace to last. Peacemaking requires the strength to put aside our typical emotions to pursue a path that satisfies who we ought to be, and that who we ought to be and who we want to be become more and more the same.

And peacemaking does not mean that we avoid conflict. Peacemaking meets conflict directly without making the conflict worse.

So, what makes a peacemaker? A peacemaker is a child of God, whose very nature has been changed by a true experience with Christ. A peacemaker is the person we ought to be if we claim to know Christ. Do you get the feeling that Jesus is suggesting that "if you can’t be a peacemaker, then don’t run around claiming that you are related to me."

I have a question for you to consider this morning: When conflict rubs up against you, what is your default response?

Like arrows in a quiver, we have a whole set of tools that we have developed to deal with conflict: anger, aggression, passive/aggression, avoidance, and some people have figured out that if they can just be mean enough for long enough then everyone else will eventually give up and they can get their way.

But Jesus says that if you want to be like him, then you have to be a peacemaker. Will you ask God to uncover the peacemaker in you?

Where are you being called upon to make peace? We often think of peacemaking as bringing the end of war. That would certainly be a good thing, but it is beyond our power to do so this morning. So, let’s start small. In your family? In your neighborhood? At your job? In your school?

In all of our relationships, Jesus calls us to be peacemakers.

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