Date:
Text: Matthew 5:9-12
Title: Happy are the Peacemakers
Introduction:
This morning we come to the last two beatitudes. In this series of studies, we recognize that the beatitudes ARE a portrait of Jesus Christ, his very character. It is clear that at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus expects his followers to reflect his character.
This is certainly a high standard and expectation. Yet one is to remember he is no other than the son of God, he is God. This is not any kingdom on earth. It is the kingdom of the most high God, the kingdom of heaven. It is only right for the king of this kingdom to have high expectations of his citizens.
The beatitudes examine us like a laser pointer and humble us for it reveals a side of us that we may not want others to see. The more we study the beatitudes, the more we see our spiritual poverty. We can only come to him and ask for mercy.
Let’s first take a look at: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
I. As followers of Jesus Christ, we strive to be Peacemakers.
When we hear this word, “peacemakers”, we probably immediately think of the greatest peacemaker, Jesus Christ. In this Advent season, we’ll be hearing songs about the peace he brings into a troubled world, exhorting him as the Prince of Peace. He is the peacemaker making peace possible. He, being the son of God, came into the world 2000 years ago. God placed our sins on him and he died on the cross. His death and resurrection removed our sins and God's wrath from us. With the removal of sin, we are reconciled to God, we are at peace with him. Jesus Christ is the peacemaker between men and God. The gospel message is the greatest peace making message. It is about making peace between sinners and the holy God.
Moreover, Jesus also expects his followers to be peacemakers. In Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”. As his followers proclaim the message of peace, they have become peacemakers between man and God.
However, in the context of the sermon on the mount, the word, ‘peacemaker’ has a much broader meaning. It is not limited to peace between God and man, it also includes peace among men. Let us take a closer look at the peacemaker.
A peacemaker is not someone who has a natural disposition of being a kind person. Neither is the peacemaker an easy going person. Peacemaker is not someone who wants peace at all cost, including avoiding and ignoring important principles.
On the other hand, a peacemaker is someone who is peaceable. He/she is not quarrelsome. He is not a reactive person. If I am reactive to others’ words and behaviors, I will become short tempered and easily irritated. This can only cause more disharmony between individuals.
We live in a strife-filled world. There is the lack of peace among the nations. Peace is lacking in many of our big cities. There is no peace in many families. Moreover, we also constantly see disharmony among the followers of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we are so used to disharmony, strained and broken relationships among the believers that we accept it as normal. We make little effort to resolve the conflicts, allowing our hearts to grow callous towards disharmony.
The scripture tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”(Romans 12:18) This means that there are times peace may not be possible. It could be due to the refusal to compromise Truth or due to our hardness of hearts. However, these are the exceptions. We must not try to use the exception and make it into our rule, thus excusing ourselves of not making peace among us.
Here, Jesus is issuing a wake up call to his followers. Yes, there is plenty of disharmony around us, but they are not right, they are not normal. Therefore, as his followers, he expects us to be peacemakers just as he is.
Some suggestions. When we see individuals in the family of God; in fellowship and small groups, or in their marriage are not on speaking terms, what do we do? First we must not accept what is as what should be. Secondly, we should definitely pray for them, asking the Prince of Peace to rule and change their hearts. Besides praying, we also need to approach the individuals to help them sort out what happened between them. Is there a communication problem, resulting in words and intentions being misunderstood? Is there a need to ask for forgiveness, first from God and then from each other? With love, we may want to point out to them that living in a strained and broken relationship is really not pleasing to God. Last but not least, I need to examine what is my motive of being a peacemaker. Am I doing it to show that I am more spiritual than others, or am I doing it out of my love for God and for my fellow followers of Jesus Christ.
If
I am personally involved in a conflict, what do I need to do? I need to learn
to distinguish issues from ego and image. If I am upset, is it because of the
issues I am deeply concerned with, or has it something to do with ego? I am so
proud of myself that I cannot afford to be perceived as being wrong? If I don’t
see my spiritual poverty before God, it will be difficult if not impossible to
see that I may be wrong in a conflict. When I find myself in a conflict, I need
to learn to lower my voice, think before I speak. James wrote, “My dear
brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak
and slow to become angry, ….”(James
What is the reward of this? Be called sons of God. The term children of God refers to the position one has. But in the Bible, ‘sons of God’ means an emphasis on character. The sons of God are those who reflect God character. You see, blessing does not always means that we get something from God. When we reflect God's character in our lives, this is a blessing. Just pause for a moment and think: when I am a peacemaker, I am actually reflecting the beauty and character of this most high God. Is there an honor higher than this?
II. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are expected to be willing to receive persecution.
Now we come to the 8th and also the last beatitude. 5:9-12, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Individuals
are persecuted for many different reasons. Some are persecuted because of their
religions, race or convictions. We see this in
Here
Jesus is saying that those who are persecuted because of righteousness, and
later because of me, are blessed. He equates himself with righteousness. He is
very careful to narrow down the reason for persecution. He is not talking about
being persecuted for our own stupidity. I think of a church in SF. About twenty
years ago, they met regularly in a members home at
Several years ago, we heard of individuals shooting doctors who performed abortions, or bombing the abortion clinics. Yes, their conviction on the sanctity of the unborn life was right but what they did was wrong. When they were put into jail, this wa not persecution.
Jesus is also not referring to individuals being persecuted for following a cause, no matter how right that cause is. If you are arrested because you are a Christian, is this considered persecution? We probably would say that this is persecution, but strictly speaking it is not . Jesus says if you are persecuted because of righteousness, because of me, then you are blessed. He is saying if you are persecuted because you are being like me, doing what is right in God's sight, then this is a blessing. Why was Jesus being persecuted? Because he exposed evil. Before he came into the world, evil, hypocrisy, lying, dishonest, selfishness were a way of life, even among the religious leaders. But with his coming, by his own personal behaviors and words, he exposed such evil. For this reason, he was hated and persecuted.
Today we also live in a sinful and broken world. When we live like Jesus did; when we are poor in spirit, mourning over our and others’ sins, when we show mercy to others and being pure in heart, making peace when there is strife, we, too, will expose the evil and wrongs around us. We may not suffer those physical pain as Christians in the first century or in some modern day countries. Our persecution can be in the form of being made fun of, being ostracized by our classmates and coworkers.
However, isn’t it also true that most of us face little or no persecution today? May be for this reason, this last beatitude seem kind of unreal to us. There are two possible reasons. First, our society has become very tolerant and because of this, we are hardly being noticed. If you would take your blanket and pray in the public 5 times a day, people may notice you. Even if they do, probably they would not say anything about it.
Secondly, we may have watered down our belief in such a way that nobody notices us. There is little true Christian character seen in us. A survey was conducted among the religious high schools. 78% of the students admitted that they had cheated in their exams. The % of students in other schools that had cheated is: 72%.
We need to ask ourselves some hard questions: have we put Christ's righteousness into action at home, in our job and business? 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. This is a very definitive statement. Not you may, but when we live a godly life, we will be persecuted. People will make fun of you. You don’t cheat? O’ come on. Everyone does it, how stupid can you be.
Why is being
persecuted a blessing? First it demonstrates my identification with Jesus
Christ. Jesus teaches us that, John 15:20, “No servant is greater than his
master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” When I am
persecuted, I know for sure that I belong to Christ. Secondly, in Acts
Then lastly, we are blessed when we are persecuted because there is a reward for us in heaven. Sometimes we Christians feel that reward as a motivation is ignoble. But scripture clearly teaches us about the reward in heaven. It is not about material things. It is spiritual, it is about being close to God, being with him. This is the reward that the prophets in the OT looked forward to. And you know what, when we are persecuted, we also know that he is right there with us. You remember the story about Daniel’s 3 friends. They were thrown into a furnace because they refused to worship the king. Once they were in the furnace, the king saw a fourth person there: a person who looked like the son of man.
Conclusion;
To study the beatitudes is like a study of Jesus'' characters. He is the truly gentle and humble person. His one desire in life is to do God's will, doing what is right. He is full of mercy and compassion. His heart, his entire life is pure. He is the greatest peacemakers, bring peace between men and God, between men and men. He was persecuted for being the son of God, being God and for dong the right thing.
So, what do we learn from our study of the beatitudes? True blessing is not a matter of how many and how big our toys are. A truly blessed person, a citizen of God's kingdom, is one who is like Jesus Christ; a person who reflects Christ's character at home, at work, at school and at church. And the irony is, as we reflect Christ in our lives, the world may not like this. It will insult and ridicule us. You see, a truly blessed person is also one that will be persecuted.