“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NET).
We are called to a peaceful life, and also to create peace for the people around us. Why should that be dangerous?
Well, any mother knows why. Breaking up a quarrel among siblings can get messy. My two teenage boys were good-naturedly horsing around, trying to get the last gummy worm; and of course the compulsory roughhousing ensued. An hour later we were driving to the emergency room with a broken finger. Not mine; I was experienced enough to know not to get between them.
Some quarrels involve much more earnestness and anger, and the parties involved do not want a peacemaker to interrupt their quest for the prize or perceived prize they are fighting for. Anyone caught in the middle is just collateral damage.
Moses even experienced a personal attack when he tried to make peace between two of his kinsmen who were fighting. It caused him to fear for his own life, and to flee Egypt (Exodus 2:13-15).
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1, NASB).
God desires peace. God asks us to be peacemakers.
And yet the news this week featured a man who was knocked to the ground and choked to death by several policemen. The reason he was being questioned in the first place was that he was involved in breaking up a fight. For this intervention, he lost his own life.
As tragic as this is, remember how Jesus made peace for us.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace” (Ephesians 2:13-15).
Jesus Christ made peace, but it was through the most violent suffering and death imaginable.
In our peacemaking, we won’t be likely to be crucified or even to get a bruised thumb. We may be ridiculed, told to mind our own business, or generally rebuffed. Are we willing to get our feelings a little bruised in our efforts to make peace?
If so, we are truly the children of God.