Making Peace In A Warring World

It's a real honor to be able to share with you this evening and to be part of bringing you this series alongside so many amazing teachers. I hope my contribution will be a blessing to you. It's called “Making Peace In a Warring World.” First let's do a little review:

Matthew 5:1-9 ESV

[1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. [2] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: [3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [4] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5] “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. [8] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Friends, this world is hurting. How many of you grew up watching Mr Rogers? Then you probably know his famous quote:

"When scary things happen, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Well, lots of scary things are happening in our world today. Adapting the saying to our time, you might say “Look for the healers, for the concilators and yes for the peacemakers”

This is what makes Jesus’ seventh beatitude more relevant than ever. As the Amplified Bible words it:

“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

The Greek word here is eirenopoiós and it's the only time in the entire Bible this word is used. It means “a peacemaker, someone who bravely declares God's terms which makes someone whole.”

I'm sure you know this but it's still important to point out that the act of being a peacemaker in itself doesn't make you a child of God. Being born again makes you a child of God. But being a peacemaker is one of the fruits that come from that. The fruit of the Spirit is love joy _ So when you are a child of God, you bear the family resemblance!

It's also important to remember that being a peacemaker may not always look the way we think it will. It's not all the dye shirts patchouli and granola.

Matthew 10:34-36

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

Hear me well on this: Sometimes conflict is necessary to get us to the place of peace. If you know me you know I'm a pretty easygoing guy so this is a lesson I've had to learn the hard way at times.

Being a peacemaker means that sometimes you deal with hard truths. It does sometimes involve confrontation. Jesus was the ultimate peacemaker but as you know He often had to be very confrontational. Just ask the moneychangers in the Temple!

Romans 12:18 further tells us

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” It won't always be possible to live in peace with some people so set your expectations accordingly.

As believers we walk the narrow path. The Gospel message is always going to be countercultural. Following Jesus means we are going to be going against the current much of the time, yet we are to always do it with the end goal of be a peacemaker as much as possible.

So this evening we are going to look at three aspects of being a peacemaker: Peace with ourselves, peace between others and ultimately peace between God and humanity. In each case, we will be looking at how Jesus did it. After all, WWJD?

Peace with Ourselves:

We can't offer people something we don't have ourselves. Making peace begins with having God's peace in our own lives. How did Jesus cultivate that peace in His own life? First of all, through prayer and that's a theme we will be coming back to.

Wouldn't you love to have been able to watch Jesus pray? Sure the Bible gives us some glimpses but to be able to watch those all night prayer sessions and here His intimate conversations with the Father? While we only have a limited glimpse of that, we see the results of it plenty of times! Let's look at

Luke 8:22-25 ESV

[22] One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, [23] and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. [24] And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. [25] He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”