PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS: BECOMING PEACEMAKERS
A. Today we are studying the seventh Beatitude in our series, BECOMING PEACEMAKERS.
ILLUSTRATION:
There was a man being held by BANK ROBBERS who, as he was HIKING deep into the woods, stumbled onto an OLD CABIN and found the MONEY they had STOLEN and then HID it from the ROBBERS. The man was a RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT and was unable to speak English. So, one of the ROBBERS went into the city and found a man who could speak RUSSIAN and
brought him back to the CABIN to INTERPRET for them.
“You tell this man,” they said to the INTERPRETER, “that we are not going to HURT him. All we want is our MONEY and we’ll be on our way.” The INTERPRETER turned to the HOSTAGE and said in Russian, “They said that they’re not going to HURT you. All they want is their MONEY and then they’ll leave you alone.” The HOSTAGE, however, REFUSED to
tell them where the MONEY was.
One of the ROBBERS pulled a GUN, pointed it at the HOSTAGE and said to the INTERPRETER. “You tell him that we mean business! He better tell us where the MONEY is or
we are going to KILL him.”
The INTERPRETER swallowed hard, wiped the SWEAT from his BROW and said to the HOSTAGE. “Listen. These guys mean business. They are going to SHOOT you DEAD unless
you tell them where you have HIDDEN their MONEY.”
The HOSTAGE cried out, “Tell them not to SHOOT! I took the HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS and hid it in the TRUNK of a HALLOW OAK tree just about a 100 PACES straight
south of the CABIN. Just tell them not to KILL ME!”
The INTERPRETER then told the ROBBERS. “He said, ‘You might as well go ahead and
SHOOT him, because he’s NOT going to tell you where the MONEY is.’”
COMMENT:
If you are ever in a CONFRONTATION with somebody, you definitely don’t want this guy to be your “PEACEMAKER.”
A. Jesus- “Blessed (HAPPY) are the PEACEMAKERS, for they will be called sons of God.” – v. 9.
1. When Jesus said “Happy are the peacemakers . . .”, it must have sounded strange to those
LISTENING.
COMMENT:
There was so much STRIFE in Judea. Samaritans and Jews didn’t get along. Gentiles and Jews didn’t get along. Even among the Jews, there were so many different RELIGIOUS ORDERS and FACTIONS: the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes who couldn’t get along.
2. Now Jesus PLEADS for His DISCIPLES to be PEACEMAKERS.
COMMENT:
And that PLEA is still desperately needed today in a world of CONFLICT, DIVISION and STRIFE. Everywhere we turn we see FIGHTING over everything from the use of PRONOUNS to
POLITICS. In our society PEACE is difficult to FIND and even harder to MAINTAIN.
But the most disheartening FACTIONS is what we see in the CHURCH—between brothers and sisters in Christ fighting over things like WORSHIP STYLES, SONG SELECTIONS, BIBLE TRANSLATIONS, BIBLICAL OPINIONS on NONESSENTIAL MATTERS, CULTURAL and GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES, LEADERSHIP DECISIONS, and so on.
MESSAGE:
I. GOD CALLS US TO BE PEACEMAKERS
A. We must understand that the SOURCE of PEACE is God.
1. God sent Jesus as a PEACE OFFERING between HIM and US (sinful human beings) and
between US and EVERYONE ELSE- Ephesians 2:12-18 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
Through Jesus we can live in PEACE with God and each other. If Jesus’ SACRIFICE on the CROSS can make PEACE between a PERFECT God and an IMPERFECT human being, then His DEATH can certainly make PEACE between people regardless of any BARRIER.
2. The Hebrew word for PEACE is SHALOM.
a. It describes not only the ABSENCE of STRIFE and CONFLICT, but also the PRESENCE
of SERENITY, PROSPERITY, and HAPPINESS.
b. The PEACEMAKER endeavors not only to remove STRIFE and CONFLICT from among
people, but also to establish GOOD WILL and WELLBEING.
3. James 3:18- “PEACEMAKERS who sow in PEACE raise a HARVEST of RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
COMMENT:
Consider Jesus. We don’t see Him settling many DISPUTES or negotiating CONFLICTS. But we do see Him CULTIVATING inward HARMONY through ACTS of LOVE: . . . WASHING the FEET of men He knew would DENY and BETRAY Him. . . . having LUNCH with a CORRUPT TAX OFFICIAL. . . . HONORING the sinful woman whom SOCIETY had
SCORNED.
Jesus built BRIDGES through His ACTS of SERVICE. He prevented CONFLICT by
HELPING people to take an HONEST LOOK at themselves FIRST.
4. And like Jesus, we can go around SOWING SEEDS of PEACE.
ILLUSTRATION:
Compliment a CO-WORKER. Take your WIFE out to LUNCH. Tell your HUSBAND how much you appreciate him. Bake a CAKE and carry it next door. Give a PAT on the BACK
to a TEACHER. SMILE at a CHILD. Give a fellow Christian the BENEFIT of the DOUBT.
B. Let’s take a CLOSER LOOK at the RELATIONSHIPS with whom we are to MAKE PEACE.
1. With THOSE in CONFLICT with US. Romans 12:18- “If possible, as far as it depends upon
you, live at peace with everyone.” (EXPOUND ON TEXT)
a. In the context, Paul’s admonition is made about those who may consider us their ENEMY.
ILLUSTRATION:
Your BOSS who is putting on the PRESSURE hoping you’ll QUIT. Your CO-WORKER who LIED to you. Your FORMER FRIEND who spreads GOSSIP about you. Your SPOUSE
who BELITTLES you in front of the KIDS.
b. Our first REACTION is to get REVENGE, but Paul says “DON’T!” Instead, we are to
LOOK for ways to MAKE PEACE.
COMMENT:
Paul- “If your enemy is HUNGRY, feed him. If he’s THIRSTY, give him a drink.” In other words, we are to look for OPPORTUNITIES to plant SEEDS of PEACE even among those who like to make our LIFE difficult. Even though they may be TROUBLEMAKERS, we are still to be PEACEMAKERS.
2. With our FELLOW-CHRISTIANS.
a. Romans 14:19- “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual
edification.”
COMMENT:
In this chapter, Paul is telling Christians to be more ACCEPTING of one another and STOP JUDGING and DEMEANING one another over MATTERS of OPINION.
b. The statement that James makes when he said, “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a
harvest of righteousness”- James 3:18, is WEDGED right in the MIDDLE of admonishing Christians not to “SLANDER and GOSSIP” and “FIGHT and QUARREL” with one another.
c. Isn’t it SAD when Christians sometimes act more like ENEMIES than BROTHERS and SISTERS in Christ?
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was in BIBLE COLLEGE, we had to participate in 8 evangelistic campaigns before we could GRADUATE. These consisted of KNOCKING DOORS, CONDUCTING personal Bible STUDIES, and INVITING people to attend a week-long REVIVAL. One of
the CAMPAIGNS I went on was HOSTED by a congregation in Elgin, Oklahoma.
On my first day there, the PASTOR of that church handed me some names of people to VISIT who no longer attended that church and wanted me to ENCOURAGE them to come back. There was one lady I went to visit who, at first, was RUDE to me when I told her that I was with the Elgin Church. But after explaining to her that I was STUDYING to be a PREACHER, she politely INVITED me in. We sat and talked for a few minutes about her family and about the School I was attending. She then INVITED me to come back the next day for a BIBLE STUDY.
I RETURNED the next day with a fellow-classmate, Steve W. We had a nice study, but then she shared with us why she NO LONGER attended that church. “There’s a man down there who really did me WRONG a few years ago,” she said. When she called his name, Steve and I looked at each other because he was one of the ELDERS. She went into this long STORY
that happened 10 or 12 years in the PAST before this man became an ELDER.
Steve and I went and talked to this ELDER. And he appeared genuinely DISAPPOINTED to hear that he was the REASON this woman gave for no longer ATTENDING church. He told us that he REMEMBERED the INCIDENT the woman spoke
of, and said he was CLEARLY in the WRONG and should have done something about long ago.
The next day the Elder went with us to the woman’s house for our BIBLE STUDY so he could seek her FORGIVENESS. When she saw this man standing there, she SLAMMED the DOOR in our faces. The elder KNOCKED on the door again and said, “I’m just here to tell that I’m sorry. I was in the WRONG and I’ve come to ask your FORGIVENESS.” All we
HEARD from inside was her TELEVISION being turned up LOUDER.
Needless to say, she wouldn’t allow us to continue our STUDY. But on Friday night, the last night of the CAMPAIGN and REVIVAL, this woman was there. She came in LATE and SAT in the very BACK. Johnny P, one of my INSTRUCTORS, just happen to present a
lesson that night on God’s GRACE and FORGIVENESS. (ISN’T GOD AMAZING?)
During the last verse of the INVITATION SONG, this woman started slowly making her way to the FRONT with TEARS streaming down her EYES. The Elder was sitting way on the opposite side—I don’t even think he knew that she was there. But when he LOOKED UP and saw her COMING, he started making his way to the FRONT. They both MET in the middle and EMBRACED each other and CRIED like BABIES.
COMMENT:
There was not a DRY EYE in that CHURCH that night. And when they came forward, others RESPONDED confessing UNFORGIVING ATTITUDES and BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS. That church began a HEALING PROCESS that was long overdue because God used two GREENHORN PREACHER STUDENTS, unsuspectingly, to be PEACEMAKERS.
II. PEACEMAKERS ARE CALLED “CHILDREN OF GOD”
A. That doesn’t surprise me, because PEACEMAKERS reflect their Father’s NATURE.
1. The Father is said to be the “God of Peace”- Romans 15:13 and Jesus the “Prince of Peace”-
John 16:33.
2. As PEACEMAKERS, reflecting their NATURE, are called “CHILDREN OF GOD”-
Matthew 5:43-48 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
Being BORN AGAIN through the BLOOD of Christ in BAPTISM, we now take upon us the very NATURE of our Heavenly Father. By His Spirit Jesus lives in us and His CHARACTER and PERSONALITY are REFLECTED through our LIVES.
We become LIKE Christ—we become PEACEMAKERS. There is something GODLIKE in bringing PEACE to PEOPLE and PEOPLE to PEACE.
3. If you want to RESEMBLE God, then be a PEACEMAKER.
B. Then hear God say, “THESE ARE MY CHILDREN, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”
CONCLUSION:
A. To be PEACEMAKERS that Jesus wants us to be, we have to begin with our own RELATIONSHIPS.
1. Is there someone in your life with whom you are having CONFLICT—a FAMILY MEMBER, a
CO-WORKER, a NEIGHBOR, a FRIEND, a FELLOW-CHRISTIAN?
a. Have you really TRIED to MAKE PEACE—you know, “as far as it depends upon you”?
COMMENT:
If you are in the WRONG, have you gone to this person and said, “I’m sorry for what I did (NAME IT).” And then ask, “Will you please forgive me?” HAVE YOU DONE THAT?
Even if you are not in the WRONG, have you tried to MEND that RELATIONSHIP by gently talking about the OFFENCE and seeking RESOLUTION and PEACE between you?
b. That is what God did for us to MAKE PEACE.
2. Paul describes us as being “ENEMIES of God” in Romans 5:10.
a. And, yet, God was the One who sought to MAKE PEACE by sending His Son to the CROSS as a PEACE OFFERING between us and Him.
b. Romans 5:8- “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were sinners [God’s enemies], Christ died for us.”
ARE YOU A PEACEMAKER?
