"Shalom In The Home" Series

INTRO: Welcome to week three of our current series, “Bless This Home.” We have been taking a section of Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5, known as the Beatitudes, which is the Latin term for “Blessedness,” and applying some of these statements specifically to our homes.

In case this is your first Sunday with us, let me remind everyone here that the idea of being “blessed” from a biblical perspective means much more than just being happy. It carries the idea of having God’s supernatural power working for you. I blessed family is one who has God’s supernatural power working for them, propelling them farther than they could ever go on their own.

During the first week we looked at “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and learned that our first step toward having God’s blessing upon our families is to change our spiritual appetite and begin pursuing, not the right things, but the right one—Jesus. Last week we looked at “Blessed are the pure in heart” and were challenged to protect the purity of our homes by living pure lives ourselves. We saw last week that one reason The Holy Spirit has been given to us is so that we can be empowered to live pure lives.

Today, we are going to consider:

Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

There are two words in the Bible translated peace. In the NT, it’s the Greek word, Eirene and in the OT, we have the Hebrew word, shalom. Although the NT is written in Greek, Jesus was a Jew and his idea of peace would have been rooted in the Hebrew word shalom. The reason this is important is because the Hebrew idea of peace meant much more than the absence of trouble. It meant to seek the highest good. When the Jewish people would great each other with the word “Shalom,” they were pronouncing a blessing of God’s highest good on each other… God’s best… it included wholeness and health.

Can your family be characterized by the word PEACE? Many of us would have to admit that our household is better described by the word CONFLICT than by the word PEACE.

Conflict in our families is inevitable. For instance, a few weeks back on Easter Sunday, I was standing outside greeting people as they were coming into the building. I saw a young couple, who hadn’t been married a year yet, walking across the parking lot and from a distance it looked like they were wearing matching shirts. Their shirts looked to be navy blue. I yelled across the parking lot, “Hey! Y’all match!” However, as they got closer he was wearing a dark purple shirt and she was wearing a navy blue shirt, and they didn’t really match at all, so I said, “Actually, you clash!” To which the husband chortled back, “Welcome to married life, right?”

I remember one Sunday morning I was again meeting people as they were coming in and this young couple with a 4-yr-old daughter came in. I said, “Good morning,” and before either of the parents could say a thing, the little girl said, “Mommy and Daddy got in a fight on the way to church!”

I’m sure all of us desire PEACE in our homes, but for many if seems like the proverbial carrot on the end of a stick. We just can’t seem to get there. I think that if you’ll stick with me for the next few minutes, we’ll be able to help get you on the road to peace.

We are going to THAT PASSAGE today. The one so many of us don’t like. The one about submitting to one another, and wives submitting to their husbands, and husbands loving their wives. It’s that passage that when a pastor dares go there in this day and time he runs the risk of over half the congregation tuning out… BUT… I saw something here that is amazingly encouraging, practical and not at all cumbersome or limiting.

I’ve talked to you in the past about the importance of understanding any passage of Scripture in the context it was written—that is, the verses that are both before and after it. Instead of picking up in Ephesians 5 where Paul drops the hammer on wives—submit to your husbands, or where he seemingly handcuffs both spouses—submit to one another; let’s back up to Ephesians 5:18 and begin there.

Ephesians 5:18-25, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

• We need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, and when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, this is what life looks like

19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.