'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.' ~ Matthew 5:9
I don't recall the circumstances of why the topic arose, yet last week my pastor and I were discussing the aspect of the Sermon on the Mount referenced above. I believe there is a great deal more to the Messiah's discourse than may initially meet the eye. I would submit that peace making is an entirely different course of action than mere peace keeping (which, in the modern sense, has proven quite impotent, to say the least). In fact, as He did throughout the Sermon, Christ expanded upon man's notions of right and wrong, rather than, as many to-day believe, dispelling the Law altogether and bestowing an uber-liberty unto Christians, giving them license to live as they please.
Keeping the peace, while not always easily achieved to be sure, requires little more of the peacekeeper (in varying degrees, of course) than a combination of persuasion, coercion, and/ or separation of the quarreling parties. Overt or active hostilities have usually ceased by the arrival of the peacekeeper(s); he need only to prevent a resumption of the struggle. In other words, the issue at hand is not resolved, amends are not made, and wounds are not healed. The best result usually is an uneasy and extremely fragile detente.
Peace making, on the other hand, requires a great deal more in the way of talent in order to achieve peace--skill, persistence, and (ideally) a love for all parties involved deeply rooted in the love of Christ. Only when the salve of Christ's love is applied to the hearts of the warring parties can a real--and lasting--peace manifest itself.
Keeping the peace omits resolution and is tenuous at best. Making peace where there is active, participatory enmity is a task only accomplished through and by God. Few of us relish the thought of inserting ourselves into a volatile situation, irrespective of our desire for all to live at peace. We dislike conflict and avoid it like the plague. Yet, there is a blessing promised to those who make peace. Which of us will assign such little value to a blessing as to reject or avoid it?
Of course, the perfect example of peacemaking is Christ Himself, the Prince of Peace: 'For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.' ~ Romans 5:10.
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Thanks for the thoughts, Matt. They actually got me to thinking: If we follow Christ's example of peacemaking, then it has very little to do with forcibly making us lay down weapons and shake hands. Christ made peace with us by sacrificing himself. When we, the injuring party, see his sacrifice for what it is, we then see how foolish we are, and lay down our weapons. Sacrifice, not domination, breeds peacemaking.
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