Sermon on the Mount
Week 10 – Blessed are the Peacemakers
The Sermon on the Mount is the core of Jesus’ yoke and if we want to be true Jesus followers, then we need to understand how to live out his yoke. The main purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to show how to live a life that God finds pious, that is, how to live out the righteousness of God here on Earth. To do this, Jesus begins his sermon with the “Principles of the Yoke,” the Beatitudes. We have learned that the while the word “Blessed” literally means “happy,” it is much more than that. It more closely resembles something akin to “Held in honor by God” or “In a righteous relationship with God.”
As we continue to study the beatitudes we have been focusing on the second set of them that deal with having righteous relationships with other people. Mercy, pure in heart, and peacemaker all relate directly to how we relate to other people. To have a righteous relationship with God, we need to live in righteous relationship with one another.
The fact is that in the real world people will conflict. We have different personalities, gifts, histories, and views of the world. When you put people together and ask them to interact, those different parts of the personal narrative will inevitably clash and lead to conflict. How we work around and through these conflicts directly reflects on how we relate to one another.
Discussion Question
A peacemaker is one who brings forth shalom to those around him. We understand that the word shalom means “peace” and is used as greeting and farewell. But, it means much more than that. Shalom also means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. The ‘peacemakers’ do more than just end conflict; they imitate God by promoting welfare, health and security.
A peacemaker, then is one who is bring wholeness and completeness to a relationship. Peacemaking, while always difficult, can almost always be achieved when both parties are committed to bringing wholeness to the relationship. The really difficult part is when only one party of the conflict wants to bring wholeness and completeness back to the relationship. I think this why Paul modifies this attitude just a bit when he exhorts us by saying "As much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18).
"Peacemaking" is not a passive attitude, but exerting positive actions for reconciliation. It starts by understanding that peacemaking is about building community; and community begins by realizing and respecting the dignity of each person. Each person is precious in the eyes of God. We have to see people as God sees them.
In order then to be a “peacemaker,” in order to be called a “son of God,” we are to give way — to defer — to others, out of reverence for the rights of others. The key thought here is that it is better to be in relationship than it is to be right.
So often conflict occurs because we are more concerned about either being right or about “my rights.” Jesus calls us to a different standard. He does want us to “be the bigger person.” He does want us to be “a doormat.”
This also means that making peace is work. It is in fact very difficult work. Yet it is our only hope for the restoration of a broken world. By working for peace, by working to heal the relationships, by removing obstacles for peace, by avoiding what harms our relationships, we may — at least, this is what we are assured — hear a voice in our heart that says: “This is my beloved. In my beloved — and him, in her, in you — I am well pleased.” What greater joy, what richer blessing, what more abundant grace can there be than this?
To understand this we must understand what “sonship” means to the First Century Jew. There are two kinds of honor that a person has. First, there is ascribed honor. This refers to the respect given to a person from two basic institutions: the family and/or the state. This is contrasted with achieved honor which a person earns by his own merit.
Generally, ascribed honor comes simply from being born into a certain family (i.e., he’s a Kennedy or a Bush). Children born into the family automatically acquire the public evaluation of that family. Therefore, sonship signifies belonging to the family and means that you “inherit” all of the family’s honor or shame. Since God is always held in the highest, a son of God inherits that same honor. We also see that there are two places in Matthew that Christ is called “Son of God.” The first is at his baptism (3:17) and the second at the Transfiguration (17:5).
Christ is the Son of God because he is in righteous relationship with God and with his fellow man. He is fully committed to the will of God. Full communion means he shares in ALL of God’s resources. When we seek to be peacemakers, we see a twofold result. We come more fully into the will of God and then we too have access to ALL of God’s resources.