Make peace not war (Matt. 5:9)

The story is told of a church that had a terrible split.  In fact, I think it led to a group of people leaving that church and setting up a rival church.  When someone later tried to figure out what had begun these hostilities, they were able to trace it to the fact that at a church meal one person had received a bigger slice of dessert than another.

It is not always the fault of those who leave that churches split.  Sometimes the ruling clique within a church make things so difficult for those in the church to stay that they feel they have no choice but to go elsewhere.  In his great mercy God has often used splits in churches to plant new churches, but there should be a desire for healing between those who have fallen out.

In truth Christians have often proved poor at getting on with each other, and when this happens the heart of Jesus is saddened and the witness of his church is tainted.  We need to hear the words, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.’ 

We follow the prince of peace

At Christmas time we read words from Isaiah that look forward to the coming of the Messiah and tell us that he shall be called the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6-7).  The apostle Paul explained to the Colossian Christians that Jesus had made peace through his blood on the cross (Col. 1:20).

Jesus is the one who takes the initiative in peace-making.  We were hostile towards God (Rom. 8:7), and yet he sought us out.  Jesus is the one who pays the cost of peace.  He laid down his life to make us his brothers and sisters.

The gospel is not a message of two warring sides coming to the negotiating table and settling for some uneasy truce.  The gospel is a message about the innocent and offended party seeking out those who had acted treacherously towards them and doing everything needed to not only grant them forgiveness but accept them into a relationship of infinite warmth.

For this peace to come about God has to give us a new heart (Ezek. 36:26).  Those who by nature resist God don’t become lovers of God without a work of God.  Thank God for those who prayed for you before you came to Christ.  Thank God that he continues to work within you to keep you soft towards him.

We proclaim of message of peace

Paul’s letter to the Romans quotes the book of Isaiah saying, ‘how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’ (Rom. 10:15).  One of the ways that we become peace-makers is by sharing the good news of how people can know peace with God.  People used to ask about the deceased, ‘did he make his peace with God?’  I always thought the emphasis was a little wrong in that question for it is God who makes peace with us.  We might be better asking, ‘did he receive the peace of God?’

In the 1700s John Newton hated God.  He used to shock his fellow slave-traders with the blasphemies he would make up about God.  He set about destroying the faith of those who claimed to love God.  He persuaded a young man called Job Lewis to turn away from God, and later Job Lewis would die in emotional torment without God.  So obvious was his vulgarity that after a storm, when it looked like they were not going to survive the captain of the ship concluded that Newton was like a Jonah onboard who had caused God to send the storm.  The captain openly said to him, ‘if I throw you overboard we shall be preserved from death, and not otherwise.’

But what the captain didn’t know was that in that storm God had reached into Newton’s heart and caused him to cry out for mercy.  God had used the fear of death to bring the prodigal son to his senses.  Newton was a transformed man who would become a gracious pastor, the writer of hymns like ‘Amazing Grace’ and an opponent of the slave trade.  God made peace with John Newton.

Ask God to make you an effective peace envoy.  Ask him to show you how amazing this grace is.  Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you could speak the truth with courage (Acts 4:31).  Ask God to do what is needed to change the hearts of people to accept God’s peace.

We are to be people of peace

Sharing the gospel is not the only way we can be peacemakers.  We are called to get along with people.  The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, used to tell his followers that they ought to be friends of all and enemies of none.  In as much as it depends on us we are to live at peace with everyone (Rom. 12:18).  Peace between ourselves and others won’t always be possible, but we must have always done everything possible between ourselves and others.  Remember that Jesus is the one who took the initiative in peace-making.  He sought out those who are hostile towards him.  Seeking to love those who don’t like you can be costly.  It can open your heart to further hurt.  But Jesus paid an infinite peace to bring us peace.

The night before the crucifixion Jesus prayed for those who would become Christians.  We see that his great desire is that Christians would be at peace with each other and that the peace between God’s people would speak to the world about him.  He said, ‘I pray for those who will believe in me … that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’ (Jn. 17:20-23).  We sadden the heart of Jesus and damage the witness of his church when we refuse to take the initiative and seek to be at peace with those who may have offended us.  How often our non-believing friends point to the huge number of different churches, that often formed from church-splits, and use that as an excuse to say that there must be something defective in our message.

Conclusion

What a wonderful God we serve!  He is a God who calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.  In doing this we will be children of God (Matt. 5:44-45).  We will be displaying the family likeness.  For our heavenly Father is to all that he has made, and so he causes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:46).

In a world of petty patriotism, of deep racism and of prejudice we can be a people known for our love.  But we will need to ask God to keep on furthering his work in our hearts.  We pray that would help us show a family likeness to the God who is love.