(Psalm 34:11-14; Matthew 5:9, Colossians 3:12-15)
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Not “blessed are the peacekeepers,” the appeasers, the people who will sacrifice justice for a little temporary quiet and safety. Not “blessed are the peace-imposers,” the control freaks, those who create “peace” on their own terms by shouting down or crushing anyone who disagrees with them. Not “blessed are the diplomats,” the manipulators who practice “the fine art of letting someone else have your way.” These produce no true peace, just an illusion. And speaking of illusions, if you heard this and your mind immediately went to nations and governments and global politics, bring it back, because that’s not what Jesus means either.
As we’ve been working our way through the Beatitudes, we’ve seen that they build on each other. What kind of people are peacemakers? They are people who are poor in spirit—who recognize their need for Jesus, and find the meaning and value of life in following him. As a consequence, they hunger and thirst for righteousness: more than anything, they want their relationship with God to be right, the way it should be, which also means they want the same for all their other relationships. Thus they are meek, not demanding their own way or what they see as their rights; rather, they are merciful toward those who wrong them, recognizing their own dependence on the mercy of God.
Peacemakers, then, are people who first make peace within themselves, and do nothing to create unnecessary conflict with others, or among others. They control their tongues, keeping back the word that will only cause trouble and division, strife and mistrust. That means no gossip, for one thing; but even more importantly, it means not talking about people instead of to them.
The ministry of peacemaking is the ministry of reconciliation, and it must begin in our own lives. If anyone has a fair complaint or grievance against us, we need to do what we can to make amends; and if we have a complaint or grievance against anyone else, we need to take it to them. Too often, we do everything but; instead of talking to that person, we talk to others about them. In so doing, we create strife, dissension, disunity, and trouble; we are unrighteous, unmerciful, and arrogant rather than meek. If we would make peace, we must begin by silencing our tongues, cutting out those words of complaint, and dealing directly and honestly with the person who we believe has done us wrong.
As I say that, I’m well aware that we often use words like “direct” and “honest” as euphemisms for “rude, demanding, selfish and insulting”; and that’s obviously not in view here. If we would make peace, yes, we must confront people, but we must do it humbly and graciously, and we must do it out of the desire to serve them rather than to get back at them or to extract our pound of flesh. Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful,” and, “Love your enemies and do good to those who hurt you”; Paul tells us, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he’s thirsty, giving him something to drink.” If we understand how great is the grace Jesus has given us, if we understand how blessed we are in him, we can look at our enemies and realize—they’re less blessed than we are, at least at that moment. We can see them as people needing grace, and feel compassion for them.
Now, as I noted a couple weeks ago, the fact that you show someone mercy doesn’t guarantee they’ll accept it; and the fact that you try to make peace with someone doesn’t mean they’ll be willing to make peace with you. That’s why Paul also says in Romans 12, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with everyone.” If someone refuses to listen, if they refuse to consider that they might be in the wrong, if they refuse to forgive you when you ask forgiveness—you can’t control that. You’ve done what’s yours to do, and the rest is their problem, not yours.
In closing, let me say one thing about the promise statement for this Beatitude. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” “They will be called” is a divine passive—a standard way for pious Jews to avoid using the name of God; God will be the one who declares that those who make peace are his children. But note that, because the word here isn’t “children,” it’s “sons.” Jesus knew he was speaking to men and women both, the point isn’t about gender; rather, it’s about authority. The children of God are those whom he loves, and those to whom he has given his life, but in that society, sons were something more: they were those who shared in the authority of the father as his representatives. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the ambassadors of God, filled by his Holy Spirit, carrying out his mission in this world in his power.