#9 of Sermon on the Mount series
Preached April 28, 2002
Parkview Church of the Nazarene
Mobile, AL
J. Richard Lord, Jr.
Peacekeeper or Peacemaker?
Matthew 5:9
In 1873, Samuel Colt introduced a pistol that was named “The Peacekeeper.” Because of its simple design, and the use of shell cartridges rather than older style loaders, anyone could learn to use this weapon. It was easy to load and the graduated sight made it simple to aim and fire. It was said that God made every man different but Sam Colt made them equal. The concept being that a larger, stronger man could no longer overpower a smaller, weaker man with impunity. What formerly depended on strength now depended on speed and accuracy.
In November of 1982, President Ronald Reagan dubbed the new mobile M-X missile “The Peacekeeper.” This missile, because of mobility and more modern guidance systems, would be a great deterrent to foreign aggression.
It is interesting that these references are made to weapons. In fact, if you make an internet search with the word “peacekeeper,” most of the references are to weapons, soldiers, wars, and the preventing of such thereof.
If a person is going to set about keeping the peace, it is evident that he or she is going to need weapons. Sometimes the more, the better. It appears that “peacekeeping” is at best, a stopgap measure that is fraught with danger. History has shown that most peacekeeping efforts have had only mixed results and by and large have failed.
In the over 3100 years of recorded world history, the world has only been at peace 8% of the time or a total of 286 years and 8000 treaties have been made and broken.
It appears that “peacekeeping” does not work very well. Not only does “peacekeeping” not offer any solutions to the conflict, quite often the “peacekeeper” themselves get shot.
What most people do not seem to understand is that peace is not something that can be imposed from the outside. You cannot “keep” a peace that isn’t there.
John MacArthur says, “A truce just says you don’t shoot for awhile. Peace comes when the truth is known, the issue is settled, and the parties embrace each other.”
This is the reason that Jesus, in this verse, did not use the word, “peacekeeper,” he used the word, “peacemaker.” There is a world of difference.
A peacekeeper is a person who enforces, by whatever means, by force of personality or by superior weapons, a truce. A peacemaker is one who actually discovers the origin of the conflict, and finds a way to resolve it, and helps the parties to restore a proper, loving relationship. This applies to individuals or nations. He or she actually “makes” or “constructs” peace.
In Europe, 1934, Hitler’s plague if anti-Semitism was infecting a continent. Some would escape it. Some would die from it. But eleven-year-old Heinz would learn from it. He would learn the power of sowing seeds of peace.
Heinz was a Jew. The Bavarian village of Fourth, where Heinz lived, was being overrun by Hitler’s young thugs. Heinz’s father, a schoolteacher, lost his job. Recreational activities ceased. Tension mounted on the streets. The Jewish families clutched the traditions that held them together-the observance of the Sabbath, of Posh Hashanah, of Yom Kippur. Old ways took on new significance. As the clouds of persecution swelled and blackened, these ancient precepts were a precious cleft in a mighty rock. And as the streets became a battleground, such security meant survival.
Hitler’s youth roamed the neighborhoods looking for trouble. Young Heinz learned to keep his eyes open. When he saw a band of troublemakers, he would step to the other side of the street. Sometimes he would escape a fight - sometimes not.
One day, in 1934, a pivotal confrontation occurred. Heinz found himself face-to-face with a Hitler bully. A beating appeared inevitable. This time, however, he walked away unhurt - not because of what he did, but because of what he said. He didn’t fight back; he spoke up. He convinced the troublemakers that a fight was not necessary. His words kept battle at bay.
And Heinz saw first hand how the tongue can create peace. He learned the skill of using words to avoid conflict. And for a young Jew in Hitler-ridden Europe, that skill had many opportunities to be honed.
Fortunately, Heinz’s family escaped from Bavaria and made their way to America. Later in life, he would downplay the impact those adolescent experiences had on his development.
But one has to wonder. For after Heinz grew up, his name became synonymous with peace negotiations. His legacy became that of a bridge builder. Somewhere he had learned the power of the properly placed word of peace. And one has to wonder if his training didn’t come on the streets of Bavaria.
For you see, you don’t know him as Heinz. You know him by his Anglicized name, Henry. Henry Kissinger.
Haden Robinson, writer of Salt and Light says, “No peace will exist between nations until peace reigns in each country. And no country will have peace until peace dwells with the people. And no people will have peace until they surrender to the prince of peace.”
Jesus said that a “peacemaker” will “be called the son of God.” He was the ultimate peacemaker. He was the Son of God. He was able to create peace in our hearts by removing the cause of conflict from our souls. That cause of conflict is sin.
You might think that conflict is inevitable. The greatest amount of conflict is not between nations, it is between family members and church members. More family members are estranged from each other than can be counted. Almost every family has someone they can’t seem to get along with and not on good terms.
The same applies in the church. But this is not Jesus’ prescription. We understand that there are misunderstandings. You heard what you think you thought I meant. When I didn’t mean that. These are easily resolved if we communicate and listen to each other.
Or there are separate goals. One person believes that worship should take place one way. Another believes that worship should take place another way. One believes that the church should do one thing, and the other believes it should do something else. Each one believes that the other is wrong, mistaken, or in some cases, either selfish, has wrong motives, or is not spiritual enough.
All of these things happen. It is because we are human, and fallible. We make mistakes. We get crazy ideas, and so forth. But where we fall down as Christians is that we don’t try to understand where each other is in our spiritual journey and allowing for the differences.
A Christian should be one is expert in dialogue and compromise. We should be able to talk to each other intimately, be able to share our feelings without fear of ridicule, and most of all, be willing to compromise on issues that are not basic to Christian belief. It doesn’t matter whether we sing contemporary songs or traditional songs in our services. It doesn’t matter if someone happens to wear pants to church. It not basic to Christian doctrine. We might think that traditional songs and our ladies wearing dresses to church are more appropriate, but let us not create conflict to achieve that end. It is contrary to what Jesus is telling us to do.
It is important to understand what Jesus is saying. He is saying that our primary identification as His child is by our “peacemaking.” What that means is that if we are causing conflict in our families or in the church by our actions, and that is actions that are not related to Christian doctrine, then we cannot be called a “child of God.”
More importantly, if there has been a conflict in our family or in the church that has not been resolved, we are in danger of our own souls if we are not taking steps to “make peace.”
And always, the first step to making peace is not to automatically assume that the other is at fault.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:3-5, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
A peacemaker is one is actively overcoming evil with good. He or she finds great satisfaction in removing hostilities and effecting reconciliation between enemies. It is about restoring relationships.
All of this is possible because Jesus has removed the instrument of conflict, sin. For sin, as the ultimate selfishness of heart and mind, causes a person to put himself first. But when sin is removed, a person can now put others first. Others needs become a priority. And when others needs are satisfied, conflict is resolved. We no longer seem to want to promote selfish interests.
Phillip Keller, who was a sheep rancher for eight years, wrote “A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm”. He goes through the Shepherd’s Psalm and explains it from the point of view of a shepherd. He explains that there is pecking order in the sheep, and that sometimes creates conflict among the sheep.
“Hundreds of times I have watched an old, austere ewe walk up to a younger one which might have been feeding contentedly or resting quietly in some sheltered spot. She would arch her neck, tilt her head, dilate her eyes and approach the other with a stiff-legged gait. All of this was saying in unmistakable terms, “move over! Out of my way! Give ground or else!” And if the other ewe did not immediately leap to her feet in self-defense, she would be butted unmercifully. Or, if she did rise to accept the challenge, one or two strong bumps would soon send her scurrying for safety. But one point that always interested me very much was that whenever I came into view and my presence attracted their attention, the sheep quickly forgot their foolish rivalries and stopped their fighting. The Shepherd‘s presence made all the difference in their behavior.
It is the Shepherd‘s presence, living in us that causes us to “make peace.”
But there is one other factor that we must consider. It is not enough that we just “make peace” with those that we have relationships with. Jesus went out of His way to be a peacemaker. He went into the highways and byways bringing the message of peace.
Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome."
He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?"
He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar" and he thought, "this isn’t right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through."
A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ forbear."
A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.
Jesus died on a cruel rugged cross to make peace for us. His blood was shed that we might know the meaning of eternal peace. He is the “Prince of Peace.“ In order to be known as a child of God, we should be willing to do no less.
