We choose to live either in conflict, or peace
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
You know that verse as the seventh in the list of eight beatitudes given by Jesus at the opening of His Sermon on the Mount—we refer to Matthew 5:3-10 as the beatitudes. The English word “beatitude” means “perfect blessedness or happiness.” The word translated “blessed” in each of the beatitudes is the Greek word “makarios” that, literally translated, means “supremely blessed, fortunate or well-off; spiritually prosperous.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”.
There is more in that verse than first meets the eye. Look at some other translations of Matthew 5:9. The Contemporary English Version says “God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called His children!” The New Century Version says the same thing this way, “They are blessed who work for peace, for they will be called God’s children.” The Message is a relatively new translation—and I will be the first to say that I am not always pleased with the rendering found in The Message, but in this verse I think that translation is on target “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.” And I especially like the Amplified Bible’s explanation of this verse. I probably ought to explain that the Amplified Bible is a translation that utilizes additional words or phrases to amplify, or clarify the meaning of the text. In the Amplified Bible the words in parenthesis explain the preceding word. So consider the Amplified Bible in Matthew 5:9 “Blessed [enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous – with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward condition] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
The same truth could be correctly said this way; fortunate or well-off, in fact supremely blessed and spiritually prosperous are those whose goal it is to make peace, to be peaceable and to live peaceably with men and women and with God. If you think I am using this column to preach—you’re right. I am preaching. And, at this point, I find myself wanting to ask a couple of questions. First, don’t you want to be fortunate and/or well-off? I do! And, wouldn’t you like to be supremely blessed and spiritually prosperous? I would! Most importantly, don’t we need those things in the Missouri Baptist Convention? That’s not a rhetorical question. I need to know. What do you think?
I will tell you what I think. You knew I would. And here it is. The Missouri Baptist Convention stands in desperate need of God’s blessing resulting in spiritual prosperity! And, how fortunate and well-off we would be to have a convention full of peacemakers!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
I am still preaching. If you don’t have your Bible handy, get it out now and turn to Matthew 5. I want you to see the progression that takes place in that chapter, specifically in the beatitudes. The progression leads sincere Christians from being “poor in spirit” all the way to being “persecuted for righteousness sake.” Praise the Lord. Peacemakers begin humbly—they are poor in spirit. They mourn—grieve over sin. Their own sin first. They are meek—gentle. They hunger and thirst for righteousness, but still with a humble and gentle spirit. They are merciful. They are pure in heart. Those last two need no explanation. And, they will likely be persecuted, perhaps even by the church, because people without the attributes listed in the beatitudes are often offended by peacemakers. Nevertheless…
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
Think about some of the elements of peace:
P – perseverance … I am learning that peacemaking is an ongoing challenge. Just when you think you have it, another conflict arises. Perseverance is a characteristic of peacemakers.
E – equality … when I realize that the other person is as important as I am and that his/her opinion is as valuable as mine—I am on the road to becoming a peacemaker.
A – authentic and accurate … there is no genuine peace apart from truth. Sometimes peacemaking involves facing difficult truths—nevertheless there is no peace apart from the truth.
C – confrontation … at the root of all conflict is sin. Peacemakers are willing to confront sin, beginning with the sin in our own lives.
E – empathetic … even when sin in others has to be confronted, peacemakers engage in that confrontation with an attitude and spirit of empathy—“… considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”
General Omar Bradley was a brilliant military strategist during World War II and a Missouri Baptist as a boy. It is significant when a warrior makes these kinds of statements. Speaking on Memorial Day in 1948, the General said, “We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount … Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about killing than we know about living.”
Have we come to the point in Missouri Baptist life where we know more about living in conflict than we do about living in peace? I pray not. In our Missouri Baptist Convention, do we have … too many theologians, too few doers of the Word of God … too many preachers, too few practioners … too many zealots, too few peacemakers? May it never be so.