THE INVITATION of PEACE

 AUGUST 12, 2022

Matthew 5:9

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

 

John 8:1-11

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

 

 

Well, this week we have been thinking about the Gift of God’s Peace. We have talked about in terms of the benefits for us who put our trust in God. Yet, when we talk about God’s peace as described in scripture we also encounter the notion that the outcome of an experience of God’s peace is that we share it. Our calling is to be Peacemakers, and that’s important.

You don’t have to think for long before identifying individuals who have stood tall as peacemakers throughout the pages of history. Who are the leading Peacemakers that you think of? People like Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu? These are People of great courage and determination. People who knew that the pain of change was not as bad as the pain of staying the same. People like the above mentioned who confronted injustice, and systems of oppression, to enable a better life and world to be shaped. I like how one writer put it “they waged peace and made a difference.” These people have led the way and constructed trails which we ought to follow.

Here is something interesting I have noticed. In the past the news media followed and gave the microphone to these select few, (Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu) but today, thanks to social media a megaphone has been given to the multitudes. We may slam the influence of social media from time to time. Let us not miss this same mode of communication and messaging allows us as Christians to stand for what we believe in and to use our voices to make a shared difference. Of course, I believe the key question is, what are we saying and what will that difference be? The messaging will be important, will it be messages communicated in love?

If you think about it, peace, like love, has collected various meanings over time. But we have an opportunity now to declare the meaning of peace through our words and actions and introduce people to Jesus, the original Peacemaker.

Everything Jesus did pointed to peace. In fact, His reason in coming to earth was to bring peace we are told in the birth narratives.

In John 8:1-11 we see that when the religious leaders gathered to stone a woman who had broken the law, Jesus offered her peace, forgiveness and a new way to live.

This same peace is available and within reach today and we are called to extend it to the world. Because the truth is, we cannot truly encounter Jesus and not become a peacemaker. Being a peacemaker is part of being surrendered to God because only God brings a peace that lasts.

Please note, We are called to be peaceMAKERS, not peaceKEEPERS.

Peacekeepers keep peace from a place of fear through avoidance, while peacemakers restore peace from a place of strength through the work of reconciliation.

As ambassadors of Jesus and instruments of peace, we are invited by our Creator to bring about peace in our communities and cities. It won't be easy. It will require conviction, diligence, perseverance, and a willingness to step out of our comfort zones and model Jesus so others can step into their future with Him. But it will be worth it!

Matthew 5:9 says, “How blessed you are when you make peace! For then you will be recognized as a true child of God.” 

So, are you ready and willing to be a peacemaker?

LET US PRAY

 

Help me, Lord, to embrace this calling. Give me eyes to see, not only obvious conflict, but also that which lies beneath the surface. Moreover, may I be attentive to injustice, whether it be in my sphere of influence or across the globe. May I use every opportunity you put before me to work for peace, genuine peace. Help me not simply to whitewash over problems that need to be solved. Rather, may I be a channel of your full peace in this world.

In the words of St Francis of Assisi,

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.