The Peacemaker
By Michael Dewar
In His Olivet Discourse on the last days, given during the week of His passion, Jesus informs us that these last days will be characterized by wars, rumors of war, famine, deception, pestilence, earthquakes, and other disasters (Matt.24: 3-8). Someone asked, “Should we worry working for peace if war is inevitable?”
The answer is yes, we should work for peace! Working for peace is a Christian duty that permeates our Christian character. One of the beatitudes given in the Sermon on the Mount is, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matt.5:9). War and conflict spring out of our sinful nature, according to the apostle James (Jas. 4:1).
The Christmas season strongly reminds us that God wants peace upon earth. The lyrics of the song the angels sung at the Savior’s birth were, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). If we are going to heal a fractured world, all of us must become agents of peace.
It is easy to demonize those who act brutally, calling them animals. We mean they are less than human, but by such classification, we give ourselves permission to do to them what they did to us, and more, because we want to teach them a lesson, so that they never do it again. They killed 200 of us, we killed 10,000 of them. But what does that make us? What do we call that? Justified terrorism? The action is terrorism to the one on the receiving end.
In the classic hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory” by Harry Emerson Fosdick, there is a line that is prayer. It says, “Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore.” What is Fosdick saying?
To me he is saying–when we fail to the see the image of God on the worse of humans, we become the very animals or dignified savages we reduced them to. Fosdick goes on to exhort us with these words, “Let the search for Thy salvation be our glory evermore. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving Thee whom we adore….”
Salvation means deliverance, for us Christians it comes through blood and sacrifice; that is why a cross is the symbol of our faith. We find our salvation in the cross of Christ.
Whether you are settling a conflict across the fence that divides your property from your neighbor’s or prosecuting a war with your enemy, do not become worse than them in the end when the dust clears. You may win the battle that gives you the victory, but you lose the war because you were four times as brutal. Justice must always be restrained by mercy (Micah 6:8; Matt.5:7). “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” (5:9). Let us strive to be peacemakers this Christmas an beyond.
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Start a peace ministry in your church by training Agents of Peace- Managers of Conflict. Three volumes text book blow. Search for the Instructors Manual and the Student Manual, both have Agents of Peace-Managers of Conflicts on the Cover.
See also the new 10 volume series, “Related Events to the Second Coming of the Christ” will make a good Christmas gift. An for you to add to your New Years Resolution reading list.