Peace Maker or Peace Breaker

 

                                                      

                                                              

It was fairly early in the day, when a little was brought to my office. It seemed that he had created quite the nonpeaceful environment for others in the classroom. So out of character, I thought it best to listen to his defense before issuing a consequence. In a matter of seconds, I learned all about the tragedies his family was facing at that very moment, poverty and cancer were among the top robbers of his peace. We spent some time talking through those things and he returned to class a little more settled. I wondered about what would happen to him and his family. I thought about the security he was lacking in his situation, and I hoped, just hoped I had made some kind of difference by listening and ending it with no consequence other than an apology to the ones he harmed. It was an experiment, but it worked. His behavior improved and within a few days, my little worried child, so full of fear and acting so out of character had returned to his normal, sweet self - peaceful and happy. Sometimes, all people need, even little people, is someone to offer them peace. That day, I got my chance. What does it mean to offer peace, to be a keeper of it day to day and to live it out in the most simple or difficult situations?  

 There are days, especially the tough ones when the idea of being a peacemaker seems distant, even impossible. It's not always the first thing on my mind. In those moments, I grapple with the definition of a word with such magnitude. Maybe you do the same. 

People have some crazy ideas about what it means to be a promoter of peace. I don't buy this, but some see the way to keep peace is by looking at the ostrich. You've seen this type. One who allegedly buries his head in the sand to avoid conflict. Others define a peacemaker as someone better known as a "Yes Sir, Bob" kind of creature, someone who says yes to absolutely everything. Well, maybe not everything, but someone who nods their head up and down in an agreeing motion so many times that they may have permanently rattled their brain to keep the peace with another. Let's not forget the sacrificial lamb, the one who concedes to nearly anything for the sheer pleasure of making others happy and does not seem to mind the advantages others take of him to keep the peace. 

 I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I am guilty of all three at some point in my life, even though none readily appeal to me. 

Whether it is avoidance, overtly constant agreement, or inviting others to step on, I mean step in and take advantage of them- none of them seem to fit the definition of an effective peacemaker. 

 Interestingly enough, Jesus did not mention these misguided beliefs - held as truths by some.  Instead, He taught His disciples a straightforward lesson about how to be a peacemaker, including what you know and what you do! Jesus said peacemakers are Sons of God. Who are the Sons of God?  Those who bear a redeemed nature. Those whose desire is to resemble the Savior, the Chief Peacemaker. He loved those who loved Him and those who hated him. He served his friends and also His enemies. Jesus died for those who would believe and those who wouldn't. He came to the earth to make way for peace between God and Man and between men. Jesus was the ultimate promoter of peace, the healer, the restorer, and the reconciler for all. There was no sticking his head in the sand when it came to being a, peacemaker. Never was this more truly demonstrated than during His time of sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane and His agony hanging on the cross. In both situations, Jesus prayed for us, and He demonstrated the importance of peacemaking and the reconciliation for each of us to the Father through Him. 

Our calling - become lasting peacemakers—people who walk with restored hearts, and have been healed, saved and transformed by the love of God. People who have access to the Father through Sonship, we are called to make a way to peace for those who cross our paths each day.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.