Peacemaking—Matt 5:9

Russ Ramsey

One element we need to possess in true peacemaking is humility. We know that if we live in a broken world, the thing we all bring to the table in all our relationships is brokenness. All of us are still learning how to do relationships. One person asked, “Where do we see Jesus confronting people close to Him who have been engaged in long-standing patterns of manipulation?” We discussed many places where Jesus was confrontational, but we don’t see any places where he allowed a pattern of manipulation and shame stand for any length of time. He kept short accounts in his relationships.

The Beatitudes says peacemaking is a godly activity—that peacemakers are called, or reckoned as, sons of God. Lets unpack this. Think about a master carpenter who has a son. The son is not the master, but he is learning from the master. His best works fall short of the best work of his father, but still people who look upon the sons work can see that he is his father’s son and that he is learning to ply his trade by watching his father. He is being reckoned as a son of his father, learning from His father how to master a difficult craft.

Peacemaking is like this—and as any of us know who have ever tried to learn anything difficult, we need to have the humility to be patient, take correction, and work at honing our vision and skill in a way that strengthens our ability. In this case, the Father has demonstrated that He is far more concerned for peacemaking that we could ever be. He wants peace to rule and reign in our relationships more than we do—and his sending Jesus to make reconciliation between us and God is all the proof you need of that.. And like the master carpenter, He wants his children to learn this craft. It takes work. It takes desire. And most of all, it takes humility.