“Let Peace Begin With Me”
March 9th, 2008Matthew 5:9 - Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be children of God.” When he said that he co-opted a term that Roman emperors used to describe themselves. Jesus criticism goes to the lack of imagination with which the Romans pursued peacemaking. Do we do any better?
“Let Peace Begin with Me”
Matthew 5:9
1. I mentioned last week that I grew up in the 1960’s in the great state of Ohio, specifically in a small farming community called Genoa – population about 2000.
A. It’s a great place to be from. Great place to be a kid. Safe, secure. Everyone knows everyone and cares for everyone.
B. Everyone except…well, for the sake of anonymity, let’s call them the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s.
C. Lived right next to one another on the outskirts of town. No one really remembers how the feud got started, but we all felt its impact.
D. Their kids would play with the neighborhood kids, just not at the same time. They would go to the same function, and sit all the way across the room.
E. They loved like this – constantly avoiding one another, but always willing to share how bad the other people were.
F. The kids suffered the most. How many activities did the miss out on because their parent’s inability to get along.
2. I don’t know if they ever read the words of Jesus this morning while the Hatfields and the McCoys were in church (sitting at exact opposite sides, of course). But, if they did, I don’t think those folks took it too much to heart.
A. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
B. When Jesus said this, I guarantee a hush went over the crowd.
C. Peacemakers – the name the Roman emperors gave themselves as a result of the “Pax Romana,” the period of relative peace and stability between around 27 b.c. to 160 a.d. (by the way – some Roman emperors also referred to themselves as “son of god”).
D. Jesus had just usurped for the children of God an identity that had been reserved for Roman emperors.
E. This was serious stuff. Not only does Jesus use the word “peacemaker,” but his definition of peacemaker contradicts that of Rome.
F. Rome – peace through superior power and ruthless enforcement of policy.
G. Jesus – “eirene” = “shalom.” This is not the avoidance of trouble, but the presence of well-being and safety for all people.
H. MLK – “Peace is not the absence of violence, it is the presence of justice.”
I. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will inherit the earth.
3. You see, the great sin of the Roman Empire, according to Jesus, was not that they were stronger than anyone else, or not even that they were victorious in so many battles.
A. The problem was, when it came to “shalom,” to making peace, they entirely lacked imagination.
B. It was all violence or complete submission. There were no other options.
C. In his book The Inquest, Stephen Dando-Collins tells the story of Julius Varro, a Roman Questor (an investigating magistrate ) who has been commissioned to investigate the resurrection.
D. Apparently, the fast-growing movement founded by the Jesus’ followers is becoming a threat to the stability of the region, so Varro is assigned the duty of debunking the story.
E. He travels with his cohort of Roman soldiers and slaves to conduct the investigation.
F. At one point, a Roman soldier is accused of what we might consider a minor infraction – stealing something from another soldier.
G. Varro weighs the evidence, finds the soldier guilty, and kills him right on the spot.
H. That is the justice of Jesus’ day. That is the lack of imagination of Roman peacemaking.
I. Lack of imagination related to desire for conquest and control. That is a bad mission statement, if you want to be a peacemaker. And if you want to follow Jesus, peacemaking in part of the gig.
4. Does anyone remember that phenomenal sight that occurred at the Special Olympics probably a decade ago?
A. Everyone lined up at the hundred yard dash – eager to win the race.
B. Nine contestants – all with mental or physical disabilities – ran with such passion, one might think this was the actual Olympic Games.
C. Except, what happened would never happen in a “win at all costs world,” only in a world where peacemaking is the priority.
D. A runner fell, and then began to cry.
E. The other eight runners stopped, turned around, and went back to the injured boy – EVERY ONE OF THEM!
F. One girl kissed him on the head, “This will make it all better.”
G. They helped the boy up, and all of them crossed the finish line together. The ovation lasted for 10 minutes!
H. You see, in the imagination of the peacemaker, the mind inspired by God, what matters is not just winning for yourself, but helping others when, as well.
I. That is contrary to pretty much everything that we are taught in our culture…but that is Jesus’ way.
J. And to the extent that the church buys into the principle of conquest, it has failed to be faithful to Jesus’ call to be peacemakers.
5. Having the imagination of a peacemaker is not such a simple thing to do in our society. There are very few reference points for such a thing.
A. From trash talking professional athletes to trash talking political candidates, we live more in a society of “to the winner go the spoils” than we do “blessed are the peacemakers.”
B. One of my nephews was struggling with my dad’s death, and he called me one morning to see if I could come hang out with him.
C. After lunch, we hung out, we talked, we visited uncles. Then we came home.
D. When I dropped him off at home, he turned on his game system and began playing a game called “Tour of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.”
E. That was how he processed what we just talked about.
F. In the game, if you die, you have to wait until the next “round” begins, which usually takes just a few minutes.
G. I don’t know what war that happens in, but in every war that has occurred in my lifetime, when people die, they stay dead.”
H. And while we are right to celebrate the courage and self-sacrifice of all who fight for their country, we do well to remember that those that are lost do not get to come back when the game starts over.
I. The imagination of a peacemaker is something that comes only from the grace of God.
6. Being a peacemaker is difficult work, and often leads to being unpopular with your fellow human beings.
A. Which is why Jesus words might sound silly if he turned out to be the kind of messiah that everyone was hoping for – a military liberator and a political ruler.
B. But, instead, Jesus chose to be faithful to God’s purpose for his life. He chose the way of the cross. And in so doing reminded us all that being a peacemaker sometimes causes tension.
C. But the promise – “blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
D. If we are faithful to God’s commandment to be peacemakers, if we will dare to allow God to shape the limits of our imaginations – God will cradle us in his arms as children, regardless of what circumstances we experience.
7. In the 1980’s a six year-old boy named Tommy Tighe started a bumper sticker campaign. The message on the sticker – “Peace, Please Do It For Us Kids.”
A. He sent his stickers to leaders all over the world. Dad drove him to former President Ronald Reagan’s house. While waiting at the gate, one of the guards bought a sticker.
B. He mailed on to Gorbachev, who sent him back a signed picture, a check for $1.50, and a note that read “Go for peace, Tommy.”
C. Newspapers picked up the story and Tommy. became a phenomenon
D. Joan Rivers Show – “Tommy, do you really think that you can make a difference? Do you really think that your bumper sticker can bring peace to our world?
E. Tommy’s reply. “Sp far, I’ve had out for two years and got the Berlin Wall down. I’m doing pretty god, don’t you think.
F. Contrast Tommy’s hopefulness and passion with an experience I had on the 91 this week.
G. Driver flipped off every car in his way.
H. So, who do you think behaved like a child of God?
8. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
A. You know what? I am glad Jesus said that and not me. Being a peacemaker is hard work.
B. Being peacemaker requires some degree of imagination – imagination born from God’s holy spirit.
C. Being a peacemaker means taking seriously God’s commandment to “Love your neighbor,” whether that neighbor is across the world, or right next door.
D. Being a peacemaker means risking appearing the fool in a culture that worships at the altar of violence and supremacy.
E. But, being a peacemaker also means being a child of God.
F. And that…that is to be truly blessed. Amen.
Sermon delivered 3/9/08 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
