"Blessed are the
peacemakers," taught Jesus.
I don’t know about you, but to
me those words seem sometime to be quaint or naïve at best, anachronistic or
irrational at worst. I mean, could
peacemakers have stopped Adolph Hitler?
Could peacemakers stop Boko Haram extremists in Nigeria or Islamic State
extremists in Iraq?
"Well, but it was a simpler time in Jesus' day,"
we might be tempted to say? Really? Rome
ruled Israel/Palestine with an iron fist in Jesus' day. Anarchists and revolutionaries sought
whatever means they could find to subvert Roman authority. Public executions were horrific and
commonplace. Religious extremists
encouraged public stonings for those they identified and labeled as
"sinners." People seen as
collaborating with Romans were ridiculed and outcast from their
communities. People with leprosy were
shunned and isolated, and people with mental illness were labeled as demoniacs.
"Blessed are the peacemakers," taught Jesus.
I confess I don't know what to do with this statement of the
Lord's. It stays with me. It troubles my conscience. It echoes in my head when I'm in church
meetings that sometimes are less than cordial.
And I confess I don't know how to reconcile what often appears to be a
conflict if one works for peace while at the same time advocating for justice. It reminds me of one time when I was leading
a training event for newly-elected ruling elders and deacons. We were going through the questions for
ordination/installation, and got to the seventh question: "Do you promise to further the peace,
unity, and purity of the Church?"
One of the candidates asked, "But what happens if working for the
Church's purity disrupts its peace and threatens its unity?" Good question. I didn't have an answer then. I guess I still don't.
"Blessed are the peacemakers," taught Jesus.
This coming Sunday is recognized in the Church as World
Communion Sunday, reminding us of our Lord's prayer that we might all be one,
be united, be at peace together.
Although I'm not sure all the ways this could/should be evidenced in the
life of the Church and our witness in and to the world, what I know is that
I'll be spending some time thinking, praying, reflecting about the need for
peace: in our congregations... in the
Presbyterian Church... in the Church across the world... in places rocked by
war and violence, whether in Mosul, Iraq or Ferguson, Missouri... in areas
where Christians are persecuted... in my own life.
"Blessed are the peacemakers," taught Jesus.
And I don't believe he was kidding.
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