Peace-Makers Not Peace-Keepers: Micah 5:2-5a and Matthew 5:9


Most of us do not like conflict. There are some who I believe thrive on conflict, but for the most part, many of us will try to avoid conflict no matter what the cost. It doesn’t matter if we see something that isn’t quite right, if we think it might cause an argument or start some fighting, we choose silence and/or inaction, and we will encourage those around us to keep that same silence and remain inactive.  Anita will tell y’all that I tend to be one of those folks that doesn’t like conflict and will try to avoid it if I can.  It happens from time to time, and even happened within the last few weeks.  I can’t remember where we were or what the circumstances were, but Anita brought up something that was going on, and felt like she might want to address it because she thought that what was going on was wrong.  Most of the time when this happens, Anita will ask me if she should say something or just let it go and most of the time, I will tell her that I think we ought to just let it slide because saying something might start a major argument.  You know…I just want to be a peace-keeper.
They are in the Western Sahara...the Central African Republic…Mali…Haiti…Democratic Republic of the Congo…Dafur…Golan…Cyprus…Lebanon…Abbie…Kosovo…Liberia…South Sudan…India…Pakistan…Cote d’Ivorie…and the Middle East.[i]   They are United Nations peacekeepers.  What is their role? Their role is to “provide security and the political peace-building support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.”  They are guided by these principles, “consent of the parties...impartiality…non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate.”[ii] At times we’ve seen them go in, seek to stop an uprising, and in some, but not all cases, simply reestablish the status-quo without addressing the root causes of the uprising.
In both these situations—myself and others remaining quiet or avoiding discussions and disagreements in an effort to keep the peace and the UN forces re-establishing the status quo—the peace we achieve is simply a false peace that is only temporary and hides what is always on the verge of erupting into conflict.  It reminds me of the first hurricane that I experienced.  It was Hurricane Fran.  The storm began in the early hours of the morning.  When the sun broke the horizon the clouds had parted.  I decided to drive around the community to survey the damage, as I hadn’t even been in my first appointment a full year at that point, and had heard that part of the roof of the church had been torn back.  Not too long after I arrived at the church, the misleading peace of the eye came to an end as the storm resumed destructive efforts.  Peace-keeping can cause us to feel like we are in the eye of the storm, but the storm is still raging and soon the temporary quiet will come to an end.
My colleague and covenant group member, Pastor Jeanne Neal (whom some of you know), pointed out in a devotional last month, the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.  Jesus did not say as He taught on that mountainside, “Blessed be the Peace-keepers.”  He did not say, “Blessed be the folks who avoid conflict at all cost.”  He did not say, “Blessed be the folks who help maintain the status quo.”  Jesus said, “Blessed be the Peacemakers.”
What’s the difference?  Aren’t they the same?  No.  Peacekeepers avoid conflict, Peacemakers may bring about conflict.  Peacekeepers may try to help return things to the way they always have been, Peacemakers seek to find the root of the conflict and attempt to fix it.  Peacekeepers may attempt to avoid the issue, Peacemakers may try and force the issue.
We can see the difference in Jesus’ day.  Rome was all about Peacekeeping.  There were Roman Peacekeepers everywhere.  Their job was to make sure that, either by their presence, or by the threat of force, that the status-quo was maintained.  Pilate was one of those peacekeepers.  Pilate was charged with keeping the peace of Rome within the area of Judea.  It was to Pilate that Jesus was brought by the Sanhedrin.  Pilate, who had to have heard about Jesus by that time, and knew that Jesus had entered Jerusalem to a king’s parade.  He tried to stay out of it.  He tried to tell the religious leaders that it was their matter and to deal with it themselves—He knew Jesus was no threat to Rome—but at the leaders kept pushing, he decided to take Jesus from them and investigate the matter, rather than let them start an uproar.  Pilate investigated and tried Jesus and found nothing to convict Him, he told that to the leaders, and they accused Pilate of being a traitor to Rome.  Pilate took Jesus and had him beaten half to death—thinking maybe that would satisfy the religious leaders, yet wouldn’t make Jesus a martyr that the people could rally around (knew what the Greeks had to deal with when the Maccabeans revolted).  Yet, the when he presented Jesus to be possibly released as opposed to the violent Barabbas, the Sanhedrin whipped the people into such a frenzy they called for Jesus’ crucifixion.  Afraid of losing the peace of Rome in Jerusalem, Pilate became a peacemaker, and for the sake of the status-quo, handed Jesus over to be put to death.  Peacekeeping at its best, leading to the death of the innocent.
Jesus, on the other hand, was all about being a Peacemaker, and everywhere He went, conflict erupted. 
But wait, some I am sure wants to ask, wasn’t Jesus proclaimed to be the Prince of Peace?  Didn’t Micah promise that Jesus shall be the one of peace?  Didn’t Jesus promise peace?  Yes.  Yes. And Yes.  Yet Jesus, as he promised His peace, told those to whom He promised it that He did not give as the world gave…suggesting that His peace was different that the definition of an absence of conflict.  Jesus made it clear that His peacemaking had the potential to bring about conflict (“Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth,I have not come to bring peace,  but a sword.”[iii])
As Jesus sought to bring peace to the man lowered through the roof by his friends, offering him forgiveness of his sins, he brought about conflict from those who were more worried about the sins of the sick than about caring for their needs.  When Jesus healed other members of the community on the Sabbath, seeking to bring peace to their bodies, he brought about conflict with those who were more concerned about religious rules than compassion.  When Jesus ate with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners, seeking to bring peace between them and God, he brought about conflict with those who thought that righteous should only associate with the righteous.  When Jesus let his disciples gather food on the Sabbath seeking to bring peace to the physical needs of the disciples, he brought about conflict with those cared more about “righteous” appearance than caring for the hungry.  When Jesus brought peace to the man possessed by demons, resulting in the demons being cast into the pigs who ran off the cliff to their death, he brought about conflict with those in the town who were more concerned about their financial bottom line, than their community members sanity.  We can be sure that if the religious leaders found out about Jesus’ physical contact with the lepers and other outcasts bringing peace to their bodies and their relationship with the rest of they community, conflict would erupt over Jesus’ compassion versus holiness laws.  When Jesus sought to bring peace to Mary and Martha by calling their brother Lazarus from the tomb, we see that the conflict with the religious leaders led them to begin plotting His death.  Finally, as Jesus’ efforts to bring peace between all of Creation and God brought His Peacemaking efforts in direct conflict with Pilate’s Peacekeeping efforts, we end up with the cross and the tomb for Jesus.
So, what does it mean for us in this season of Advent—that the Prince of Peace whose birth we are preparing to celebrate brought about conflict as He brought peace?  It means that we need to focus less on the absence of conflict and be more about the peace that reduces or cancels out their struggles, knowing that in doing so, we may be wielding the sword of the Spirit that brings about conflict.
It means that when we hear of someone (or an entire race of someones) being ridiculed or just made fun of because the color of their skin is different or the fact that the don’t speak the same language we speak, we step up to be Peacemakers and call on the hatred to stop—an act that may bring us into conflict with those we have called friends.
It means that when we encounter those who are hungry, thirsty, without clothes or shelter, that we seek to bring peace into their lives by meeting their needs.  In doing so, we may find ourselves in conflict with those who want to continue their pain by judging them on their past decisions.
It means when we learn of someone whose lifestyle we don’t agree with being bullied, assaulted, or condemned, we seek to make peace available to them by stepping in between them and those who are attacking.
It means when refugees are seeking asylum from the conflict and war ravaging their own country, that we seek to bring them peace by providing them with a safe place to stay, knowing that decisions will bring us into conflict with who are fearful of that those asylum seekers may have ulterior motives.
It means, my brothers and sisters, that we, as those who have been called to follow Jesus, that we are to follow Him…making the easy uneasy, and bringing the uneasy peace—knowing that as Peacemakers, we will bring conflict out and find ourselves amid the storms, and possibly “crucified.”
Why would we do any of this?  Why would we do anything that might bring conflict into our lives?  In order that we may be found to be faithfully following Christ.
So, my friends, as we make our way through this Advent season, preparing to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace and anticipating His return that will bring about an age where there is no conflict, let us find ourselves to be Peacemakers like our Savior, that we might, with Him, be called children of God.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit let there be peace on earth, and let us be the peacemakers. Amen.




[i] http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/current.shtml
[ii] http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/peacekeeping.shtml
[iii] Matthew 10:34

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