Blessed Are The Peacemakers by Mary Beth Byrne

Beatitudes of Jesus: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matt. 5:9

Have you ever considered yourself to be a “peacemaker?” Do you listen to both sides of a situation and help negotiate an acceptable and peaceful outcome? Think about your role in your family ~~ are you the family comic? the family agitator? the family leader? or the family peacemaker? What role do you take on in YOUR family? in your living arrangement at school? on your job? in your social circles?

Jesus makes frequent reference to peace and peacemaking in his teachings in the New Testament. Remember that the angels hailed his birth by singing, “Peace on earth.” He said, “Love your enemies. . .do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.” (Matt. 5:44) In John’s Gospel we read of Jesus’ last bequest for peace, “My peace I give unto you.” (John 14:27) Jesus Christ came as the Prince of Peace, teaching us to reconcile with God for peace within our own souls, as well as for peace with each other. The peace known in the Bible comes from trust, love and obedience toward God.

The Bible contains many stories of conflict, contention, and major avoidance among God’s people. Remember how the Jews hated and treated the Samaritans? In every age nations have been at odds, homes and businesses have been torn apart by strife, and our individual lives and souls have become alienated from God. Our history books are full of the details of conflicts and wars, not just from the past, but right up to the present day. Conflicts and alienation continue even in what we refer to as “The Holy Land.” Signs of “Pray for Peace” appear on every tour bus and in many shop windows. And yet negotiations between the Palestinians and the Jews remain at a standstill.

But, you may ask, what does this have to do with ME?

Some scholars of the early Church took this beatitude in a purely spiritual sense, and thought that it meant, “Blessed is the one who makes peace in his/her own heart and soul. . . .”
How and when have you experienced the kind of inner peace that Jesus’ teachings refer to??
What are you willing to do to maintain that kind of inner peace in practicing the presence of God? What strategies do you use to deal with the struggle in your own life between good and evil.

We can look at the multitude of decisions we are called to make every day. . .did we make good choices? Or did we take out our inner anger on our roommates, classmates, professors, parents?? Consider “The Law of the Garbage Truck!”

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And, I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck." He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so....Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! Have a garbage-free day!

Being in a right relationship with God allows all of us to live every day as a garbage-free day! Peacemakers—makers of peace—are few, primarily because it is so much easier to fan the flames of past hurts and prejudices, and to keep the arguments going. Jesus made peace. (Eph. 2:14-18), and calls each of us to become peacemakers. As our inner peace and relationship with God grows, our ability to be about the work of peace becomes easier.

Making peace, though, is NO easy task! When we see something that needs to be done we can’t just avoid it. What this beatitude demands is not the passive acceptance of things as they are because we are afraid of the trouble of doing something about them, but the active facing of things ~~ the making of peace, even when the way to peace is through struggle (i.e. the Civil Rights Movement; women’s equality and the right to vote). We might say that the most important work of the peacemaker is the constant practice of the presence of God. This is what peacemakers are doing in many parts of our world where there is conflict ~~ they are practicing the presence of God and showing by example ways to resolve conflict.

Jewish Rabbis considered that the highest task one could perform was to establish right relationships, with God and one person with another. Eugene Peterson’s translation of this passage says it well: “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”
In our upside-down world, being a peacemaker goes against a culture that gives more value to “getting what is due me” than learning how to live in peace with each other.

Your reward for being a peacemaker is that God acknowledges you as one of God’s children, being at one in spirit with our Creator. God counts you as one of the Family, and honors you with joy and warmth as a peacemaker.
What role will you fulfill as a member of God’s Family?
Who represents the role of a peacemaker to you? Why? What are their characteristics? What can you learn from their lifestyle?
Watch the film, “Invictus,” the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (prisoner for 30 years and then elected President of South Africa) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country, divided racially and economically in the wake of apartheid.
Identify ways in which Mandela demonstrates the life of a peacemaker.
Meditate on the words to the following hymn, and let it become your mantra:

“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be. With God our creator, children all are we. Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now. With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow; to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

And God will bless your life!