PEACE IS MORE THAN THE ‘PEACE’ IN “PEACE AND QUIET”
Matthew 5:9; Isaiah 11:6-9
Rev. Paul Wrightman 8/7/22
AFTER TWO YEARS IN THE MINISTRY, A PASTOR
WENT TO HER FILE CABINET TO PULL OUT THE “LOVE” FILE.
SHE DISCOVERED THAT SHE DIDN’T HAVE ONE.
IMPOSSIBLE!
IT MUST BE MISFILED.
SHE SEARCHED AMONG FAITH AND FREEDOM,
BETWEEN HEALING AND HEAVEN.
PERHAPS IT WAS SANDWICHED BETWEEN CHRISTOLOGY
AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
THEY BOTH HAVE TO DO WITH LOVE, DON’T THEY?
BUT IT WASN’T THERE.
NOR WAS IT TO BE FOUND AFTER MONEY OR AHEAD OF MISSIONS.
WHEN SHE STOPPED TO REFLECT, THE HOLY SPIRIT SOLVED THE MYSTERY.
THE LOVE FILE WAS SCATTERED, YET NOT MISFILED.
PARTS OF IT WERE FOUND UNDER PATIENCE, KINDNESS,
HUMILITY, TRUST, HOPE, LOYALTY, AND PERSEVERANCE.
BUT THE PASTOR FOUND THE GREATEST PART OF THE LOVE FILE,
SQUARELY CENTERED AND DEEP-SEATED, UNDER TWO CATEGORIES
IN PARTICULAR: FORGIVENESS AND PEACE.
USAGE OVER TIME HAS A TENDENCY TO CHANGE
THE MEANING OF WORDS, AND THIS IS DEFINITELY TRUE
WITH THE MEANING OF THE WORD “PEACE” IN ENGLISH.
FOR US, PEACE IS LARGELY A NEGATIVE WORD; IT TENDS TO DESCRIBE
MAINLY THE ABSENCE OR THE CESSATION OF WAR AND TROUBLE.
EVEN IN A SITUATION IN WHICH A LAND WAS DEVASTATED,
IN WHICH CITIES WERE IN RUINS, AND IN WHICH CHILDREN, WOMEN, AND MEN WERE STARVING, IF WAR CAME TO AN END,
WE WOULD LIKELY SAY THAT PEACE HAD RETURNED.
BUT FOR A JEWISH PERSON IN JESUS’ DAY, PEACE HAD
A FAR WIDER MEANING THAN THAT.
THE GREEK WORD FOR PEACE IS EIRENE, WHICH IS A DIRECT
TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW WORD SHALOM.
SHALOM HAS TWO MAIN MEANINGS.
FIRST, IT DESCRIBES PERFECT WELL-BEING, SERENITY,
PROSPERITY, AND HAPPINESS.
THE HEBREW GREETING SHALOM DOES NOT ONLY WISH
A PERSON FREEDOM FROM TROUBLE;
IT WISHES THAT PERSON EVERYTHING THAT MAKES FOR
HIS OR HER CONTENTMENT AND GOOD.
PEACE IS A CONDITION OF PERFECT AND COMPLETE
POSITIVE WELL-BEING.
SECOND, SHALOM DESCRIBES RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS,
SPECIFICALLY A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP
WITH ONESELF, WITH OTHERS, AND WITH GOD.
IT CAN EASILY BE SEEN FROM THE ORIGINAL MEANING
OF THE WORD THAT PEACE DOES NOT DESCIBE ONLY
THE ABSENCE OF WAR.
REAL PEACE INCLUDES HAPPINESS AND WELL-BEING,
INCLUDING HAPPINESS AND WELL-BEING
IN ALL OUR RELATIONSHIPS.
WE MUST MARK ONE ALL-IMPORTANT FACT IN THIS BEATITUDE –
THE PEOPLE TO WHOM THE BLESSING IS PROMISED.
THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BLESSED ARE NOT THE PEACE-LOVERS,
BUT THE PEACE-MAKERS.
IT CAN HAPPEN THAT A PERSON IS PEACEFUL AND A PEACE-LOVER,
AND YET IS NOT A PEACE-MAKER.
A PERSON MAY KNOW THAT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG
IN SOME SITUATION; IN HIS FAMILY, IN HER CHURCH,
IN SOME GROUP OF WHICH HE OR SHE IS A MEMBER.
HE MAY KNOW THAT SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE
TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION.
BUT HE MAY ALSO KNOW THAT ANY STEP TAKEN
TO MEND THE SITUATION MAY WELL INVOLVE DIFFICULTY
AND TROUBLE AND PROBLEMS WHICH WILL NOT
BE PLEASANT TO FACE.
IN SUCH A SITUATION A PERSON MAY WELL DECIDE
TO DO AND SAY NOTHING, OFTEN RATIONALIZING
THEIR NON-ACTION BY SAYING THAT IT IS “FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE.”
SHE WILL ALLOW THE SITUATION TO CONTINUE
AND THE WHOLE MATTER TO DRIFT UNEASILY ON,
BECAUSE HER LOVE OF A CERTAIN KIND OF PEACE
MAKES HER EVADE ALL TROUBLE.
SUCH A PERSON MAY BE CALLED PEACEABLE AND PEACE-LOVING;
BUT SHE OR HE IS CERTAINLY NOT A PEACEMAKER.
HE OR SHE IS RATHER IN THE END A TROUBLE-MAKER;
FOR THE LONGER ANY DESTRUCTIVE SITUATION
IS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THE MORE SERIOUS ITS CONSEQUENCES
AND THE HARDER ITS CURE.
THE PERSON WHO IS BLESSED IS THE PERSON WHO IS PREPARED
TO FACE DIFFICULTY, UNPLEASANTNESS, UNPOPULARITY,
AND TROUBLE IN ORDER TO MAKE PEACE.
ANOTHER CRUCIAL DIMENSION OF THE BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING
OF PEACE IS THAT PEACE DOES NOT COME OUT OF THIN AIR,
AS IT WERE, BUT CAN ONLY GROW FROM A STRONG FOUNDATION
OF JUSTICE, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE.
A FURTHER CRITICAL DIMENSION OF PEACE AS UNDERSTOOD
IN THE BIBLE AND AS UNDERSTOOD BY JESUS IS THAT PEACE –
AND THE CALLING TO BE A PEACEMAKER – DOES NOT JUST APPLY
TO ONE’S PERSONAL LIFE, BUT TO ONE’S ECONOMIC
AND POLITICAL LIFE AS WELL.
THUS, BEING CALLED TO BE A PEACEMAKER IMPLIES THAT WE DO
EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO PROMOTE PEACE IN OUR
RELATIONSHIPS AND TO PROMOTE PEACE WITHIN OUR NATION
AND BETWEEN OUR NATION AND OTHER NATIONS.
I WOULD LIKE US TO CONSIDER AN ILLUSTRATION OF PEACEMAKING
WITHIN A NATION BY LOOKING AT THAILAND IN THE LATE 1970’S.
SOUTH VIETNAM, LAOS, AND CAMBODIA ALL HAD FALLEN
TO THE COMMUNISTS WITHIN A FEW DAYS OF EACH OTHER IN 1975.
THE “DOMINO THEORY” CURRENT AT THAT TIME AMONG THE WESTERN POWERS PREDICTED THAT THAILAND
WOULD SOON FALL NEXT.
MANY BRILLIANT THAI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
HAD FLED TO THE JUNGLES TO SUPPORT AN INTERNAL,
THAI, COMMUNIST GUERRILLA FORCE.
THEIR WEAPONRY WAS SUPPLIED FROM BEYOND
THAILAND’S BORDERS, AS WAS THEIR TRAINING.
BUT THE VILLAGES IN THE “PINK” PARTS OF THE REGION
GLADLY SUPPLIED THEIR FOOD AND OTHER NECESSITIES.
THEY HAD LOCAL SUPPORT.
THEY WERE AN OMINOUS THREAT.
THE THAI GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY DECIDED TO TRY SOMETHING
TRULY REVOLUTIONARY IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAT.
INSTEAD OF RESPONDING TO THE SITUATION WITH FORCE,
THEY DECIDED TO RESPOND TO THE SITUATION
USING THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND BUDDHA.
THEY CAME UP WITH A THREE PART STRATEGY:
ONE: RESTRAINT.
THE MILITARY DID NOT ATTACK THE COMMUNIST BASES,
EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW WHERE THEY WERE.
TWO. FORGIVENESS.
THROUGHOUT THIS DANGEROUS PERIOD, THERE WAS
AN UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY IN PLACE.
WHENEVER ONE OF THE COMMUNIST INSURGENTS
WANTED TO ABANDON HIS CAUSE, HE COULD SIMPLY
GIVE UP HIS WEAPON AND RETURN TO HIS VILLAGE OR UNIVERSITY.
HE WOULD EXPERIENCE SURVEILLANCE,
BUT NO PUNISHMENTS WERE IMPOSED.
THREE. SOLVING THE ROOT PROBLEM,
OR PRACTICING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE.
DURING THESE YEARS, NEW ROADS WERE BUILT
AND OLD ROADS WERE PAVED IN THE REGION.
VILLAGERS COULD NOW TAKE THEIR PRODUCE TO TOWN TO SELL.
THE KING OF THAILAND PERSONALLY SUPERVISED, AND PAID FOR,
THE CONSTRUCTION OF MANY HUNDREDS OF SMALL RESERVOIRS
WITH CONNECTED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS,
ALLOWING THE POOR FARMERS OF THE COUNTRY
TO GROW A SECOND CROP OF RICE EACH YEAR.
ELECTRICITY REACHED THE REMOTEST OF HAMLETS,
AND WITH IT CAME A SCHOOL AND A CLINIC.
THE THAI COMMUNISTS BEGAN THEIR INSURGENCY
SO ANGRY WITH THEIR GOVERNMENT THAT THEY WERE READY
TO GIVE THEIR YOUNG LIVES.
BUT RESTRAINT ON THE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT HELPED
TO PREVENT THEIR ANGER BEING MADE WORSE.
FORGIVENESS, THROUGH AN AMNESTY,
GAVE THEM A SAFE AND HONORABLE WAY OUT.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, THROUGH DEVELOPMENT,
MADE THE POOR VILLAGERS PROSPEROUS.
THE VILLAGERS SAW NO NEED TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNISTS
ANYMORE: THEY WERE CONTENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT
THEY ALREADY HAD.
AND THE COMMUNISTS THEMSELVES BEGAN TO DOUBT
WHAT THEY WERE DOING, LIVING WITH SUCH HARDSHIPS
IN THE JUNGLE-COVERED MOUNTAINS.
ONE BY ONE THEY GAVE UP THEIR GUNS AND RETURNED
TO THEIR FAMILY, THEIR VILLAGE, OR THEIR UNIVERSITY.
BY THE EARLY 1980’S, THERE WERE HARDLY ANY INSURGENTS LEFT.
THEN THE GENERALS OF THE JUNGLE ARMIES, THE LEADERS
OF THE COMMUNISTS, ALSO GAVE THEMSELVES UP.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE LEADERS OF THE INSURGENCY?
COULD THE SAME UNCONDITIONAL OFFER OF ANMESTY
BE APPLIED TO THEM?
NOT QUITE.
THEY WERE NOT EXECUTED, NOT IMPRISONED, NOT EXILED.
INSTEAD, THEY WERE OFFERED IMPORTANT POSITIONS
OF RESPONSIBILITY IN THE THAI GOVERNMENT –
IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR LEADERSHIP QUALITIES,
CAPACITY FOR HARD WORK, AND CONCERN FOR THEIR PEOPLE!
WHAT A BRILLIANT MOVE – A MOVE EXTRAPOLATED
FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND BUDDHA.
SUCH AN UNLIKELY SUCCESS STORY MAKES ME WONDER
WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT
HAD FOLLOWED A POLICY OF RESTRAINT, FORGIVENESS,
AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN REGARD TO OUR MISADVENTURES
AROUND THE WORLD.
IS IT OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS CHRISTIANS TO TRY TO AFFECT
THE POLICIES OF OUR GOVERNMENT ON ISSUES CONCERNING
WAR AND PEACE?
YOU BET.
WHO AUTHORIZES US TO DO SO?
JESUS HIMSELF, WHO NOT ONLY CHALLENGED
THE VIOLENCE OF THE ZEALOTS -- THE REVOLUTIONARY GROUP
IN ISRAEL WHO WANTED TO TAKE ON THE ROMANS BY FORCE --
BUT ALSO CHALLENGED THE VIOLENCE
OF THE ROMAN SYSTEM ITSELF.
JESUS’ STAND FOR PEACE WAS, AMONG OTHER THINGS,
A POLITICAL STAND, A POLITICAL STAND THAT TRANSCENDED
THE PARTY POLITICS OF HIS DAY, AND CHALLENGED
ALL WHO WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.
RESTRAINT, FORGIVENESS, AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
ARE VIRTUES WHICH, ARE NOT, OF COURSE, LIMITED
TO THE REALMS OF POLITICS AND ECONOMICS,
BUT ARE VIRTUES WHICH ARE ACHINGLY PERSONAL,
AND ARE KEYS TO RESTORING BROKEN OR DAMAGED
RELATIONSHIPS.
ONE OF THE STRONGEST EXAMPLES I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED
DEMONSTRATING RESTRAINT, FORGIVENESS, AND RESTORATION
IS FROM THE LIFE OF CORRIE TEN BOOM,
A COURAGEOUS DUTCH WOMAN WHOSE FAMILY HID
A NUMBER OF JEWISH FAMILIES IN THEIR HOME
DURING THE NAZI COCCUPATION OF THE NETHERLANDS.
THEY WERE FOUND OUT AND SHE AND HER FAMILY
WERE SENT TO RAVENSBRUCK, A NOTORIOUS
CONCENTRATION CAMP IN GERMANY.
CORRIE WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF HER FAMILY TO SURVIVE.
YEARS AFTER HER CONCENTRATION CAMP EXPERIENCE
IN NAZI GERMANY, CORRIE TEN BOOM, AFTER GIVING A TALK
ON FORGIVENESS AND PEACE IN A RESTORED GERMANY,
FOUND HERSELF FACE TO FACE WITH ONE OF
THE MOST CRUEL AND HEARTLESS GUARDS SHE HAD
ENCOUNTERED IN RAVENSBRUCK.
HE HAD HUMILIATED AND DEGRADED HER AND HER SISTER.
HE HAD JEERED AND VISUALLY RAPED THEM
AS THEY STOOD IN THE DELOUSING SHOWER.
NOW HE STOOD BEFORE HER WITH HAND OUTSTRETCHED
AND ASKED CORRIE, “WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?”
SHE WRITES: “I STOOD THERE WITH COLDNESS CLUTCHING
AT MY HEART, BUT I KNOW THAT THE WILL CAN FUNCTION
REGARDLESS OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HEART.
I PRAYED, JESUS HELP ME!
WOODENLY, MECHANICALLY, I THRUST MY HAND
INTO THE ONE STRETCHED OUT TO ME –
AND I EXPERIENCED AN INCREDIBLE THING.
THE CURRENT STARTED IN MY SHOULDER, RACED DOWN MY ARM,
AND SPRANG INTO OUR CLUTCHED HANDS.
THEN THIS WARM SENSE OF RECONCILIATION AND PEACE
SEEMED TO FLOOD MY WHOLE BEING, BRINGING TEARS TO MY EYES.
‘I FORGIVE YOU, BROTHER,’ I CRIED WITH MY WHOLE HEART.
FOR A LONG MOMENT WE GRASPED EACH OTHER’S HANDS,
THE FORMER GUARD, THE FORMER PRISONER.
I HAVE NEVER KNOWN THE LOVE OF GOD SO INTENSELY
AS I DID IN THAT MOMENT!” (END QUOTE)
TO FORGIVE IS TO SET A PRISONER FREE
AND DISCOVER THAT THE PRISONER WAS YOU.
TO FORGIVE IS TO SET THE TABLE FOR PEACE.
(PAUSE)
I WOULD LIKE TO END WITH A FOOTNOTE.
AFTER THE AFFIRMATION OF THE BEATITUDE –
“BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS” –
THERE COMES THE PROMISE.
THE PEACEMAKERS SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
THIS IS ONE CASE IN WHICH OUR INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
TRANSLATIONS – A VERY, VERY GOOD DEVELOPMENT IN ITSELF –
SHOULD INCLUDE A FOOTNOTE.
AND THE FOOTNOTE SHOULD READ
SOMETHING LIKE THE FOLLOWING:
“CHILDREN OF GOD” IS LITERALLY “SONS OF GOD.”
“SONS OF GOD” IN HEBREW HAS A SPECIAL MEANING.
HEBREW IS DEFICIENT IN ADJECTIVES.
THERE IS, FOR EXAMPLE, NOT A SINGLE ADJECTIVE
IN THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM.
TO MAKE UP FOR THIS DEFICIENCY, HEBREW USES THE PHRASE
SON OF, PLUS SOME VIRTUE OR QUALITY INSTEAD OF AN ADJECTIVE.
BARNABAS, FOR INSTANCE, MEANS “THE SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT;”
THAT IS, HE IS A PERSON WHO ENCOURAGES OTHERS.
JAMES AND JOHN ARE CALLED “THE SONS OF THUNDER;”
THAT IS, THEY ARE THUNDEROUS AND STORMY CHARACTERS.
A PERSON MAY BE CALLED A “SON OF PEACE;”
WHENEVER THAT PERSON IS A PEACE-MAKER
AS WELL AS A PEACE-LOVER.
BUT JESUS DOES NOT SAY “SONS OF PEACE;”
HE SAYS “SONS OF GOD.”
IN OTHER WORDS, JESUS IS MAKING THE ASTONISHING STATEMENT
“BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS; FOR THEY ARE GOD-LIKE.”
A FULLER, MORE ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF THIS BEATITUDE
WOULD THUS READ:
“JOYFUL ARE THOSE WHO WORK FOR PEACE-FILLED RELATIONSHIPS
IN EVERY AREA OF LIFE – PERSONAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC –
FOR THEY ARE DOING A GOD-LIKE WORK.”
NO OTHER BEATITUDE CARRIES WITH IT THIS CONNOTATION
OF GOD-LIKE-NESS, OF BEING LIKE GOD.
NOTHING COULD COMMUNICATE MORE CLEARLY
THE ESSENTIAL PLACE THAT MAKING PEACE
HAS IN THE HEART OF GOD.
AMEN.