Blessed are the Peacemakers 

May 11, 2025 

We’re in a sermon series called “Bless this Home.” We’re talking about Jesus’ teaching: “Blessed are the peacemakers. My family growing up was pretty good. But there were definitely fights, arguments and name-calling. I thought, when I grow up, when I’m in charge, I’ll have the perfect family!  Everybody would get along and be kind to each other, we’d whistle while we work together. It would be a peaceful home. I didn’t expect arguments about chores, fighting, name calling and somebody yelling, “You can’t make me!” A more peaceful home doesn’t just happen naturally! Peacemakers have to get to work! 

Why do we have conflict? Because of sin. If you were God, you would have a home with perfect peace. Your family would get along perfectly. But we’re humans! Getting along is not always easy! We need to work through difficulties. You know that if you’ve been the mom who says, “I’ll give you to the count of 10… And you’re counting, … 8, 9, 9 ¼, 9 ½, 9 3/4…’ Or if you’re a teenager, it’s never easy to be a teenager! You ask but you hear a lot of “no’s” and some “no ways.” Maybe you’re an adult, but you still can’t forgive your parents.   

We often get stuck in the same patterns, having arguments and conflicts over and over. The good news is, God wants all of us to be blessed with His peace in our families and homes.  

Today we’re going to talk about Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.” What does a peacemaker do? How do you work through difficulties, stop having the same arguments over and over, and find understanding and peace? We’ll see how Jesus felt about difficult relationships he had, and how he acted. We’ll hear from the apostle Paul as he teaches the church in Orme and us how to get along with others.  

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Notice he didn’t say blessed are the peacekeepers. He said peacemakers. The culture of Jesus’ time was, “An eye for an eye.” If someone hurts you, get back at them. A peacekeeper is a step up from an eye for an eye. It’s at least better than just believing in revenge! They seek peace, but peacekeepers just want to avoid conflict to keep the peace. They sweep difficulties under the rug when there’s tension in the family, put a smile on their face and pretend nothing’s wrong. And everybody has their way of dealing with conflict. Some people freeze and go silent. Other people argue and try to prove their point in order to win. Some people just head out the door when there’s conflict.   

God has better in store for you than just keeping peace, while trouble is simmering in the background. Jesus said there’s another way. You can be a a peacemaker. Peacemakers are willing to do the hard work of listening to and believing the best about the person with whom you have a difference of opinion. 

Think about Jesus. Religion leaders were always giving him a hard time. After a while they even plot to kill Jesus! Jesus doesn’t plot anything in return. He doesn’t wish they were dead! Instead, Jesus cries over their stubbornness. He weeps over Jerusalem and the stubborn religious leaders! He’s heartbroken that they aren’t open to God’s love. He loves them! 

On the cross: Jesus prays for all the people who sent him to the cross: “Father, forgive them.” It’s hard enough for us to forgive someone for borrowing our stuff without asking! Imagine forgiving the people who torture and kill you! Jesus didn’t look at people the way we do. 

Jesus went to the cross for all of us! He called us to follow him, and to do what he does. That means we need to do for others what God in Christ has done for us! It’s not about keeping score. It’s not about venting our anger. It’s about believing the best about another person! 

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Rome. He had never been to Rome. He didn’t know many of the people in the church there. But he wrote to them because he had words they needed to hear! The church in Rome was dealing with conflict because some of the Christians were originally Jewish and followed all the Jewish religious laws in addition to being Christians. Then there were Gentile Christians, who didn’t know the Jewish laws and didn’t feel a need to follow them. So, there were disagreements in the church; did they have to celebrate all the Jewish holidays? Should males be circumcised? Is it ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols? Paul gave some instructions to help the Christians get along. In Romans 12: 9 he says, “Love must be sincere.” The goal is to see the person you’re angry with the way God sees them. You love them sincerely.  

Then Paul says, “Hate what is evil.” Notice what Paul says to hate: hate a thing, hate what is evil. But love the person sincerely. If I hate, I’m going to hate what happened. I’ll hate what happened to us that we are at odds. I’ll hate a what, but not a who. 

In verse 10 Paul says, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Paul is saying, put the other person ahead of your pride. You can honor the person you’re in a disagreement with by listening to and really trying to understand their point of view and their feelings. You don’t have to agree. You just seek to understand. 

In verse 14 Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you.” Don’t talk about them the way they talk about you. In verse 15 Paul says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn.” Maybe you would feel happy if something bad happened to the person you are in conflict with. But Paul says, if your enemy is unhappy, you should be unhappy too! 

In verse 17 Paul says, “Do not repay evil for evil.” We want to get even. It’s human nature to want to get back at someone who has wronged you. But to follow Jesus’ lead, Paul says, Christians do something different.  

If I listen to Paul, if we follow Jesus, that means instead of getting back at my opponent, I will get back to them! If I’m really mad, I’ll take 30 minutes and cool off. Then I’ll get back to them. I’ll decide, “I will not get back at. I will get back to.” If I ‘get back to” it makes sure I don’t stop in some lukewarm holding pattern. I don’t say, “I forgave him.” Or “I forgave her.” Now I’ll fold my arms and wait for them to meet me in the middle. No! Jesus forgave the people who killed him! So, “I will not get back at. I will get back to.” Forgiving but waiting for the other person is still, I’ll get back at them. It’s not back to. 

You can forgive from a distance. But you can’t reconcile from there. Will you decide, I will not get back at. I will get back to? It’s hard. It had to be insanely hard for Jesus to forgive his enemies while he hung on the cross. But he did! He forgave them! 

When you’re upset, and yet you can see the person you’re mad at the way your Father in heaven sees them, and when you can feel toward them, the way your father in heaven feels toward them, you’ll know you are making progress. You are a peacemaker. You’re on the way to get back to. 

So, here’s a prayer for helping us get back to. 

Holy God, help me to see (then you put here the name of the person you’re angry at.) Help me to see him or her the way you see them.  God sees them different from how I see them. I see them as someone who wronged me. God sees them differently. 

Then also pray, “Help me feel toward them the way you feel toward them.” When Jesus cried for Jerusalem, for the religious leaders in Jerusalem, he wasn’t angry at them. He was heartbroken over them. God isn’t angry at anybody. If God’s heart breaks for my enemy, help my heart to break too. 

That’s my challenge for you this week. To pray, God me see ………. the way you see them. Help me feel toward……. the way you feel toward them. 

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.” When we see our enemy the way God sees them, and we feel toward them the way God feels toward them, we are children of God. We look a little like God. Tell somebody near you, “You look a little like God.” We’re peacemakers, and we feel greater peace in our own hearts. The distance between us and the people we don’t like evaporates. Blessed are the peacemakers! Amen.