Choose Peace

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

In 2019, there were over 32,000 incidents of arson in the United States. Almost 10,000 of these instances involved residential structures. Think about that–in one year, people deliberately set fire to 10,000 homes and apartment buildings that people–mothers, fathers, grandparents, men, women, children–were living in. Such callous disregard for human life and property is stunning. Despite these terrible statistics, we are blessed to live in a country with 1.2 million firefighters. They go out every day and risk their lives to put out all types of fires–deliberate and otherwise. The number of lives they save is impossible to count.

When it comes to fires, there are two types of people–those who start them and those who put them out. When it comes to conflict in the world, there are two types of people–those who generate and fuel conflict and those make peace. This is what Christ is talking about in the seventh Beatitude when he offers blessing to the “peacemaker.” He is not talking about people who love peace. Everyone who possesses a normal personality loves peace. He is not addressing people who have a peaceful disposition, either. Jesus is referring to those who actively intervene in conflict to bring about a peaceful resolution. Now, this does not come naturally to most of us, nor is it easy to do. It is far easier to sit on the sidelines and watch something burn, even if we do not want to see it happen, than it is to get up and put ourselves in harm’s way to put out the fire.

Our world is burning. Will you encourage the conflict, ignore it, or get involved in saving peoples’ lives?

-Pastor Mike