entrepreneurs of his day. He made his fortune by inventing and refining explosives his most

Transcription

1 November 19, 2017 Matthew 5:9 VFR Rules: Being Peaceful At the turn of the 20th century, a man named Alfred was one of the preeminent scientists and entrepreneurs of his day. He made his fortune by inventing and refining explosives his most famous invention being dynamite. Alfred s intention was that these explosives be used for constructive purposes, like building highways and laying foundations for buildings. But soon their value for warfare became evident, and most of Alfred s money was made by selling his material and devices to the military. Toward the end of his life, Alfred began to ponder his legacy to humankind. While his inventions were meant for good and had been used for good it was also true that his inventions had equipped armies of the world to deliver new and improved forms of death and destruction. This was NOT how Alfred wanted to be remembered. So, he rewrote his will and used the bulk of his fortune to establish a series of international awards to be given each year to scientists, thinkers, and leaders -people who had made a remarkable contribution to the betterment of humankind. You ve no doubt guessed but that man s name was Alfred Nobel, and the most famous of the awards he funded is given every year to the person or persons, who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the promotion of peace. We call it the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is one of the highest honors bestowed on a human being. 1

2 The first Nobel Peace Prize went to Jean Henry Dunant, a Swiss man who helped to found the International Red Cross and the Geneva Convention, in Other winners include Woodrow Wilson, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Lech Walesa, and Nelson Mandela. I encourage you to go to the Nobel website and read through the names of all the winners of this coveted peace prize. It s a very impressive list! Each of these individuals has used his or her mind, talents, and influence to advance the cause of world peace and the betterment of humankind. But I want to warn you. After reading through that list, one unsettling fact remains: with all the wonderful things these amazing individuals have accomplished we are no closer to world peace today than we were when Nobel set up his peace prize 116 years ago. The world is just as violent, volatile, and frightening as ever IF NOT MORE SO. Peace continues to be the most elusive of all human ambitions. And that brings us to our next Visual Flight Rule from Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God. Now like the other beatitudes we ve studied up to this point, I think these words in verse 9 would have sounded radical in Jesus day. All Israel was under the thumb of Imperial Rome. I m sure the heartfelt desire of every Jew listening to Jesus that day was to FIGHT Rome not to make peace with it. The truth is these words of our Lord sound just as radical in our day and age. Sure, we aren t domineered by the Romans but the threat of conflict surrounds us all the time, doesn t it? And I m not just talking about Islamic terrorism or war with North Korea. Every day, every-day-people and situations try our patience and if we re not careful, these 2

3 situations can easily become volatile and explode into conflict robbing us of what little peace we enjoy in this fallen world. The Society of International Law in London reports that during the last four millennia there have been only 268 years of peace. That s less than seven percent of the time! In the last two millennia alone, there have been over 15,000 known wars. In that same time period over 8,000 peace treaties have been made and broken. All this caused an insightful cynic to say, Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stops to reload. Conflict is all around us in big and little ways and the fact is most of us respond in ways that only make matters worse. Let s review those WAYS. There are basically three of them. First, there are those people who BREAK peace. These are the guys and gals who seem to go out of their way to break down relationships. They just love to cause trouble and division. They tend to be opinionated and judgmental. They are deliberately confrontive people who seem to think their spiritual gift is to disagree with everyone about everything. And their main tool is the tongue! Many years ago Psychology Today (October, 1983) posed an intriguing question, If you could push a button and thereby eliminate any person with no repercussions to yourself, would you do it? Sixty percent of those responding said, YES. One man posited an even better question, If such a device were invented, would anyone live to tell about it? Have we been pushing any buttons lately? Are we a peace-breaker? Do we bring people together or do you pull them apart? Remember, it s always easier to create conflict than it is to promote peace. 3

4 A second response to conflict is seen in those people who FAKE peace. I m referring to individuals who prefer PEACE over THE TRUTH. Peace-fakers foolishly, ignorantly, see peace as simply the absence of any kind of argument or discord. They will go to any lengths to avoid any kind of conflict, confrontation, or unrest and in doing so they settle for a counterfeit peace that is based on avoiding the real issues. Whereas peace-breakers love to use their tongues peace-fakers love to make TRUCES. And, the fact is truce-making is not what Jesus is talking about in this beatitude. You see, a truce is a cessation of fighting that is imposed from the outside and that s not peace. Let me put it this way. You can t keep a peace that isn t there in the first place. You can t sweep disagreements under the relational rug and call that peace. No a genuine peace-maker is much more than a maker of truces. John MacArthur rightly says, A truce just says you don t shoot for a while. Peace comes when the truth is known, the issue is settled, and the parties embrace each other. The truth is, peace at any price is a form of deception, which the father of all lies, LOVES. Satan is tickled pink when, in the name of peace, we maintain the status quo and never really honestly relate to one another. And then finally some people respond to conflict and tension in that they: MAKE Peace. These people are precious because peace MUST be actively, intentionally made. It never happens by chance. No, when left to ourselves we lean toward divisiveness so a peace-maker goes against the flow. He or she does what it takes to establish and maintain REAL peace. Warren Wiersbe says, Hatred looks for a victim, while love seeks a victory. The man of war throws stones and the peacemaker builds a bridge out of those stones. And please listen to my next sentence. It s very important. Peace-making requires divine power. REAL peace, 4

5 LASTING peace is impossible to make without God s help. You can t make what you don t have. You can t spread peace if you re at war inside. And the only way to have inner peace is to make your peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. You see our Holy God is the source of ALL genuine, lasting peace. As He tells us repeatedly in His written Word He is a peaceloving, peace-making God. Well, how do we go about obeying this COMMAND? And by the way, that s what it is! In each of these Visual Flight Rules Jesus is listing the attitudes that any Christ-follower MUST embrace if they are to soar. So how do we embrace it? Now, I despise easy formulas just as much as you do. But I want to answer this question by giving you five things to remember that will help you obey Jesus command here and be a peace maker. I ve borrowed this from Rick Warren who has taken the word PEACE and made it into an acronym to remind us of five biblical steps we can take in an effort to restore fractured relationships five aspects of MAKING peace. Here s the first. When you find yourself at enmity with someone, first ask for God s help and then: First, PLAN a peace conference. In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus said, If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. In other words, our Lord says, Don t wait for the other person to make the first move. You take the initiative! 5

6 EMPATHIZE with the feelings of others. Answer this question. When I m upset, who am I most likely thinking about? Me! My feelings! My hurts! My rights! Well, in Philippians 2:4, Paul says this is backwards thinking. He says, Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Now, Paul is not saying that your interests are irrelevant or unimportant. No he s saying, Have an equal concern for the feelings and needs of others, not just yourself. Stephen Covey, in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, has a principle that says, Seek first to understand and then to be understood. And, that s good advice, because to make peace happen we have to try to see the situation from the other side s perspective. Third, ATTACK the problem, not the person! Friends, we can t focus on fixing the PROBLEM and fixing the BLAME at the same time. If you go to a peace conference thinking, I m really going to give that person a piece of my mind! I m going to punish them for what they did to me! Well, if you go to a peace conference with that mind set, forget it! You re wasting your time. You re going to do more harm than good. Remember, in Proverbs 15:1 Solomon said, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Translation: Engage your mind before you engage your mouth! So calmly deal with the issues. Fourth, COOPERATE as much as possible. In other words, be a bridge-builder, not a bridge tear-er-downer! In Romans 12:18 Paul says, If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Implied in this passage is the reality that you won t always be able to resolve your conflicts with others. Some people thrive on arguments. They re 6

7 quarrelsome. Some people refuse to settle for a solution that everyone can be happy with; they have to win, you have to lose, even if it means compromising the truth. But Paul says, You me more mature than that. You hold out the olive branch. Don t sacrifice the truth but cooperate as much as possible in an attempt to make peace. Finally, EMPHASIZE reconciliation, not retaliation. To reconcile means to make an effort to repair and reestablish a broken relationship. To retaliate means to get even and hurt back. Again, in Matthew 5 our Lord said, You have heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. The youngest person ever to win the NOBEL PEACE prize was Martin Luther King Jr. and in my opinion, he deserved it because he is someone who embrace this flight lesson. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 60 s when marchers put their bodies on the line before sheriffs with night-sticks, fire hoses, and snarling German shepherds King never wavered from his commitment of bringing about change through non-violent confrontation. He didn t believe in retaliation. As riots broke out in places like Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, and Harlem, King traveled from city to city trying to cool tempers and reminding demonstrators that nothing good could come from violence. Against all odds, against all instincts of selfpreservation, he stayed true to this principle of peacemaking. 7

8 Well, where do you think he learned that? Where did he get the power to restrain himself? This came from His relationship with his Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace our Savior and Lord. He lived the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, would you pray the prayer St. Francis of Assisi with me? Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood, as to understand. To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 8