Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5:9 (NIV)
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3:18 (NIV)
Guess I'm not being very subtle about my message this week, am I? Good, because I don't want to be--this is burning too strongly in my heart for that right now.
That burning started last Saturday afternoon, when I first saw the news reports of the tragic shootings in Tuscon, Arizona. Six people are dead as a result, including a nine-year old girl, and a congresswoman is among other victims with at best an uncertain future.
Brenda can testify to how strongly this affected me. For a good portion of the balance of Saturday, I was like a caged tiger, fighting both the anger welling up inside of me and the frustration of feeling that I couldn't do anything to help.
After I calmed down or just got tired, I'm not sure which it actually was, I had reached a point where the Lord could guide me and show that not only could I indeed help the situation, but everyone reading this could make a positive impact.
Although there is no direct evidence of anything in the Tuscon shootings except the unbalanced mental condition of the alleged shooter, I can't shake the belief that the level of discourse in our society had some influence and was an important factor in causing this tragedy. More and more people in public service, including the target of this act, Congresswoman Giffords, had been speaking out about the potential danger of the angry, at times visceral, political discourse in the United States. More and more references to violence as a solution, either implied or explicitly stated, have made their way into the increasingly angry and antagonistic public debates.
Unfortunately, the clearest result of this incident so far is the finger-pointing between left and right, trying to assign blame and gain political advantage while six funerals are being held in Arizona and many other lives have been unalterably changed for the worse.
Where is God in this? Sadly, He has been used as both a justification and a target of blame. He is neither.
God is love. God is peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, it's just hard to find them right now.
They're out there, though, and some of them are reading this message. Some of you already love the Lord enough to take a stand not for right or left but for God! You don't cherry pick quotes from scripture to push a political or social agenda, you try to live a life that stands up to and displays God's word, shows His love, and promotes His peace.
If you are already there, you are blessed. Jesus said so in the Sermon on the Mount, and his earthly half-brother James reinforced it. If you are reading this and thinking I'm just "out there," talking in platitudes that aren't grounded in reality, I offer this thought; what if the next person considering some horrendously violent act is in your life right now? Perhaps he's a co-worker, she's the person preparing your order at McDonald's, he's a casual friend, or maybe she even lives in your own house. What if they see an alternative to darkness, anger, hostility, hopelessness in your life? What if you shine a light into their lives with some encouragement at work, a smile across the counter, an ear to listen, an open heart to love them?
Sometimes we skim over the possibility of small victories seeking the bigger, flashier victory, especially those of us who have a role in God's ministry. I have fought this myself, wanting so much to be a published author on a book tour, doing media appearances and signing books for my adoring fans. I can forget the impact the right words at the right time can make in a person's life until I get a note from someone I've never met who tells me how something I posted on my blog has touched their lives. Those are the moments that the bright lights don't matter because that person is real, and the Lord has given me the opportunity to speak into their lives.
Virtually all of us have the chance to touch someone's life every day, usually in a very subtle way. Just because we don't see any major impact of that contact doesn't mean there isn't one. That's where we have to trust James--if we sow peace, there WILL be a harvest of righteousness. We just need to remember for us to be us and let God be God. We can sow a seed, but he's the one who will find a way to make it grow. He will do it in ways that will lead someone to know and embrace love and peace and not sow discord.
Remember, Jesus didn't go around debating and shouting people down. He reached out to them, displaying peace and showing love. He had His moments of anger, like when He tossed the money changers out of the temple, but even then he didn't argue: he taught, then He let people chose their own paths.
We can be peacemakers to the people in our lives by choosing that path, then encouraging others to follow it by displaying the fruit in our own lives. If we make peace look attractive, look cool, Jesus taught us that we would be blessed, and James taught that their would be a "harvest of righteousness."
You and I can't by ourselves change the world, but we can all be peacemakers and together make it better.
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