Covenant Weekly - October 24, 2017
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5:9
In the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Pete Scazerro describes this as a "tragically misinterpreted verse." He says, "Most people think that Jesus calls us in this verse to be pacifiers and appeasers who ensure that nobody gets upset. We are to keep the peace, ignoring difficult issues and problems, making sure things remain stable and serene."
I believe that others of us are on the other end of the spectrum and we tend to create conflict based on how and when we choose to speak up, correct others, or insert our opinion. Often, those who fall in the camp Scazerro describes do so in reaction to those who seem to breed and feed off of conflict.
But if we take seriously Jesus' teaching we don't have the luxury of avoiding conflict or hard situations. We are to be peacemakers. You see, peace is not the absence of obvious conflict. As a meta-example, consider North and South Korea. They are not actively shooting at each other, but there is no peace between them. If a parent and a child are not speaking to each other in light of an unresolved argument, they might not be engaging in current conflict, but there is no peace. This lack of conflict has been described as a "false peace". Things look okay, but only because the conflict is hidden or ignored.
For us to follow the way of Jesus we must be willing to engage difficult issues, difficult questions, and difficult people in ways that invite peace. Sometimes that peace includes the visible and tangible end of a conflict. True peace will always include an internal reality . . . an internal reality that often exists even in the face of struggle. I have sat with people whose physical lives were fading away, but they exuded a genuine and beautiful peace. Many who have lived through broken relationships have found peace even though the relationship could not be rebuilt.
When I was a child my room often looked clean . . . unless someone opened the closet door. That closet, where things were unseen, was a mess. It was a false cleanliness. But in order for true cleanliness to be achieved my room actually had to get messier for a time. I had to unload the mess from its hidden place and expose it so that I could sort it, discard what needed to be discarded, and then reorder things in a proper way.
The same is true of the pursuit of true peace. In order to pursue peace, we need to be willing to embrace some mess as false peace is disrupted for a time. I would like you to prayerfully consider, where is there false peace in your life? Where have you hidden things, buried things, or covered things up in order to obtain the appearance of peace, but really are harbouring pain, brokenness, and conflict? Pray that God would give you the wisdom, courage, and love that will allow you to slowly and carefully disrupt that false peace in the pursuit of the peace of Christ.
TABOO Sermon Series
Over the course of this year, we would like to have some sermons about some topics that we don't often talk about . . . topics that feel "TABOO". We want to be willing to talk about things that are hard. We want to be willing to hear each other on topics where we might strongly disagree.
Help us know what topics would be most helpful for you to hear addressed. Is there something "taboo" that you've been afraid to ask about? Please feel free to share it anonymously below.
We don't promise that we'll be able to address everything, but we'd like to hear from you.