As followers of Christ, we are called to wage peace, not war, for our Saviour has brought us the peace that passes all understanding. As His disciples, we must renounce all violence and tumult. We Christians must become peacemakers in this world, for peace means reconciliation, and Christ is the author of peace and reconciliation.
When we Christians work for peace, it should hardly surprise us when we receive a special blessing attributed to being peacemakers, for “they shall be called sons of God.” The message of the Sermon on the Mount is that those who seek to surrender to God, participate in God’s grace as they go to their enemies to make peace, for they are seeking to do what their Father has done, loving people with His love.
As we surrender to God, and abandon the effort to get our needs met through the destruction of enemies, God comes to us in Christ to make peace with us; and we participate in God’s grace as we go to our enemies to make peace. It is good to remember that no one has ever been converted by violence.
We are peacemakers speak about peace as something already victoriously won. As peacemakers we can celebrate the peace that is part of our glorious past or as something that will be won in the other world. Peacemakers must continue to point out injustice, hypocrisy, and suffering, so being peacemakers does not lead to becoming isolationists. We are peacemakers when our actions and our words bring to light problems far away from us.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9)”.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
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