blog

  OASIS FAMILY CHURCH
  • New Here
  • About Jesus
  • About Us
    • Vision & Beliefs
    • Our Staff
    • Partnerships
    • Life Groups
    • Children and Youth
    • Serving
  • Giving
  • Oasis Calendar
  • Media
    • Oasis Online >
      • Sermons
    • Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us
    • Connect Card

Everyday Peacemakers

3/5/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God’.

This famous line comes from the 'beatitudes'  in Matthew 5.The beatitudes are like a highlight reel of Jesus teaching to the broader community.
What on earth was Jesus meaning here, and in one famously recorded part of Jesus life, one could be forgiven for mistaking Jesus as anything but a peace maker, more like a peace breaker.
Right after Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, he turns left and goes to the temple. Everyone expected the messiah to turn right and head to the Antonia Fortress and give the 500 plus Romans their marching orders.
He did not. He turned left and went to the temple, right to the court of the gentiles. Instead of being a place where the Gentiles could meet and pray to God, it had become a place of commerce where foreign currency could be exchanged for temple ‘pure coins’, where animals were being sold off at inflated prices so people could receive through prescribed ceremony the forgiveness of sins.

In Mark 11 the testimony here of Jesus actions tell us he didn’t permit people from crossing the temple with goods, he turned over money lenders tables and the stalls of people trading, and John tells us in chapter 2 that he even made a whip of chords with which to drive people and animals out. Jesus didn't just clear the temple, he effectively stopped the temple for a short time and in the eyes of the controlling Sadducees, Jesus stopped forgiveness.. well for a short time.

That doesn't sound a lot like peace making.

Well, perhaps not unless we understand properly what being peacemaker really entails.

Peace itself isn’t just the absence of conflict, it’s actually about having right relationships, justice and truth with reconciliation. Bringing this about is messy business.

Peace making is not passive. Peace making actively addresses the lack of peace in our world.
We can actively follow Jesus’ example not by overturning the local church notice board and calling everyone a heretic, (as tempting as that sounds) but by actively stepping into situations where there may be fractured relationships. Being the person who calls out wrong behavior to a friend, being someone who does not tolerate racial slurs in the office. Inviting those people to dinner who you do not know or feel drawn away from inviting, or by getting involved with some of the restorative justice programs offered by some churches.

Being a peace maker between folks means you step into the firing line. There is a fair chance if muds being slung, you will wear a fair share of it. But by bringing truth and justice into a situation, just like Jesus did, you stand to be called one of the ‘sons or daughters of God’.

In a culture where we are easily offended, opportunity abounds to be a peacemaker. To bring the prince of peace into every situation of life we may find our feet take us.
Today ask Jesus, where does He require you to be a peacemaker today? What around you requires the touch of Jesus. In a world that knows no real peace, but is so familiar with strife, anxiety, and worry, we could do with more peacemakers.
 
Dave Maharey
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Authors
    Picture
    Dave Maharey

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018

    Categories

    All
    Blessed Are...
    Challenges
    Christianity For Grown Ups
    Christmas
    Comparing Ourselves
    Control C
    Ctrl C
    Dave Maharey
    Discipleship
    Easter
    Faith
    Fear
    God And Sexuality
    Handling Emotions
    Holy Spirit
    Identity
    In The Flow Of The Spirit
    In The Training Ground
    James
    Jesus
    Jesus Teaching
    Listening To God
    Love
    Overcoming Challenges
    Pentecost
    Persecution
    Philip Manson
    Racism
    Renew
    Renewing The Mind
    Salvation
    Sex And Sexuality
    Tools Of The Trade
    White Knuckle Christianity

Leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ

JOIN uS THIS SUNDAY
OASIS FAMILY CHURCH
Picture
03 578 0407
Picture
office@oasisfamilychurch.org.nz
Picture
3 Henry Street Blenheim
7201
Picture
@oasisfamilychurchblenheim
PRIVACY
Copyright © 2019
  • New Here
  • About Jesus
  • About Us
    • Vision & Beliefs
    • Our Staff
    • Partnerships
    • Life Groups
    • Children and Youth
    • Serving
  • Giving
  • Oasis Calendar
  • Media
    • Oasis Online >
      • Sermons
    • Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us
    • Connect Card