What Is a Peacemaker?
Martin Niemöller was a
prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. He was an outspoken opponent of Adolf
Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camp. He is
perhaps best remembered for the following quotation[1]:
First they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I
did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was
no one left to speak out for me.
What is a peacemaker? Typically, people with an Enneagram type 9 personality are called “peacemakers.” They are usually supportive and willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and to avoid conflicts and tension at any cost. They want to preserve things as they are and to resist whatever would upset or disturb them. We need type 9 peacemakers among us. But when Jesus said to his disciples, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” probably he didn’t have Enneagram type 9 people in mind. Rather, according to this beatitude, every single Christian is called to be a peacemaker. We are called to peace. We are called to pursue peace and make peace actively rather than just to maintain the status quo.
Peacemaking is every Christian’s vocation. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (peacemaking)” (2 Cor 5:17-18). But where does peacemaking begin? What does peacemaking look like in our divided and broken world? John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, exhorted his people to practice three simple rules as ambassadors of peacemaking: Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God.
Do No Harm
First, do no harm. It is simple, it is not complicated. But when we really
practice this first simple rule, it first transforms us, then it transforms the
world around us. Recently, I had the privilege to visit a Christian couple who were
going to celebrate their 67th anniversary this fall. I asked them
the secret of peace in their marriage. The wife said, “We argue just like
anybody else. But the next morning one person would say, “Good morning,” and
the other would respond, “Good morning.” We forgive
and move on.” The husband said, “Tolerance. We accept the difference. We learned to accept each other as we are.” Forgiveness.
Acceptance.
The author of Colossians exhorts us this way:
Therefore, as God's chosen people,
holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience. Be tolerant of
one another and forgive each other
if anyone has a complaint against another. Forgive
as the Lord forgave you (3:12-13).
Doing no harm means being tolerant. It means forgiving. If I am to do no harm, I will guard my lips, my mind and my heart so that my language will not wound another child of God. I will not gossip. I will not slander. I will be quick to listen, slow to speak. I will not repeat things when I know they are going to do harm. If I am to do no harm, I will not insist on getting even, I will not dwell on the past; rather, I will forgive and move on. Doing no harm is an act of disarming laying aside our weapons and our desire to take revenge, and it requires a radical trust in God – his power, wisdom, and guidance. Doing no harm is the first step toward living the Christian life that brings healing and reconciliation.
Do Good
The second step is “Do good.” Again,
it sounds simple, but where do we begin? Where are the boundaries? John Wesley
gives us the guideline this way:
“Do all the good you can, by all
the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all
the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Doing good is a proactive way of living. We don’t need to wait to be asked to do some good deed or provide some needed help. We don’t need to wait until “they come for me.” As Christians, we are called to make peace by doing good, or by tackling injustice individually and collectively.
The Complete Jewish Bible translates Leviticus 19:16 this way: “Don’t stand idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake; I am Adonai.” The whole of scripture makes it clear that we are to be brother’s and sister’s keepers. In 2016 the United Methodist Church adopted the resolution (#3428) tilted, “Our Call to End Gun Violence.” Gun violence greatly affects our families, our communities, our nation. One of the most prominent forms of gun violence is suicide. Worldwide, there are nearly one million suicides every year. Another prominent form of gun violence would be mass shootings. We hear people say “We must do something.” It’s encouraging to see a new bipartisan gun safety bill passed. In the 2016 UM resolution the United Methodist congregations are encouraged to advocate at the local and national level for laws that prevent or reduce gun violence. Some of those measures include:
· Universal background checks on all gun purchases
· Ensuring all guns are sold through licensed gun retailers
· Prohibiting persons with serious mental illness, who pose a danger to themselves and their communities, from purchasing a gun
· Establishing a minimum age of 21 years for a gun purchase or possession
· Banning large-capacity ammunition magazines and weapons designed to fire multiple rounds each time the trigger is pulled
· Promoting new technologies to aid law-enforcement agencies to trace crime guns and promote public safety.
Do not stand idle or stay silent when your neighbor bleeds. Rather, do
good. Be your neighbor’s keepers. Love your neighbor.
Stay in Love with God
Do no harm. Do good. These two rules are simple but bring peace and
transformation. But without the third rule, the first two become increasingly
impossible. We know legislation or committees are important, but they will not
solve our divisiveness or our brokenness. Staying in love with God is the
foundation to all of life. It gives life to the first two rules. In her book, Illuminated
life, Joan Chittister puts it this way: “All we have in life is life.
Things – the cars, the houses, the educations, the jobs, the money – come and
go, turn to dust between our fingers, change and disappear… the secret of
life… is that it must be developed from the inside out.”[2]
Nowadays I am reading the Gospel of Luke, and I find this secret of life in the life of Jesus. Soon after Jesus began his ministry, he was bombarded with people and their needs. He couldn’t even find time to eat. Jesus had a hectic schedule, but he always stayed in love with God. How? Luke describes it this way:
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came
to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew
to lonely places and prayed (5:15-16).
As often as possible, Jesus withdrew to quiet places for prayer. Jesus encouraged his disciples to do the same. He sent out the twelve. So they went out and preached the good news. They drove out many demons and healed many sick people. After this, they gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done. Now listen to what Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).
Staying in love with God is the foundation for life. Then, how do we stay in love with God? It may look different for each of us because each of us is unique. But there are some common essentials for all of us, such as a daily time of prayer, meditation on the Scripture, public worship and regular participation in the life of a Christian community, Lord’s Supper, visiting the sick, and helping those in need. Through theses practices we find our strength and guidance, but most of all, we find our joy in fellowship with our loving Christ.
Be Fed and Feed
In John 21 Jesus came to Peter who was in a dark place. And he asked him
one question, “Do you love me?” Like Peter, today some of us may feel unworthy
or guilty because of our past. Some of us may feel discouraged because of
what’s happening in our lives and also in the world around us. But still today,
Jesus comes to us and asks us the same question, “My daughter, my son, do you
love me?” If our answer is affirmative, the response from the Lord is always
the same, “Feed my sheep.” The next question then becomes obvious. “Are we
ready to choose the costly way of living by doing no harm, doing good, and
always staying in love with God?” I do believe many of us in this room are
ready to say “YES” to that high calling. As we choose to follow these three
simple rules new every morning, we will discover our world changed and we will
enjoy our full inheritance as children of God. Amen.
[1]
“Martin Niemöller: "First They Came For The Socialists..."”,
Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists
[2]
Joan Chittister, Illuminated Life (Orbis Books, 2000), 14. quoted in
Rueben P. Job, Three Simple Rules, 54.
