Called to Peace • 10.01.23
Called to Peace
Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:18
Foundational truths for our calling as peacemakers
- Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible
- Making peace is evidence of following Jesus
- Breaking peace is usually sinful
- Beware pursuing or preserving unrighteous peace
Good morning church family! It is a blessing to worship the Lord with you this morning. My name is Pastor Nick Lees and I have the privilege of studying God’s Word with you today. If today is your first time with us, welcome! You’ve picked a good time to visit as we are kicking off a new series called Blessed are the Peacemakers. This is a study of the Bible’s teaching on godly communication and conflict resolution.
Dismiss 4th + 5th graders (Both services!)
Ushers + Bibles
The format for this series is different than our usual preaching style. Rather than going verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible, we’re going to trace concepts throughout Scripture. To give you an idea of what to expect, I have a high-level breakdown for the next 5 weeks.
- Week 1 – Called to Peace
- This will be the primary time where we speak about vertical peace. The focus of the series is horizontal peace but that flows from vertical peace.
- Week 2 – What does God say about our tongue/speech?
- Week 3 – Getting to the heart of conflict
- Week 4 – Resolving conflict biblically
- Week 5 – What does it mean to love our neighbors and our enemies?
In each of these sermons, we will still be preaching from specific passages of the Bible, but we will move around the Scriptures to trace the concepts.
Why would the pastor team choose to prioritize a sermon series like this? There are a few reasons:
- Our current cultural context – election season in our nation can lead to increased opportunities for ungodly communication and conflict. We want to equip our people so they can honor God and communicate righteously.
- The counseling room – frankly most of our counseling cases involve working through these issues. It seems wise to try to equip you with the tools you need for success here rather than waiting for the problems to compound. You could call this preventative counseling.
Finally, let me put it this way… When was your last argument? How did it go? Are you certain God was pleased in how you handled it?
To be human is to relate with others. Nearly every single day we’re going to be communicating with someone, often many times a day, and you are either godly or sinful in your communication. Only the proudest of persons would say that they handle every instance in a God-pleasing manner. I don’t know about you, but I want to continue to grow in godliness! If possible, I want peace in my relationships!
The reality is that we live in a world broken by sin… a world where conflict abounds. We all likely have relationships right now that are strained by communication breakdowns. If I ask you to think of at least one person you are currently in conflict with… do you have any trouble identifying them? Likely you have more than one person in your mind! So, for these reasons, and many others, there is need for biblical teaching on these topics. *pause*
God certainly has a lot to say about communication and conflict resolution. Were you aware of that? Where do you normally turn for help or answers when these break down in your life? I can think of no better place to turn than the God of the Universe, the Creator of humans, the Source of truth, and the One who has made peace possible. As we will see, His Word has solutions for our problems. And not simple, superficial answers, but ones that get to the root of our problems and enable us to experience real and lasting victory over them. God calls his people to a better way – the way of peace. And he has gone to significant lengths to make peace possible. So, let’s turn our attention to the study of God’s Word and be counseled on this matter.
Foundational truths for our calling as peacemakers
Our discussion today must begin with some acknowledgements. First, we must acknowledge how dangerous and dark our situation is outside of salvation by faith in Christ. We’ll talk more about that in just a moment. Second, we must acknowledge that before we can have real peace with one another, we first must have peace with God. The Bible is very clear that, in our natural state, men and women are at war with God and one another. Allow me to demonstrate this from a few passages:
Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV) (Page 1159)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Colossians 1:21 (ESV) (Page 1168)
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
James 4:1 (ESV)
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
These passages and others like them point out the problem of our sin. From the earliest moments of life, we have been in rebellion against God and in conflict with one another. We are born into this world as sinners in need of a Savior. Left to ourselves, we continue throughout life in pursuit of our sin and selfish desires. This lifestyle inevitably leads to war with one another when our desires collide, and it also makes us enemies of God. God warns us that the wages of our sin is death. Not simply the loss of life but eternal death and judgment from God. So, needless to say, this is a dire situation indeed!
Thankfully, God does not leave us dead in our sin. He does not abandon us to our selfish desires or immediately judge us in our rebellion. Instead, the testimony of Scripture is that God patiently endures our wickedness and sends His own Son to be our Savior.
Ephesians 2:4–9 (ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Do you hear it? God is the one who is rich in mercy and love. He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, meaning it wasn’t because of some inherent goodness or loveliness that he saved us. He loved us even when we were his enemy and saves us by his extravagant grace. In this passage you hear “with Christ”, “in Christ”, and “gift of God” to drive home how this act of salvation is entirely a work of God in and through us. We are simply responding to the work that God has done. And what work has he done? He sent his Son, Jesus, to make peace between God and man through his death and resurrection. Listen to Colossians speaking of Jesus and his finished work:
Colossians 1:19–23 (ESV)
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,
in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Do you hear it? We who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, are now reconciled (or brought to peace) with God through Jesus! This brings us to our first foundational truth for today:
- Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible
It is by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ that a man or a woman can be reconciled or at peace with God. This means hostilities have ceased and friendly relations have been re-established. (Re-read verse 20 – and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.) The shed blood of Jesus is repeatedly revealed to be the price for our peace.
Ephesians 2:13–16 (ESV)
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible between God and man and between man and fellow man. There is one source or foundation of peace for all our relationships – faith in Jesus and his finished work on our behalf! Please do not miss this as it is the foundation which the rest of our teaching today and in the weeks ahead is built upon.
If you want to replace communication breakdowns and conflict with peace, then you must know the Prince of Peace. The One who died to rescue you from your sin and bring you back into right relationship with God. Believe the testimony of Scripture about Jesus and trust in Him alone for salvation. Count the cost of following Jesus. Renounce your sinful ways of handling things. Confess your sinful communication patterns and selfish desires that contribute to conflict. Ask the Lord to help you walk by faith and obedience to Him. As you live by faith in Jesus, you will become a peacemaker like Christ. Over the next five weeks we will unpack the Scriptures to show how to get there! *pause*
For now, let me reiterate that foundational to our calling to be peacemakers is the truth that:
- Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible
Once a man or a woman has faith in Jesus Christ, everything begins to change. You are dead to sin and alive in Christ! Your entire person is in the process of being transformed to be holy as he is holy. What we find in Scripture is peace is a fruit of following Jesus.
Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV) (page 1157)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
As God the Holy Spirit is at work in a Christian, they are changing in a way that pleases and honors God. This is known as “bearing good fruit” and, as you just heard, there are specific qualities that we should expect to see produced in every Christian; peace being one of them. A Christian should be increasingly marked by a state of harmony and unity with God and fellow believers. This is not simply a passive transformation that God does within a man or a woman, it is an active transformation that takes place as a Christian pursues the Lord and obeys his commands on this matter. As we’re about to see, Christians are called to make peace as a way of life. Listen to Jesus’ simple yet straightforward teaching on this matter in the sermon on the mount:
Matthew 5:9 (ESV)
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
This is the theme verse for this entire series. It is an incredibly important teaching of Jesus – one of the beatitudes, which is a list of the ideal qualities of citizens of the kingdom of God. Jesus says that those who make peace are blessed for they shall be called sons of God. Peacemaking is evidence of being children of God and followers of Jesus! Which brings us to our second foundational truth:
- Making peace is evidence of following Jesus
Jesus taught his followers to be peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers! They have a confident hope in their new identity as sons or daughters of God. They are bearing fruit of their adoption by God into his family.
Your willingness to make peace is an extension and evidence of the grace you’ve received from Jesus in your salvation. When you’ve been forgiven for all your sins and brought back to peace with God you have a deep well to draw from in making peace with other sinful humans! How could I not forgive you when God has forgiven me for so much!? How could I not go to great lengths to be at peace with you when God went to such great lengths to be at peace with me?
One who has tasted and seen the goodness of God in salvation is motivated by that same salvation to help others taste and see the beauty of peace with God and fellow man. Listen to Paul’s teaching to the church at Rome on this matter:
Romans 12:14–21 (ESV) (Page 1126)
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Paul expects that those who profess to follow Christ will go to great lengths to make peace with others. They will respond to persecution with blessing. They will seek to live in harmony or think in a like-minded manner as one another. They will put on humility to associate with those from other ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds. When they are treated evilly, they will return it with good. Paul is describing a way of life that is only possible when Christ has transformed you from the inside out! There is no way to consistently live like this if you are dead in your sin. But if you’ve been made new by Jesus Christ, drank deeply of his mercy and grace, and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then you can choose to walk in this new way of making peace. It may not be easy, but it is possible. And it is commanded for Christians.
In verse 18 he calls them to live peaceably with all. Not just believers, but also unbelievers. Our default disposition as Christians should be to make peace. We should not be comfortable with unresolved conflict. *pause*
Notice how Paul clarified it though – “If possible”, “so far as it depends on you” – both indicating that there are times when you will not be able to make peace because the other party(ies) are not willing to live at peace. In that situation, you will have to entrust them to the Lord. They are not under your control, and you cannot force them to live at peace. By all means, expend yourself in the effort to pursue peace with them, but, if they refuse, then you can rest in Christ knowing that you were obedient to his calling.
What might this look like in practice? Just as Paul said – when someone does wrong to you, rather than getting even (seeking vengeance), you meet their needs. Rather than adding fuel to the fire of conflict and being overcome by evil, do good to them and overcome evil with good!
The next time you are mocked, look for a way to bless them. Meet a need of theirs rather than getting even. When someone sins against you, go to them, in peace, to seek to resolve the matter. Value reconciliation over your own comfort and ease. The same is true when someone says you’ve sinned against them. Go to them, in peace, to seek to resolve the matter. Do not give the root of bitterness an opportunity to grow up and divide your relationship.
There are endless variations of situations where conflict or relational breakdowns could occur. Will you take the time and effort needed to think biblically about how to make peace in those relationships? Search the Scriptures. Seek wise counsel. Pray. Ask God for help and humility. Look for any logs that need to be taken out of your own eye first. These are all practical ways that we can be peacemakers in our walk with Jesus.
Followers of Jesus ought to be known for the fruit of peace. This theme has been present in both our sermon series earlier this year:
Hebrews 12:14 (ESV)
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
1 Peter 3:10–12 (ESV)
10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Strive for peace… Seek peace and pursue it! This is an active, strenuous calling for us. We are to be about this work while we still have breath! And listen to the beautiful outcome of this pursuit:
James 3:18 (ESV)
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Those who make peace will produce a harvest of righteousness. Their legacy will not be a trail of broken relationships and bitterness, but a life that honored Jesus and helped others to know and grow in Him. Sign me up for that kind of legacy!
So far, we’ve laid out two foundational truths for our calling as peacemakers:
- Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible
- Making peace is evidence of following Jesus
The second truth really lends to where we’re heading with the next foundational truth…
- Breaking peace is usually sinful
Jesus has called us to be peacemakers, not peacebreakers. And, aside from some particular scenarios which we’ll discuss momentarily, breaking peace is usually sinful and to be avoided by Christians. It goes against the calling of Christ if we are the ones inciting arguments, conflict, and division. We heard the fruit the Spirit produces in a believer earlier, let’s return to Galatians 5 and hear the fruit that our sinful flesh produces:
Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
There are several categories of sins discussed here, but the one I want to draw your attention to are the eight sins that break peace – enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy. These are all fruits of the flesh that, when present, break peace in relationships. These are the types of behaviors and desires that we struggle with that lead to conflict or peace breaking. “I want what I want and you’re in the way of it!” or “I want what you have!” or “I’m upset that I don’t have what I want!” or “I don’t care what it takes, I’m going to have it!” These sins arise from an intense focus on self and the subsequent selfish pursuits. Our emotions respond to the pursuit of worship of self, and it leads to destructive communication and behaviors in our relationships. This is an important pattern to understand. When you worship self instead of Christ, you will be prone to breaking peace rather than making peace. (repeat) And breaking peace is usually sinful because it typically has its roots in self-worship.
Christians should not be content to be habitual peacebreakers. If there is a pattern of conflict in your life, then you ought to be grieved over that. It is in your best interest to get on your knees in prayer and study of the Word to figure out “why am I choosing this path?” … Blessed are the peacemakers, not the peacebreakers!
Thankfully, in Christ, we are not doomed to be stuck in conflict. We have been set free from sin and we can choose to use our freedom to serve one another. If you want to move from being a peacebreaker to a peacemaker, then do a deep dive into the teachings of Scripture on these topics. Check out some of the resources we have highlighted in the church library in the foyer (or the recommended resources on our website). Ask your SG for prayer and accountability. If you need help, ask a mature Christian brother/sister to walk with you. There are tremendous resources available to you – you do not have to stay stuck in sinful patterns. *pause*
So, if you’re keeping track, we’ve covered three foundational truths for our calling as peacemakers:
- Jesus laid down his life to make peace possible
- Making peace is evidence of following Jesus
- Breaking peace is usually sinful
Our final truth for today is addressing the “usually” caveat from #3. I could not, in good conscience, fail to mention this in today’s sermon. Here it is…
- Beware pursuing or preserving unrighteous peace
Jesus, the One who made peace possible, does not prioritize peace at the expense of righteousness. There is a real problem with humanity promoting peace at all costs, even when it goes against what God has said is right and true. Jesus himself taught that choosing to please God may lead to broken peace with others.
Matthew 10:34–39 (ESV)
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Jesus is telling us that the Gospel message by its very nature is divisive. He came to tell people that they are dead in their sin and exposed to the wrath of God and that the only way of salvation is through faith in Him. That was a divisive message then and it still is today! Some respond in faith and others respond in anger. And, as we heard repeatedly in 1 Peter, when you choose to follow Christ and please God, that may very well bring division into your life with those who choose to reject Christ and therefore reject you. The Gospel divides. It divides between those who are God’s sheep who hear his voice and follow him and those who are goats who ignore his voice and continue to live for self.
And it is wrong for us to try to pursue or preserve peace between sheep and goats. “What do you mean by that, Nick? That sounds like a divisive statement.” Let me explain. I’m not saying that we should intentionally be jerks and create conflict unnecessarily with others. However, I am saying that we should not pretend there is real, righteous peace with those who do not believe in Jesus!
2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
This is not solely referring to marriage relationships. This is broader and it helps us understand that there is a real problem in promoting unity and alliances with those who are spiritually opposed to Jesus. It would be wrong for a Gospel-preaching church to ally itself with a church that denies the Gospel. The same is true at the individual level.
You should not pursue or preserve peace with those whose lives demonstrate a hatred for God. Do not downplay the tension that righteousness demands on your relationships. If you are friends with or engaging with someone who is encouraging you to pursue sin, then allow peace to be broken in that relationship for the sake of righteousness. Speak up! Challenge them to come to the light. Do not minimize sin and continue to keep a fake peace.
We all likely have relationships in our lives that need to be evaluated in light of this warning. Where are you keeping unrighteous peace that should be broken? Where are you failing to speak up for God and against sin? This is not about looking down our noses at others as if we are more holy then they; it is about caring for the holiness of God and the souls of these people! Preserving fake peace allows them to continue along the path of destruction and that is incredibly unloving!
People pleasers really need to watch out here. This is a real challenge for those of us who struggle with this sin. If you want the approval of others, then you will be tempted to pursue a fake, unrighteous peace when you should be confronting sin. That is unloving! You are loving yourself more than the other person.
Listen to God’s powerful rebuke of the people of Judah in his day:
Jeremiah 8:1–12 (ESV) (page 755)
“At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2 And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped.
And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3 Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules of the Lord.
8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9 The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
God did not mince words with the wicked people of Judah in Jeremiah’s day. He issues a scathing rebuke to them. Their leaders had proclaimed peace when there was no peace. They were simply covering over clear sin that God hated. And by doing so they brought demise upon the nation. I am afraid we see the same pattern at work in the “American Church” today. Church after church, denomination after denomination, declaring peace when there is no peace. They ally with God-haters, lovers of self, false teachers, and practitioners of all kinds of ungodly behavior. While declaring themselves to be Christians and claiming to represent Jesus, they do not preach the truth and they deny the Gospel by their words and works. Our response should be the same as God’s:
Jeremiah 2:12–13 (ESV)
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Be appalled. Be shocked. Be utterly desolate as you witness such behavior.
May we have the boldness to break unrighteous peace in the pursuit of making real peace. May we not hesitate to speak the truth in boldness and love. May we desire to see souls rescued from the fires of hell rather than rest in the comfort of unrighteous peace that conceals the judgment that is coming.
Christians, we are called to peace. But let it be the right kind of peace. I look forward to continuing this study with you next week as we discuss what God says about our speech.
Let’s pray.
Pray.