Happy Resistance
James 3:13-18; Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peace makers.” The what? The who? In the past 3,400+ years of recorded history only 268 years have seen no war. Peacemakers are a dying breed. Peace is a distant hope. Even when there seems to be peace, it is often only the cessation of violence and not of animosity. One commentator wrote that “To make peace is to engage actively in bringing God’s redemptive purposes to bear in all of our broken society.” This Beatitude calls us to “wage” peace, not simply to value it or appreciate it or pray for it, but paradoxically, to “fight” for it. Those who do that will be called “the sons of God”- not a chauvinistic term, but a precious promise, one we all ought to cherish.