Seek Peace and Pursue It
Deut. 16:18-20
18Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. 19Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.
1 Peter 3:8-12
8Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Psalm 15
1Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
3whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
4who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
5who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
An interesting thing happened this past week in terms of world affairs. In the wake of an ever-marginalized United Nations, the “Board of Peace” was constituted. It consists of 38 nations (so far), all of which have made a commitment to put an end to armed conflict. It’s a noble cause to say the least. However, the propensity of humanity remains this: we want what we want and will stop at nothing to achieve those ends. Hence, conflict between nations, tribes, clans, families, neighbors, and most tragically, marriages. Nevertheless, our hearts yearn for peace.
It’s almost been a month since we celebrated the birth of the “Prince of peace”. In fact, his arrival was heralded as such. The apostle Luke put it this way: “Suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Who is Luke talking about? Upon whom does the favor of the Lord our God rest? Answer: his children. Who are they? Those who do what he asks us to do. What’s that? Believe. What does that include? Trust and obey…the essence of faith.
What has he asked us to do in addition to believe? Among other things, this: seek peace and pursue it. This is easier said than done. It’s easy to get up in front of an audience and prattle on and on about peace and harmony, wishing we would all simply get along. It’s another thing entirely to achieve peace. Why is that? What makes that difficult? The answer gets us back to basic human nature: we want what we want. Hence conflict. That conflict begs to be resolved, which usually means one of two things must happen. Either both sides “give something up” to reach common ground, or one side conquers the other with some sense of finality. We call the second option “victory”. Peace comes in the wake of victory. Victory comes through the struggle, the willingness to confront, stop aggression, push back, or otherwise resist with, as diplomats put it, extreme prejudice. This seems unchristian. But is it?
I think it’s helpful to remember that it was Jesus, the Prince of peace, who said the following: “I did not come to bring peace, but the sword.” What did he mean? Did he intend for us to turn our plowshares into spears and launch endless crusades against the ungodly? No. He expects us to follow his pattern, his lifestyle, the habit of his heart. That’s what both Peter and Paul write about in their letters to the church of all ages. Both apostles invite us to “be like-minded” in reference to Jesus Christ. Both apostles remind us to seek peace and pursue it, meaning join the battle against evil, against the tragedy of sin, against the brokenness of this sad world. But how?
Peter answers: Finally, (all of you attempt to do the following):
“Be like-minded”, meaning in this instance, live in harmony (of the same mind as Christ) with each other. (Cf. Romans 12-9-16)
“Be sympathetic”, first try to understand why people act and feel the way they do. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:20)
“Love as brothers”, blood is thicker than water and we are connected to Christ through his blood, so love each other like family. (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, Hebrews 13:1)
“Be Compassionate, learn to empathize with the struggle of others trapped by brokenness (Cf. 2 Corinthians 6:11-13)
“Be humble”, the supreme model of Christ (Cf. Matthew 11:28-30, Ephesians 4:1-3, Philippians 1:3). Let’s face it, pride is the root cause of virtually all conflict, because we all want we want. The humble heart yields.
So, will the “Board of Peace” succeed? I hope so, but without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of darkness, it will not. Nevertheless, we have hope. Christ was and is victorious over our basic problem. Consequently, we ought to seek peace and pursue it for God’s glory and the expansion of His Kingdom.