Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
(Matthew 5:9 NKJV)
During the sermon on the mount, Jesus lists nine categories of people in the Beatitudes, ranging over distant horizons, tracing the profile of the true disciple. The term "blessed" identifies someone to be congratulated with, whose place in life is enviable. I am sure that everyone, in reading them, will have no difficulty in placing himself among them. If I had to choose one, I would have many difficulties. But after some indecision, doing the necessary skimming, I would stop at the seventh, that is, among the peacemakers. Perhaps you will think that it is a choice due to the result of beatitude, that is, to be called "children of God". I can assure you, however, that it is a choice linked to my being. And those who know me well can testify about it. The Beatitudes project us into the certainty of faith, challenging us to get out of the attitudes of "carnal" man and to walk in the footsteps of the One who made us know the Father.
This verse allows us to consider how we usually use the expression "children of God" to define those who attend a church or invoke the name of the Lord. But that's not correct. If having accepted the gift of God and being born again gives us the right (acquired through Jesus) to call him "Father", the sermon on the mount helps us to focus on an essential prerogative, the characterizing element , that is the commitment to peace. Peace implies no war, no diatribe, no action that undermines serenity and personal, family, ecclesial communion. No self-interest will be placed before peace. The book of Proverbs draws a clear demarcation between those who plot evil and those who seek peace: for one deception, for the other joy: "Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy” (Proverbs 12:20).
Scripture declares that obtaining joy presupposes the search for peace, because the two go together, like the sides of the same coin. If one fosters discord and division, he will never have joy for himself or for those around him. The believer who considers himself a child of God remembers the words of the Master in the Beatitudes, where the only condition is to work, commit, work for peace. “He who has peace purposes” has joy in his path. Jesus came for our joy to be complete, and God created us for it. Joy is a deep desire of man, very different from happiness, an ephemeral and fleeting emotion, as it is linked to material situations and facts. However, many do not find joy, because they do not know the Father of joy and fill their lives, chasing illusions and even feeding their souls with sin, as King David did when he fell in love with Bath-sheba. When you leave the path of peace, the direct consequence will be the loss of the joy of salvation and the divine presence.
It was for this reason that, being taken up by the prophet and aware of his sin, David prayed: "Lord, give me the joy of salvation" (Psalms 51:12). In order to have Bathsheba, she had not hesitated to plan the death of her husband, as well as her faithful soldier. A child of God cannot harm anyone, because he should continually strive to do to others what he would like them to do to him. In a society increasingly characterized by conflict and rivalry, the community, the habit of believers should stand out as a happy island, where peace is planted and cared for, where every selfish ambition gives way to the "shalom" of God. The Lord has come to you with his Word so that you have life in abundance and complete joy. If you feed peace in the name of the Lord, Scripture declares that there is joy for you. Remember, dear friend, that whenever joy reaches the brink and you are savoring its sweetness, something will come to try to embitter you. Do not be deceived and robbed, for "The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad" (Psalms 126:3). May the words of the person pray inspire this time: "Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34:14).
Weekly Bible Reading
Plan #33 August 09, Psalms 77-78; Romans 10 August 10, Psalms 79-80; Romans 11:1-18 August 11, Psalms 81-83; Romans 11:19-36 August 12, Psalms 84-86; Romans 12 August 13, Psalms 87-88; Romans 13 August 14, Psalms 89-90; Romans 14 August 15, Psalms 91-93; Romans 15:1-13
Photo by Nikolaj Bourguignon, www.freeimages.com
Comments