Friends, before we talk about anything more here, I want you to hear me loud and clear, so I’m going to say it again! Our Zealous God, zealous for you, sent His Son, The Prince of Peace, who uses His authority to watch out for His own, so that we might know Shalom peace. Shalom at the deepest level.

Our Saviour sees you and hears you and is with you!

Our Savior says:
I see the heavy load you are carrying;
I hear you wondering if you should give up;
and, I am with you through all of that. To give you strength and hope and peace. We so much want peace in our lives today.

When the great Atlantic Cable was laid, the first message that was sent across it was one by Queen Victoria to the President of America: “Peace on earth, good-will toward men.” This is the first great need of humankind. The time is coming when peace will be universal on the earth. In the meantime, however, peace can become the individual possession of each one of us.

“Peace with God”, and I truly believe peace with ourselves, can never really be ours without personal surrender to God on our part, yet peace is actually the fruit of the personal surrender of Jesus, our Saviour, and not of ourselves. Often, we are asked if we’ve made our peace with God. Though the questioner means well, this question is wrong. A better one is: Have you found peace. You see, Jesus is the instigator of our ability to find peace by His coming and His sacrifice for us. He Made Peace – How did He make it? Not by declaring it, that He did later. He made it by shedding His blood (see Col. 1:20).  By His death He satisfied all the requirements necessary for us to know peace, with God and with ourselves; Friends – Jesus, He is Our Peace.  He is the security and guarantee of peace with God. That’s why He tells us this in the greatest sermon ever preached; that we should look to be peacemakers too! Jesus said,

“Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God”

— Matthew 5:9

As much as Jesus brought peace into the world by His arrival that we celebrate this Christmas season, Jesus also sends us as peacemakers. We are to be the instrument of His peace. We are the ones called to carry the banner of peacemaker, and let me be clear here, we aren’t given the choice of whether or not we would like to be peacemakers. Remember the title Isaiah gives to Jesus, the one we identified earlier, Prince of Peace, authority. If we are going to be true to our Lord, we must be peacemakers.

So, let’s unpack this term peacemaker.

Sometimes the best way to define something is making clear what it is not. For example, our world has some very real misconceptions of what it means to be a peacemaker.

• Peacemaking is not the absence of conflict. Peace in the Bible is never to be confused with pacifism.
• Peacemaking is also not the Avoidance of disagreement.  Putting our head in the sand, hoping that the conflict will end, only delays the inevitable.

So what did Jesus mean by peacemaker? The Oxford dictionary defines a peacemaker as one “who brings about peace” and so an appropriate working definition of a peacemaker for us this morning could be:

“Someone who is purposefully pursuing the reconciliation of people to God and to one another.”

Now, I also want you to look at this word peacemaker. Obviously, we can see that this compound word is comprised of two very common words: “peace” and “maker.”
The word peace in our passage from Isaiah is the Hebrew word shalom. We’ve talked about that world already. Remember, when a Jewish person said “Shalom” they were wishing on others the full presence, peace, and prosperity of all the blessedness of God. So then, the second part of the word in the term “peacemakers” comes from the Greek verb that means “to do” or “to make.” It is a word full of zeal in its own right. It demands action and initiative. Think about this in the context of our modern time. How many times have we seen the necessity of someone having to drag the combatants to the peacemaking table and give them a reason to put down their arms? This happens on the battlefield between countries, in the boardroom between corporations and sometimes in our own neighborhood’s. Let’s be honest, it can happen in our own living rooms too. Notice Jesus did not say “Blessed are the peacewishers or the peacehopers or even the peacetalkers.” Peace must be made. Peace never happens by chance. A peacemaker is never passive. They are always taking the initiative. They are making things happen by their actions!

So, when these two words are used together, “peace” and “maker,” we get a picture of someone who works towards more than the absence of conflict; they don’t avoid conflict (in fact, sometimes, peacemaking will create conflict); they aren’t trying to accommodate everyone.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Thus the peacemaker is a citizen, and though he be a Christian, he remembers that Christianity does not require him to forego his citizenship, but to use and to improve it for Christ’s glory.”

Jesus modelled this for us. He showed us that Peacemaking is a divine work. As Isaiah prophesied, God is the author of peace. And Jesus is the supreme Peacemaker. Jesus came to establish peace; His message explained peace; His death purchased peace; and His resurrected presence enables peace.

This messianic prediction was that He would be the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). The angels announced His birth by singing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” (Luke 2:14).
Just before He was crucified, some of Jesus’ last words to those He loved were, “Peace I leave with you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27). and then When the Lord returned after the resurrection, His first word to the disciples was “Shalom.” “Peace be with you!” (Luke 24:36).

The life of Jesus was full with His mission to not only bring the peace of God but to launch the healing relationships of peace with God. He paid an enormous price for us to experience peace. Jesus saw the gravity of our problem and He refused to sweep it under the rug or stick His head in the sand; and only a drastic solution would suffice, so He “made peace” by shedding His blood on the cross. Jesus Christ is our foremost example in bringing peace in our hearts, our relationships, our church, our nation, and our world.

So, if our life’s journey is one of sanctification, through the work of the Holy Spirit to become Christlike, then Peacemaking must be a part of our calling. Unfortunately, as I suspect many of you know, that task, is rarely easy or pretty. And those who do it will often be misunderstood and unfortunately, when we read the words of Jesus, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” we say, “Oh, that’s nice.” But peacemaking is not always nice. Peacemaking can be messy and taxing work. It takes time and a lot of emotional energy. And, let me be real here as well, sometimes, peacemaking does not work. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he counsels,

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

— Romans 12:18

So yes, we are to live at peace with everyone. That is a pretty clear command. But Paul adds this all-important phrase, “If it is possible.” Sometimes peace isn’t possible. There are always going to be those testy and cranky types who just go through life picking fights with everyone they meet. You can’t always live at peace with people like that and you are not called to that either.

This second part of Paul’s phrase “as far as it depends on you.” is very important too. The true mark of a Disciple of Christ is the desire as much as the ability to get along with other people. The witness of a church should be its ability to get along with other people. We have a God-given, scripturally directed responsibility to pursue peace. The apostle Paul instructs us, “God has called you to peace” (1 Cor. 7:15). Does that mean we agree with everything others say or do? No. Sometimes we agree to disagree, agreeably. God wants us to be bridge builders. So, in the various contexts of our own lives, we should be asking, What can I do to build those bridges of peace? What steps should I employ to actively reconcile people to God and to one another? Here’s just two for you to consider: