Reflection on the theme “Revolutionary Peacemaking” for our October gathering
by Joe Gatlin, Hope Fellowship
Peacemaking is a lifelong vocation for those who claim Jesus. Or at least it should be.
No doubt we are living in a world of conflict, but I don’t think the current degree or scope of “bad things” makes our present day exceptional. Consider 1969, the year I turned 17. Prominent among other conflicts in the chaos of that time was the raging war in Vietnam.
In a Sunday evening church class a teacher and mentor asked, “Would Jesus go fight in the war?” I had never considered the question, but it took me no more than three seconds to respond, “Of course not!” Absurd, I thought. Jesus came to save the whole world. As well as my classmates at school, that included Vietnamese civilians and North Vietnamese soldiers.
A year earlier, when Jesus asked me to be his disciple, I had said yes. So that fateful fall evening it took only another three seconds for me to realize this new insight about Jesus and the war held deeply personal implications. The seventh beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” was suddenly specific, consequential, and defining for my future.
In the intervening half-century since then and now, seven things have become clear to me about peacemaking.
1. Our world is still desperately broken. God’s promised shalom has not been delivered through the peacemaking efforts of myself, my community, or the many Christian peacemakers spread all over the world.
2. Jesus is our peace. He has brought near those who were far away. He has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between those who were formerly aliens to each other (Eph 11:13-14).
3. Peacemaking is our doxology. In that the fulfillment of God’s revolution has been promised and assured the work is done (Rev 21: 5-6). Our peacemaking does not get us from here to there, instead it is a matter of “living in the there,” of taking on the ministry of reconciliation. We are freed from personal concerns to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters, to serve our neighbors, and to love our enemies.
4. There is no one peacemaking recipe, no one strategy, no one answer or response for every conflict. However, and that’s a very big however, God has not left us to discern these difficult matters on our own. The Holy Spirit will provide guidance and let us know what it means to pick up the cross of Jesus not only in every age but also in every circumstance.
5. The desire of the Holy Spirit is best discerned corporately through the gathered community of believers.
6. Our witness is living in redeemed community with those called the children of God, aka peacemakers.
7. Somehow in some mysterious way this vocation of making peace ties us to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s revolution in the world.
We need encouragement from each other. We need the wisdom of older communities and veterans. We need the passion and energy of newer and younger communities. We need the questions and fresh perspectives of seekers. This is why we make a priority of visiting with each other even when it is costly in time and money, of praying for other communities and responding to their needs, of sharing our questions and reflections in various gatherings of communities both in-person and virtually. Networking is peace-making. Come Lord Jesus.