The Cost of Discipleship: Pure Peacemakers

Matthew 5: 1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

      

SERMON         The Cost of Discipleship: Pure Peacemakers

I have mentioned to some of you that I am working pretty hard right now to lose weight. I've been doing this since before Christmas, and for the most part I'm finding that I can be pretty disciplined about it. There are many tools and tricks that I’m relying on: keeping only the right kinds of food in my house, staying connected with supportive people, learning to say politely no, thank you, especially to things like the wonderful desserts that are put out on Sundays during fellowship time, like shortbread and brownies and pies….(sigh) … and one that might seem strange to you, but it seems necessary for me: if people on my Facebook page post pictures of yummy pizzas or desserts or pastas with cream sauce, I click on the option that says I don't want to see this, and poof! that picture is gone. This is, I suppose, my way of saying - lead me not into temptation. Out of sight, out of mind.

I realized the other day that it's not only Facebook I do this with. If I sit down in the evening  and turn on the TV, and a commercial comes on for fast food or something that is clearly created to give me a craving, to make me feel hungry, I mute it so I don't need to listen to it. It’s just better for me if I don’t think about it.

I actually do this for other things on TV as well. Especially ads for shows that are violent. I can’t stand violent TV shows. I never have liked them. I don't really understand why people would want to watch people killing one another. How can this be entertainment? So those are times when I'm especially happy for my remote: I can switch the channel or mute the TV at the touch of a button, focus on my knitting until the commercials are over. How cool is that…

But when Jesus says, Blessed are the peacemakers, he is not talking about people like me who choose to ignore violence. He is saying that those who actually do something to try to bring about peace are blessed. And what am I really doing about peacemaking when I just ignore violence? Turning away is not enough.

Thinking about food again, and my weight loss efforts, it's not enough for me to just ignore pizzas or sweet treats. I also have to have healthy food in the house, and I have to choose healthy food when I go out to eat, in order for me to lose weight.

With respect to peacemaking, it's not enough to turn off the violence on my radio or my television, whether it's for entertainment or for news purposes. What should I be doing to be a peacemaker myself?

Each Sunday in Lent, we’ve been turning to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship, for his insights on what these Beatitudes meant for Jesus’ disciples then, and what they mean for us now. Bonhoeffer says this about peacemaking:

“And to that end [meaning peacemaking,] [the disciples] renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods. His kingdom is one of peace, and the mutual greeting of his flock is a greeting of peace. His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce all self-assertion, and quietly suffer in the face of hatred and wrong. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.

These are not only the things that we must do as peacemakers – these are exactly the things that Jesus did, all through his ministry, all the way to the cross. Jesus chose to endure the worst type of suffering imaginable, rather than inflict it on others, rather than letting it be what ultimately consumes us. Jesus maintained relationship where others would not – with sinners and lepers and outcasts of all kinds. He did not assert himself, although he easily could have brought forward all the power of the universe. He quietly suffered the hatred and wrongdoing of others. And in that way he conquered evil with good, once and for all time, and he established the peace of God in this world, here for all of us to claim, to proclaim, and to practice, if we choose to do so, even in the midst of a world full of war and hate – then and now.

We do live in a world that tolerates and even embraces violence against others, both our loved ones and our enemies.  Parker Palmer wrote the book we begin discussing tomorrow in our Monday morning study group. He describes violence in that book as “any way we have of violating the identity and integrity of another person.” Whether we violate the identity and integrity of another with a gun, or with a word or behavior, or we do it even with our thoughts and feelings about a person, Jesus has told us that it is just as if we doing it to him.

Violence is not only physical in nature, the kind that leads to bodily injury or death, but there is also spiritual violence – the kind of violence that happens

         when parents insult children;

         when physicians treat patients as objects;

         when supervisors treat employees as disposable means to economic ends;

         when people condemn those who they perceive to be different, not like them, and even worse, when they do it “in the name of God”.

These acts of spiritual violence may not lead to bodily injury or death, like physical violence does, but they do cause injury or death –

         they injure one’s sense of self;

         they injure the ability to trust in others;

         they kill risk taking on behalf of creativity;

         they wound one’s sense of  commitment to the common good.

But the peacemakers will be called children of God. We are invited to come to God like little children would – trusting, joyful, loving, without pretense or suspicion. That would be the way of peacemaking, wouldn’t it? The children know….

And that would also be the way of life for those who are pure in heart. Bonhoeffer says,

“The pure in heart have a child-like simplicity like Adam before the fall, innocent alike of good and evil: their hearts are not ruled by their conscience, but by the will of Jesus.”

So for me to be pure in heart means that I conduct myself with integrity. I make my life as undivided as possible. If I say that my life is dedicated to following Jesus Christ, then I follow Jesus Christ and his teachings as completely as I can. I trust that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and that I will be saved by nothing else and no one else but him. If I don't do this, I will soon find myself rationalizing behaviors that do not make for peace. Just like I can rationalize why it's okay to have just one piece of dessert, and then before I know it I’m giving in to temptation over and over and over again. Once I start, it just continues to increase, until too much of my calories are coming from the wrong things.

In the same way, once I start to rationalize why it's okay or appropriate to fear other people, to reject certain behaviors, to love selectively, to trust conditionally, that pattern of thought and intention begins to increase, until there are few situations in which I really am trying to be a peacemaker.

To be a peacemaker takes practice. And we need to practice most when it's hard, when it’s risky, when it has nothing to do with our own reward.

I must be willing to say what I believe about peacemaking whenever I have the chance.

I must practice peacemaking by taking it out into the world.

I must show my faith by believing with my whole life – not just with my remote control, or in my head, or with my lips, or out of habit, or just on Sundays, but seeking to be in community with the human Christ, in every situation in my life.

There’s a new book out called “Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers”, by Michael Long. In case you didn’t know, Mister Rogers – Fred Rogers – was an ordained Presbyterian minister who considered his pulpit to be his television show for children. The introduction to the book speaks of a letter that Mr. Rogers wrote to Ellen Goodman, a columnist for the Boston Globe, who had criticized a Public Service Announcement he had made for preschool children during the Persian Gulf War. She basically said that he was coming from the Kingdom of Make Believe when he told them “they’d always have someone to love you, no matter what.” So Mr. Rogers wrote her a letter in response to her column.

He wrote, "Having been an appreciative reader of your excellent work for years, I was concerned when I read the column in which you "clicked" our public service announcement for preschool children in this horrendous  world crisis."

Rogers did not launch at Goodman, but he did feel the need to explain his actions, gently but firmly, so she might better understand. "When PBS asked if I would speak about conflict to families of preschoolers, my first reaction was not to do anything about the war in this medium which seemed to broadcast nonstop the "Scud versus Patriot Show," he offered. "But then I started to hear more and more about young children’s fears, and I prayed for the inspiration to do something helpful."

Rogers added that the result of his prayers, the PSA's Goodman criticized, echoed his earlier work in another time of crisis. After the assassination of Pres. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Junior, and Robert Kennedy, he had written and taped a program in which he asked families to include their children in the grieving process. "Our country was in mass mourning," he explained. "It was then that I realized more fully how speaking the truth about feelings – even on television – could be exceedingly curative."

So in spite of his initial reticence, Rogers accepted the invitation from PBS by doing what he did best – speaking directly to children and their families about their hopes and fears. He summed it up for Goodman:

Even though I don't make policy in this country, I do feel an obligation to give the best I know how to families with young children when policies (of government and television) are affecting those families so directly. That's why I agreed to do anything at all. I lament for the world (not the Neighborhood of Make Believe!) because the abuses of war breed abusers who grow up to sow the seeds of future wars. Anything I can do to bring a modicum of comfort to a little one, I will do. (How I would love for my 2 1/2-year-old grandson to be able to grow up in a world which refuses to abuse its children!) Even though I felt helpless in some ways (because of the onset of the war), I was grateful (as I imagine you must be at times) to have an avenue in which to express the truth as I felt it for the children I've always tried to serve.

But it wasn't just gratitude that Rogers was feeling as he finished his letter. "You can imagine my grief, "he wrote in a post script, "when I think of the many 20+-year-old men and women" active-duty "in this war who grew during the earliest years with our "neighborhood" program. How I long for them to be able to come back here and live the rest of their lives in peace. “

Jurgen Moltmann says,

“In Christ the despair that oppresses us becomes free to hope.

The arrogance with which we hinder ourselves and other people melts away,

and we become as open and as vulnerable as he was.”

As he was, on the cross.

As he was, throughout his ministry.

His strength was reflected in this openness and vulnerability.

Our strength as Christians comes only from being open and vulnerable, being ready to love others and to give our lives over to the one who gave his life for us. That is the way of pure peacemaking.