Being a Peacemaker
Pastor Tan Thai · Sep 27, 2015
Based on Matthew 5:9, this sermon calls believers not merely to love peace but to actively become peacemakers in their families, churches, and communities. Those who make peace need the character qualities of humility, compassion, integrity, and willingness to pay the cost for genuine reconciliation.
The sermon opens by situating the message within the ongoing series "What to Do with Your Life," focusing on Matthew 5:9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." The pastor draws on the devastating consequences of conflict throughout history — the American Civil War, the Korean War, and even a church split within his own congregation — to emphasize that disharmony destroys from within.
The sermon draws a sharp distinction between peacemakers and peacekeepers. A peacemaker actively engages to resolve conflict, while a peacekeeper passively avoids confrontation, unwilling to speak the truth for fear of offending others. The example of British Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler illustrates the danger of cheap peace — a false and temporary reconciliation. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's work "The Cost of Discipleship" is referenced to contrast cheap grace with costly grace, drawing a parallel to cheap peace versus genuine peace.
The sermon outlines the character qualities required of a peacemaker as reflected in the Beatitudes: awareness of one's own sinfulness and need for reconciliation with God through Christ, genuine repentance, meekness and humility, hunger for righteousness, mercy and forgiveness, and sincere integrity. The peacemaker must also possess knowledge of God's Word, wisdom, and experience, and must be careful in speech (Ephesians 4:29) while still having the courage to speak the truth in love.
The pastor explains two dimensions of peace from Romans 12:18–19 and 14:19: first, each believer must work to reconcile broken relationships in their own life — avoiding strife, releasing bitterness, seeking and granting forgiveness — before they can effectively help others find peace. The example of Paul's appeal in Philippians 4:2–3, where he asks fellow believers to help reconcile Euodia and Syntyche, shows that peacemaking responsibility belongs not only to leaders but to the whole congregation.
The sermon closes with the story of a boy named Jimmy who blames everyone else for his conflicts without examining himself, as a reminder that those always at odds with others must look inward first. Believers are called to live with the intentional purpose of bringing peace to every place they inhabit — family, church, and society — and in doing so earn the honor of being called children of God.