Peacemakers

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:07] Speaker A: Pastor Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast. And today on this Wednesday, we're talking about peacemaking. Peacemaking is a part of Advent Week 2, the week of peace. Now, let me just stop and say peacemaking is not for the faint of heart. This is not about somebody who just rolls over on everything because Jesus says, and this is from the Message in Matthew 5:9. You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are and your place in God's family. Now I love how Eugene Peterson took that and made that so simple. Peacemakers don't sit on the sidelines and hope that things calm down. They walk toward the tension with a different agenda. They walk toward healing instead of winning, restoration instead of being right. Peacemaking isn't pretending everything is okay. It's not stuffing your anger. It's not ignoring the elephant in the room or slapping a Bible verse over a deep wound. It's that hard, brave work of moving toward what's broken with grace and honesty. Followers of Jesus step into conflict with a different posture. Not how do I come out on top, but how can Jesus bring healing here through me? This is not weakness, this is courage with a cross shaped center. How in the world do we do that? I mean, how do you sustain that kind of peace in a world like this? Well, Paul writes, and again from the Message in Philippians 4. 7, before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good will come in such settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. That's not a moment, that's a way of living. You see, sustaining peace means returning again and again and again to the source, back to Jesus. When your heart drifts, when your mind spirals, and when the conflict is wearing you out, picture God's peace like a guard posted at the door of your inner life. When anxiety crowds in, that peace steps forward and says, you do not get the final word here. When anger rises, peace whispers, you're still held. He's got you. When the world shakes, peace reminds you you're not alone. Peace isn't the absence of pressure. It's the presence of Christ standing over your heart and your mind. Now imagine a community like Sugar Hill or Peachtree Corners or Norcross or Duluth or Suwannee actually living this way. People who walk into their neighborhoods, workplaces and families as peacemakers. Folks who listen before they argue, who forgive quickly and love deeply. Who respond to chaos with compassion because they've already made peace internally with God. And that kind of peace, y', all, it's contagious. It speaks louder than our differences. It lights up dark spaces without shouting. Maybe that's what Advent is really about. Learning to wait for the Prince of Peace in such a way that when he comes again, he finds us already living like he's here. As you picture that candle of peace being lit, remember, peace isn't found in more control, more comfort, or everybody finally agreeing with you. Peace is found in surrender and trusting that the same God who broke into the night over Bethlehem can still break into the darkness of your anxious heart. True peace doesn't start when the world calms down. It starts when Christ is allowed to rule within your soul and on your heart. It's not the kind of peace that shows up only when everything goes right, but the kind that holds steady when nothing seems to go right. God bless your friend. Thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast. We've talked a little bit more about this wondrous thing called peace. The greatest gift that we could ever receive is greater peace. My prayer is that you'd experience that today in the Christ who came and still reigns. God bless you. Bye now.