They will be called...

It's an ironic thought, because as you will read shortly from the text, they clearly have been called already to the task at hand.  The people spoken about in this verse are on a mission... one that all Christians should endeavor to take on... and that is the mission of peace.  This one, like the one in verse 7, has to do with an outward action toward the world at first glance, and that is a solid application.  It also has to do with a similar inward glance, like verse 8, and that is a solid application, as well.  But either way, the goal is the same: peace.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God."

Matthew 5:9

In a seminar last year, I learned that there is a drastic difference between a peacemaker and a peace-faker.  Those people who truly seek to make peace are filled with compassion for those they meet, and they forgive as God forgives: completely, 100%, for all time, never to be brought up again in an argument about something recent that is reminiscent of some past transgression... forgiven.  These people breathe grace freely upon others, and they serve as an inspirational model for the brothers and sisters around them at all times.  They are vital, because conflict exists in all our lives, and we need to know how to forgive and make peace.

And then there's a whole other set of peacemakers... the ones who make peace with the Father by accepting Christ as Savior.  These people (we'll call them, oh I don't know, how about "Christians") have all come to the realization, through the leading of the Spirit, that they are incomplete apart from God.  They grew tired of being set apart FROM Him, and yearned to be set apart TO Him, and therefore admitted that sin was real and frightening, and that they needed a Redeemer capable of bridging the gap between them and the Father.  That Redeemer, of course, is Christ Jesus, Emmanuel, the Messiah.  And in accepting Him as Lord and Savior, do you know what they all have done?  It's the same thing you and I have done.  Each and every one of us has made peace with ourselves in the truth that we are born sinful and horrid things, and that we cannot ever escape that.  We have accepted that we are incapable of ever earning the grace bestowed upon us through Christ's Atonement for our sins.  And in doing so, by calling upon Him to save us, we become co-heirs with Him.

Further, to be called "sons of God" carries some weight with it, right?  Not weight you can throw around like the son of a wealthy businessman or an heir to an earthly throne might, but rather weight that we must carry with us.  It is the weight of responsibility and accountability, to God, to His Word, to the truth, to each other, and to ourselves.  Our lives become weighted in this sense by being known to be Christians, followers of the Bible... but the weight is actually freeing and allows us to move faster and better than before, because we have shed that which is nothing yet outweighs everything in life: fear.  We have no reason to fear anything eternally as sons of God, for we know where our placement is.  And that means that we can pursue righteousness, His righteousness, with reckless abandon!

In that pursuit, the engaging of others should follow the pattern in which Christ engaged people He met, and that is one of peacemaking and forgiveness.  Christ forgave many, many people who were (by our very human and limited understanding) certainly not worthy of it, right?  I mean, that guy up on the cross, begging for blessing right before death as a convicted criminal?  But you see, his earthly crimes and conviction were accepted by him in that moment, and he made peace with his fate while at the same time acknowledging that Christ had done nothing wrong, certainly nothing to deserve this punishment... and for accepting himself as flawed and seeing Christ as perfect, for humbling himself before the Son of God, that man was granted freedom and peace everlasting with Christ in Heaven.

Since He is the one and only Son of God, I do feel it necessary to point out that He made peace for many people, following this precise model and its results.  And has it sunk in yet that one of those people for whom Christ stood in the way of hell and death was you?  We often think that we're "not that bad" simply because we haven't ever gone to prison or been in a courtroom facing conviction like the man beside Christ on a cross, but we are... we really are.  And He made peace for us with the Father, so that we could be reconciled back to Him.

Are you a peacemaker?  Am I?  Hopefully we can answer that question in the positive, but if we cannot, then at least we have something to pray about today.  So join me in the prayer to become more of a peacemaker, more of a grace breather... more Christ-like in life and living.

God bless you all!!!