Lonely Exile: A Daily Advent Devotional

Part Fourteen: Blessed Are the Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Matthew 5:9, NRSVue

As we conclude the second week of Advent, the week that is focused on peace, we should pause to reflect on what it means to be people who choose the path of peacemaking.

In the pronouncement of blessings we know as the Beatitudes, Jesus calls the peacemakers “children of God.” What does that mean? In one sense, we are all children of God. God is our creator and it is in Their image that we are made. I don’t think Jesus is referring to that general, universal sense of the meaning.

When I think about this Beatitude, I can’t help but think of the times my wife and I have watched our kids attempt to walk around in our shoes. When they were small and just starting to walk they would step into our shoes and try to walk around the house. They would inevitably fall many, many times. Now that they are older they still, from time to time, will attempt to slip on our shoes and walk around the house. Sure enough, they do better now than they did back then. Practice may not make perfect, but it does help.

When I think of what it means to be a peacemaker, this is the image that often comes to mind. Children attempting to walk in their parents’ shoes. Humans attempting to walk in God’s shoes. We may not do it perfectly, but we are most imitating God when we are seeking to make peace on earth. Blessed are those who try to walk in God’s shoes—even if we stumble and fall again and again—because the practice of peacemaking means that we are embodying the very heart of God to the world.

Questions for Reflection:

What does the work peacemaking mean to you?
Have you ever found yourself in this role?
What did you find meaningful or challenging about it?