Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Mar/87

Contributor - Freda Witteveen

Title - Blessed Are The Peacemakers

Topic - Women

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in the one body." (Colossians 3:12- 1 5 RSV) The fourth in a series on PEACE based on the presentation of Rev. Marchiene Rienstra at the 1986 RCW Triennial Celebration in California.

It was the evening before the Editorial Committee meeting and my article was not yet prepared. I had taken my material to work with me thinking that during the long evening shift, which is usually quiet, I would have time to work on it. However, my inner peace was shattered as well as the physical peace of the office when two persons were lodged in the cells at the police station where I work part-time. Two of the police officers were injured, not seriously, thank the Lord, but the night was busy with paper work and observing the prisoners. I thought back to the words of Rev. Rienstra when she asked, "How can we be Peacemakers when our hearts are not Peaceful (full of peace)?"

Sincerely my heart was not filled with peace under those circumstances and indeed, my article was late. But I am grateful that I have the opportunity to go back and study this idea of peace and what I must do in my life to have peace. I pray it will also work for you.

Rev. Rienstra made a strong statement: "We Christians, to the extent that we fail to live together with each other in peace, are responsible for the ongoing conflict and war in this world, because we are the instruments of God's peace; and how can the world believe that Christ is their peace if we (Christians) do not demonstrate it?" That is why, in every congregation, in every Christian community and Christian family, the most important thing is that we live together in peace, a peace that forgives, that bears with one another and lives the peace which is given to us. We need to live the riches we have: we need to use the inheritance we have been given.

How do we do that? Rev. Rienstra urges us to specific actions. It is not enough to have a vague feeling we are unified. Living together in peace is hard work. Because we are all fallible, weak humans, it takes determined, planned for actions, just as it would in spending an inheritance.

I. WORSHIP

The Scriptures tell us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you and among you richly." Also we read: "Teach one another in all wisdom," and throughout the Bible we receive the instruction and example to pray. In other words, we are to worship together. The single, greatest purpose of worship is not so we can be like a car, driving up to a gas station and getting filled up for the week ahead, and then being upset if we did not get good gas. Worship is the single most binding force in creating a community for Christ when people pray together, sing together, listen to God's word together, and give offerings together. Nothing, when done in the right spirit, binds a community more closely together. That is why, when enemies of the church try to take over, the first thing they do is to try to destroy worship, because these enemies know that without worship there can be no Christian community. When Christians absent themselves from worship without a good reason, it is a sin against love and against the community of believers. Our first practical action is to gather faithfully in congregational worship and in small groups of whatever number to sing and pray and share God's word.

II. ATTITUDE

Another instruction we find in Scripture is "Clothe yourselves . . ." We put a lot of work into our clothing in our Western civilization. We go shopping spending energy and money, so we look nice, and we spend time and energy in keeping our clothes nice. We must spend the same energy in clothing ourselves with kindness, humility and love. Clothing for ourselves is usually very deliberate: we shop and make decisions on what to buy, we decide each day what we should wear, we have preferences. This does not come about by accident. Perhaps it would be helpful in the morning as you dress, to think of the clothing of kindness and gentleness, compassion and humility, and as you put on your garments foy the day, ask the Lord to make sure that you stay clothed in the beauty of those qualities for that day, and especially for the one that wraps it all together, which is love. That is a practical action we can take.

III. FORGIVENESS

Human beings have a capacity to hurt one another through carelessness and thoughtlessness. Scripture says, "Bear with one another and forgive each other as soon as a quarrel starts." It must start with us: Christians have to demonstrate what it means to be forgiving because many of the conflicts in society and in the world come down to a refusal of both parties to forgive.

To forgive does not mean that you approve of what the person did. Turn the word around and it becomes "give for", so that instead of holding a grievance against that person causing tension, you open up your helping hands. You are willing to give yourself for that person's good. By the action of doing something for that other person's welfare, your feelings can change. We can act our way into new feelings for we are aware that the longer a canker sits in our souls, the more damage it will do.

Consider what is best for each other and for the community. We should be dismayed by how often we think of what WE want when there is something to be done or needed. The way to peace, according to Rev. Rienstra, is to see what is best for the whole community, not to suit a personal like or dislike. This kind of response would be to swim against the stream of our culture which is very individualistic and which encourages everyone to look out for "number one". We know better, as a Reformed people.

IV. REPRESENTATIVES

Finally the Scripture provides a strong directive which says that whenever we speak or act we are to do so in the name of Jesus Christ. Just as a police officer acts as a representative of the law, we are always to act and speak as representatives of Jesus Christ to each other. We have been elected to RE PRESENT Jesus to the world by what we say and what we do.

James tells us there are little seeds of peace we can sow and God will give a harvest beyond the size of those tiny seeds, like the rippling waves of a grain field before the harvest which is so much more magnificent than the tiny seeds which entered the soil. Our little seed actions of peacemaking will be honoured by God with a harvest of "goodness", to awaken in the heart of the whole human family a hunger for peace.

Let this also be our prayer in this season of Lent.

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