United in ChristНамуна

Peacemakers in Christ

Cal and Lisa Jernigan

Imagine that today you were given the opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes. How many important and life-changing lessons could you draw from this experience? Today, I want to invite you to put on your “unity lens” and to start seeing yourself as a blessed peacemaker.

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

For the past several years, we have been engaged in the work of peacemaking. While there are lots of applications, we have especially been drawn to the Middle East and, most specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This has not been an easy journey for us personally or for our church. 

Making peace can be (and usually is) disorienting and discomforting, as you must enter into someone else’s world and begin to see the world through their eyes and understand their “lens.” It’s far easier just to opt out and call it good. 

However, out of this conflict in the Holy Land, we have seen God’s kingdom and His heart for the nations in new, convicting, and engaging ways. We have met with people in a posture of listening and learning, sitting in a variety of spaces: homes, refugee camps, settlements, churches, mosques, synagogues, and government offices. We have listened to people speak of unimaginable suffering and loss. We have also sat with the most amazing peacemakers, who work tirelessly, believing peace is possible and worth the sacrifices. 

Reflect

Our journey of learning to live as everyday peacemakers has led us to ask ourselves some hard questions. One significant question is, “How do we love the ‘other’?” This is a question we are challenging ourselves and our church to understand and to live. Who is the other? 

Consider

The other is the one different from you—the one of a different faith, a different ethnicity, skin color, gender persuasion . . . There is no end to the number of “others” to be encountered. We are all so different when you think about it. The struggle is to learn how to love “the other” because they are different, not in spite of their difference. This is a journey that needs to be taken if we are ever going to usher in peace and unity and make a difference in this world. Unity is not about total agreement, but about entering into a dialogue to listen and learn without the need to debate. It is part of our effort to remain in love, to value Jesus’ sacrifice, and to keep His commandment.

Prayer

Beloved Father, thank you for setting the example. Thank you, Jesus, for being the ultimate peacemaker. I pray that as your child, your love will teach me to be a peacemaker wherever I may be. Amen.