By Victoria Ostrosky
Clyde was quite proud of his appearance. And his voice. He wasn’t what you’d call musical, but he was loud and that’s what he liked. His feathers were a stunning black with a patch of red on his shoulders. He thought he looked a bit like a General. You can guess that he was not just a proud red-winged blackbird, but a bully.
Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow, or Jack and Jill as their friends called them, were small and non-descript, the color of unpainted, weathered wood, except for the smudge of mahogany and black with a hint of white on Jack’s head. Their friends were other sparrows, mourning doves, finches, and wrens. These friends kept each other up to date on the location of the best feeders in the neighborhood, and when they were freshly restocked.
One particular backyard was a huge favorite. It was fenced and quiet, filled with flowers and no dogs or cats to startle them when they took their dinner on the ground. Lately, they’d been taking their meals on the ground more since Big Clyde was hanging around. When Clyde claimed a feeder, no one else was going to eat from it until he decided to leave and bother someone else.
On a recent afternoon, Clyde had been especially, well, noisy and irascible. He kept returning to their favorite feeder, so Jack and Jill and a small group of their friends – about a dozen in all – decided to just enjoy their meal on the grass, without paying attention to Clyde the bully above them. Clyde had this habit that was actually helpful to anyone eating on the ground. He loved to fling seeds while he dug for his favorite morsels. This was almost as good as someone in a parade float throwing out handfuls of candy to the watching crowds.
Clyde suddenly stopped what he was doing, cocked his head, looking down in confusion. Jack and Jill and their friends ignored him and kept eating.
Peacekeeping is a little like this. We keep the peace when we avoid unnecessary conflict. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 12:18, told the believers, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” When the world seems to have lost its collective mind, searching for things to get offended over, this verse is a good anchor to commit to memory. But our brother Paul didn’t stop there. He also encouraged the church in Thessalonica, “to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…”
Peacemaking, on the flip side, is different. In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, He spoke about peacemaking more than once. Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” And then a little later in the same chapter, verses 23 and 24 “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.”
As Jesus showed in these word pictures, in God’s kingdom, forgiveness is a big deal. Peacemaking happens when you step in and seek either reconciliation between yourself and someone you’ve wronged or has wronged you, or bring others together, assisting them in finding peace between themselves.
Civil disobedience, when it comes to obeying God rather than men, can seem like the opposite of peacekeeping or peacemaking. Standing up for truth in the face of wickedness is necessary. We are, after all, to be salt and light. And Jesus said that truth needs to be shouted from the housetops. But it all needs to be done in a spirit of gentleness, never violence.
As followers of Jesus, our lives are to reflect the transformation that occurred within us when we were born again. We’re called to practice peacekeeping as a way of life, and other times, peacemaking. As the Holy Spirit works in us, making us more and more like Jesus, we’ll find increasing opportunities to put these into practice. The world needs peace like never before.
“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when He judges the world.” (I Peter 2:12 – NLT)
Author: Sowal Editor
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