Blessed Are the Peacemakers

For Thursday, September 15, 2005
Proverbs 12:20

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.

The late French philosopher Jacques Derrida suggested that the only purely ethical act is the one that is done with no expectation of benefit, not even the benefit of finding satisfaction in the joy of others. Happily, the Scriptures have no such scruples.

In today's proverb the benefit of joy is held out to those who "plan peace." As followers of Christ we are called upon to pursue the peaceable good of our neighbors: building bonds of concord in our communities, giving counsels of peace to those who seek our advice, healing rifts between those who are at odds, buidling understanding among those who have differences, promoting the serenity of bodily health, working for a social justice that reconciles neighbors, and so on.

Those who do these things will find joy, particularly, I think, the joy that comes through sharing in the joy of others, the kind of joy that circulates among those who live together in peace. Far from the quasi-stoicism of disinterested altruism, the biblical ideal is one of joyful reciprocity.

The proverb, however, also warns that those who devise evil will be cut off from such joy, turned inward to the darkness of their own hearts. A heart that fails to seek peace turns cold and brittle with suspicion and fear, lost in the deceitful illusions of its own making, unable to see clearly or to hear aright, seeing every good thing as somehow sinister.

But Jesus promises us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." In seeking peace among God's people, therefore, we live togehter as sons who bear the likeness of God, who know the eternal peace and joy of God's Triune life. Lord, make us instruments of your peace.