Peace Maker

Today at Story Church we talked about what it means to have peace or shalom in your life. Listening to the sermon made me think of a few things.

I remember a time when I was a senior in high school. I was there in gym class when I heard that one of the guys was going to start a fight right after gym class during transition time. I remember having a sick feeling of excitement that the fight would finally happen. Some of my feeling was that their conflict might have a hope of being resolved. Most of it was just the fact that I wanted to see a good fight.

As the second guy walked out in front of the gym the fight began. It went on for a little bit, and my friend Luke began to start trying to break it up. I could not understand why he was doing this. He put himself in a position to be hurt, even though he was not part of the conflict. After he got involved, the fight slowed and then stopped as teachers finally made their way out to supervise us.

I asked Luke later, “Why did you want to get involved?” He simply said, “Blessed are the peace makers.” I have to admit, I really thought he was a little crazy still, but I was deeply convicted by what he said. I think being an eighteen year old kid, I thought he was talking about peace in the way that a hippy from Woodstock meant. I have realized over the last seventeen years of my life, just what a peace maker really is. It is someone who proactively makes peace, especially in situations that might normally be chaotic and out of our control.
Today, I was reminded of this time in my life. I realized again, that it is a touchstone of my faith that I thought I had forgotten. Blessed are the peace makers. May I become one today.