Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Building God’s Shalom

Nov 08, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Quiet Masks Broken Shalom

The world often confuses peacekeeping with true peacemaking. Peacekeeping avoids conflict to maintain surface calm, like parents silencing arguments rather than addressing root hurts. But shalom – God’s vision of wholeness – demands more than quiet. It requires confronting brokenness with courage, even when disruption feels risky. Lasting peace isn’t found in hiding from tension but in laboring to restore what fractures relationships and communities. This work begins by recognizing where we’ve preferred comfort over costly reconciliation. [44:07]

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

Reflection: Where have you settled for keeping the peace instead of making peace? What relationship or situation needs your courageous engagement rather than avoidance?

Day 2: Shalom’s Roots in the Soil of Struggle

Shalom isn’t spiritual escapism but tangible flourishing – bodies fed, injustices dismantled, neighbors embraced. Ancient Jerusalem’s name (Yerushalem) echoes this call: a city rooted in God’s wholeness. For 5,000 years, humanity has defaulted to conquest, but God’s people are to model a different way. Like farmers tending stubborn soil, peacemakers work where systems resist change. This isn’t passive hope but planting seeds of equity in cracked earth. [45:04]

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7, ESV)

Reflection: How does your spiritual life intersect with tangible needs in your community? What “cracked earth” might God be calling you to cultivate?

Day 3: The Myth That Violence Can Birth Peace

From Babylonian myths to superhero films, we’re taught chaos requires force to conquer. But redemptive violence is a lie – it may topple tyrants yet never plants shalom. Jesus’ cross exposes this myth: true power surrenders to transform. Peacemakers reject the spiral of retaliation, trusting God’s slow work of healing. Like Jeremiah, we must name false peace and labor for the real. [46:30]

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you feel pressure to solve problems through control or force? How might trusting God’s transformative way change your response?

Day 4: Flipping Tables Is Also Peacemaking

Jesus’ temple outburst wasn’t a loss of temper but a defense of shalom. He disrupted exploitation masquerading as piety. Peacemaking isn’t politeness – it’s dismantling systems that prey on the vulnerable. This requires discernment: when to listen gently, when to overturn tables. True shalom warriors carry both a towel and a whip, serving and confronting as love demands. [53:32]

“And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.” (John 2:15-16, ESV)

Reflection: Where is God inviting you to challenge exploitation? How can you balance bold truth with compassionate action?

Day 5: Movements, Not Miracles, Make Shalom

From Selma to Delhi, shalom advances through persistent collective action – boycotts, sit-ins, ballots. These aren’t grand victories but incremental obedience. Like farmworkers refusing to bend or Rosa Parks staying seated, peacemakers endure small fractures that split oppressive boulders. Our call isn’t to finish the work but to join the long march toward God’s wholeness. [56:03]

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, ESV)

Reflection: What small, faithful step can you take this week toward justice? Who needs your solidarity in the long march for shalom?

Sermon Summary

Peacekeeping wants quiet. It avoids confrontation, keeps the boat from rocking, and makes sure nobody gets upset. But the absence of an argument is not the same as peace. Shalom means wholeness, completeness, and soundness. It reaches into health, well-being, spiritual alignment, and the way people live together.

God brought forth a people intended for shalom in the middle of cultures built on conquest. The surrounding world trusted what Walter Wink calls “the myth of redemptive violence”: the belief that force can defeat evil and establish peace. Its familiar script requires a hero to destroy an enemy so that order can return. Yet violence can eliminate an opponent without creating lasting shalom. It feeds retaliation. An intended end of peace cannot be separated from the means used to pursue it.

Jesus’ blessing on peacemakers challenges that whole arrangement. The Beatitudes cannot be reduced to private spiritual tranquility while power and violence govern public life. God’s intention reaches into interpersonal and international relationships. Shalom has rarely been given a real chance because humanity keeps reaching for control.

Peacemaking is not passive, and it is not always nice. Jesus confronted exploitation in the temple and religious leaders who burdened vulnerable people. His cross reveals the resistance peacemakers face. Righteous relationships require more than avoiding trouble; they require justice, hospitality, fairness, and mutual responsibility.

Nonviolent movements offer concrete evidence that another way can work. Civil rights actions, women’s suffrage, farmworker boycotts, and resistance to colonial rule secured real changes without making violence the instrument of peace. Such work requires vulnerability and surrendering a measure of control. God’s shalom calls believers into that unfinished movement toward flourishing, connectedness, and well-being across the whole world God loves.

Key Takeaways

1. Quiet Is Not The Same As Peace. Avoiding confrontation may protect someone’s tranquility while leaving a broken relationship untouched. Shalom asks for more than the absence of raised voices; it seeks healing and wholeness. A peace maintained by fear and appeasement cannot last because the underlying trouble remains. [44:27]
2. Peace Cannot Be Built Through Retaliation. The myth of redemptive violence promises that destroying the right enemy will finally make life safe. Yet eliminating an opponent does not create the relationships that lasting shalom requires. The means matter because violence keeps feeding the cycle that the desired peace is supposed to end. [48:38]
3. Peacemaking Confronts Exploitation Rather Than Conflict. Jesus did not protect a quiet temple at the expense of the vulnerable people being exploited there. His confrontation exposes the difference between being nice and working for righteous relationships. Peacemakers may face resistance precisely because healing requires challenging arrangements that benefit powerful people. [53:09]
4. Nonviolence Requires Vulnerability Rather Than Control. Nonviolent movements have won concrete gains, but their work has required people to surrender a measure of control. The powers that benefit from existing arrangements do not readily share the benefits of peace. Participation in shalom therefore involves accepting vulnerability while continuing the unfinished work of justice and shared well-being. [56:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[43:09] - Following Jesus in an Unfavorable Climate
[43:35] - Quiet, Peacekeeping, and Avoiding Conflict
[44:40] - Shalom Means Wholeness
[46:03] - The Myth of Redemptive Violence
[48:38] - Violence Cannot Create Lasting Peace
[50:06] - The Beatitudes and Social Justice
[52:42] - Peacemaking Is Not Passive
[54:12] - Personal Peace Is Not Private Peace
[55:16] - Nonviolent Movements Toward Shalom
[56:54] - Vulnerability and the Surrender of Control
[57:33] - God’s Intention for the Whole World
[58:09] - Prayer to Reflect God’s Peace

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” [50:04]

Jeremiah 6:14
“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” [49:55]

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” [57:55]

Observation questions

What does shalom include beyond the absence of arguments or violence, and how does this help describe the work of peacemakers in Matthew 5:9? [44:54]
What contrast between eliminating an opponent and creating lasting peace helps explain the warning in Jeremiah 6:14? [48:45]
What actions of Jesus show that the peacemaking described in Matthew 5:9 can involve confrontation rather than avoiding conflict? [53:24]
What qualities of relationships and communities give concrete shape to the peacemaking Jesus blesses in Matthew 5:9? [54:52]

Interpretation questions

How might Jeremiah 6:14’s warning apply to a family or church that keeps disagreements quiet but leaves unfair treatment unaddressed? What would distinguish genuine healing from simply calming things down? [44:27]
Why might working for the peace Jesus blesses in Matthew 5:9 create conflict? How can a person distinguish confrontation aimed at healing from confrontation aimed at winning? [52:55]
How does Jesus’ description of peacemakers as God’s children connect peacemaking with reflecting God’s character? What difference would that make in how a church treats people who have little influence? [54:39]
How does God’s love for the world in John 3:16 challenge an understanding of peace limited to someone’s private spiritual comfort? Whose well-being might that narrow understanding overlook? [57:37]

Application questions

Where in your life are you keeping things quiet while a relationship remains strained? What might a safe, honest first step toward healing look like? [44:27]
When someone hurts or embarrasses you, what does getting even tend to look like for you? What could help you respond without feeding another round of hurt? [48:57]
Is there a situation at work, in your family, or in your church where being “nice” has made it harder to address unfair treatment? How could you speak up with care for those affected rather than a desire to win? [53:24]
Peacemaking involves giving up some control. In a difficult relationship, what outcome are you trying to control, and what might it look like to take responsibility for your own actions without forcing the other person’s response? [57:04]
Where do you see people in your community lacking fairness, welcome, or basic necessities? What is one practical, nonviolent effort you could join or support rather than trying to solve the problem alone? [55:01]
God’s concern reaches beyond the people closest to us. Is there a person or group whose well-being you tend to overlook? What could you do this week to listen to their experience and take their needs seriously? [57:37]

Sermon Clips

48s

#PeacemakingInAction

“Given its root in the concept of shalom, peacemakers proactively intervene to reconcile broken relationships, to build healing and wholeness. Peacemakers don't avoid conflict. In fact, sometimes peacemaking creates conflict. We see that with Jesus. As the epitome of love, he wasn't always nice. At least not in the way modern people describe niceness. He burst into the temple and flipped over tables because poor vulnerable people were being exploited in the temple for profit.”

74s

#BeyondPeacekeeping

“We might call it peacemaking. I mean, peacekeeping, but it's not peacemaking. Peacekeeping tries not to rock the boat. It it avoids conflict and and it's very superficial. It ensures no one gets upset. And that's not really peace. When out of fear, we avoid confrontation and appease people, the peace we keep won't last. Trust me. I am a world class avoider of confrontation. The Hebrew word for peace is the familiar shalom. It means to be whole or complete or sound. It goes beyond the peacekeeping absence of violence, absence of argument. It covers health, prosperity, general well-being, as well as spiritual alignment.”

64s

#GiveShalomAChance

“Jesus offered shalom as god's intention for humanity. Humanity transformed shalom into personal spiritual tranquility and a secure life after death and ignored it. And we're still left with a difficult task of connecting Jesus' teachings. Indeed, his entire life to the universal reach of god's shalom. The Christian nationalists claim it doesn't work. But if it doesn't work, it's because it's rarely been tried. For five thousand years, the human race has trusted power and control. Violently enforced if necessary. And therefore, he's never given shalom a real chance. But peacemaking is not passive.”

55s

#ChooseVulnerablePeacemaking

“But it involves giving up a measure of control. It requires the peacemaker to be vulnerable because the powers that be are reluctant to give up control and share the benefits of peace. What we see through these nonviolent movements toward peace is exactly that, pieces of a movement. A movement in which we can participate beginning at the polls. A movement towards shalom. God's universal intention for flourishing, deep, connectedness, and holistic well-being across personal, interpersonal, social, and international dimensions within and across the whole created cosmos.”

53s

#ShalomForAll

“Rooted in the idea that everybody belongs, shalom describes how god intends humans to relate to one another. Replacing division with justice, hospitality, fairness, and mutual responsibility. Building neighborhoods, economies, and institutions in which all people have what they need to survive. Nonviolence on the Edmond Perez Bridge in Selma sustained a movement towards shalom that although not yet finished continues through leaders like disciple minister William Barber.”

47s

#PeaceWithJustice

“He reserved his harshest words for religious leaders who put yokes of religious condemnation on the people in order to exploit them for social and political power and maybe a little profit on the side. And as his cross reveals, peacemaking is often met with resistance. But peacemakers are those who work for righteous for righteous relationships despite resistance. We don't normally choose that route, so we may not understand what it really means. It's not an either or thing.”

45s

#PeacefulMeans

“Yet to this day, the majority of the human race still thinks we can achieve peace through violence. We'll stop killing by killing. It's a very common way to think even though it's in opposition to all the great religious religious teachings of every great world religion. We want immediate control. So we disconnect the unity between men, means, and ends. Our intended end is peace, but our means are counterproductive.”

37s

#CalledToPeace

“God, sometimes we did... We we we would like a break, but your word just keeps pounding away at us. We are here to be people you created in your image, And our work is to sustain that image within us and reflect it so that all who see us know that there is a god who calls us all to peace. Amen.”

Ask a question about this sermon

First Christian Church, Conway, Arkansas This sermon · AI assistant

What distinguishes biblical shalom from mere peacekeeping?

Why does redemptive violence fail to create lasting peace?

How can nonviolent movements advance God’s vision of shalom?