"Blessed arfe the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God."

Note:  This sermon was preached on Sunday, Oct. 8, the week following the sniper attack in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 1.

This past week, people kept saying,

·       How could that happen?    Why did he do it?

·       Dumfounded by another senseless massacre of innocent people; we all know that we have previously been here, and many of us worry that we’ll cOme back here again.

But many faithful people, also ask another question:  “How could God let this happen?” Silence

·       Boy, when people are grieving and shocked, there is just no answer to that question. How could a loving and all powerful God let this happen? This seems to be just another example of how our world is going down the tubes.

·       Most of us feel powerless to stop it.  We just stand back in  horror, one more time.   And where is God?

You know, evil can take many forms. But this man of flesh and blood worked so hard to put this plan of massacre together---meticulously arranging the details.

·       And his brother, in absolute shock, says that he was just a normal guy.

·       Evil can be deceptive. Jesus warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

This massacre makes no sense, unless you factor in the problem of evil; indeed, those who try to make sense of such horror just go around and around in circles; because , as the bible says, nonbelievers cannot understand the workings of  spiritual world, which directly impact our material world.

The Bible tells us that the devil has been at work opposing God and murdering his children, ever since the dawn of time. And on God’s part, his heart has been broken by the cries of anguish from his children.  Since God is love, he does what we do. He cries.

·         The prophet Jeremaiah  quotes God saying, “Let my eyes run with tears, day and night let them not cease, for my hapless people have suffered a grievous injury, a very painful wound." Jeremiah 14:17 (JPS)

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One author puts it this way:

1. PRE-FLOOD in the times of Noah. "The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth… and it grieved Him to His heart" (Gen. 6:5,6 NRSV). YES, GOD CRIED.

2.  EUROPE (1096-1100). During the crusades, Christian soldiers enroute to the Holy Land slaughtered Jews on the way. Some were herded into their synagogues. Cries of anguish shrilled unto heaven as the wooden structures were torched.   All this, plus the countless slaughter of Muslims; followed by the Muslims slaughtering Christians.   AND GOD CRIED

3.  EUROPE (1204-1799). Protestant blood flowed freely in Roman Catholic countries. The victims of the so-called "Holy Inquisition totaled in the millions. AND GOD CRIED.

4.  CHRISTIAN WORLD (1490-1850). Over 20 million Black Africans killed in Middle Passage on way to slave markets for purchase by white Christians.

 AND GOD CRIED.

5.  EUROPE (1941-1945). Six million Jews were hunted, hounded, driven, butchered, gassed and burned in the Holocaust. AND GOD CRIED.

6. HIROSHIMA (August 6, 1945). A single atomic bomb claimed 129,558 victims and terrified the world. AND GOD CRIED

q THE WORLD (1914- now)....an estimated 225 million were killed as a result of the insane policies of governments like Germany, Communist Russia, Cambodia, radical Isalamic terrorists, other horrors etc. AND GOD CRIES.

Then there are the personal tragedies of loved ones endured daily by hundreds of thousands—senseless death or mutilation on the highways, babies born physically deformed or mentally deficient and victims of senseless crime. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other disasters steal the lives of millions in their onslaughts of destruction and deprivation. Psychological tragedies of dysfunctional families, drug addiction and the multitudes of lonely, neurotic, homeless people in turn have left tens of thousands of families emotionally scarred. AND GOD CRIES.

Yes, these statistics fill the daily news, but only when they strike us or our loved ones are we overwhelmed with the pain of tragedy. Everyday these statistics have faces—millions of faces of real people shattered emotionally and mentally. The cries of sickness, sorrow, suffering and death encircle the globe. Not one of us can comprehend the enormity of the total sufferings of all humankind. Only God can and does see this humongous picture of human miseries. AND GOD CONTINUES TO CRY.

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So, we worship a God who shares our sorrows.  But crying is not his final word.  God decided to take defintitive action to defeat this evil. He sent the Mighty Warrior, Jesus Chirst, head of the Angel armies.  For God so loved the world, that He send His one and only Son, so that all who believe in Him would not perish, but have ever lasting life.”

·       Under Jesus, God is creating a force of resistence, whom he calls “peacemakers.” Please repat after me, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

·       And God trains us not with guns and weapons , but with what the Bible calls the sword of His Word.  This training revolves around the changing of our own hearts—so  that we would be inspired to fully commit ourselves to his work.

What is his work?

·       As we heard today, instead of hating our enemies, we are to learn to love them the way that Jesus can inspire us to love.

·       Instead of nursing hatred and anger in our hearts, which is the root of violence,  we  seek Jesus to help us to forgive, the way He forgives us.

·       Instead of passively sitting by when we see conflict in our lives, we are to be reconcilers and peace makers.  Indeed, God’s Word says that we are to be Ambassators of reconciliation, so that Jesus can make his case to the world. through us.

God’s word also calls us to pray for peace. This past week, I was rather incensed to hear public figures ridiculing those of us take a moment of silence and who pray for those who were wounded and murdered.  They claim that “Prayer is simply an excuse for inaction. What we need is legislation.”  Well, I say to that that prayer is the best action.  Through prayer, we support God and his angel armies who are winning the battle against evil.

 

Because Jesus Christ, who was torutured and murdered, because He rose from the dead—the definitive battle has been won.  Jesus promises to return to defeat Satan and all his allies, sending them to hell where they belong.

·       Then, as we heard in today’s prophecy from Isaiah, Jesus, the prince of peace, will establish his kingdom of peace on earth, with good will for all people.

So, in the end, it comes back down to us.  Previously we have sung the old hymn, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”  I know that some of us think that this song is quite corny, but the lyrics tell the truth.  

And today, I have one concrete way that you can be a peacemaker. Inside you bulletin, you will see a homemade greeting card.  On the outside, it says  “I value you because…”  On the inside, it is blank so that you can write your message to the person of your choice.

·       I want to encourage you to use this card to reach out to someone for whom you care, someone with whom you may have lost contact, or someone with whom you have been estranged, or to someone  whom you need to forgive.

·       I have given out these cards previously.  One man in my last church sent this card to his estrange daughter.  This was the first step, which eventually resulted in reconciliation with her.

·       Indeed, this past week I sent a copy of this card to someone one, with whom I need reconciliation. Whether it works or not, I will seek to be a peacemaker, as Jesus leads me.

You can choose in small and large ways to be a peacemaker—you can even use your card.

Then, in our lives, the Peace of the Prince of Peace will bubble up; and Jesus will be glorified...and the world will be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea.