Jesus once said blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. What is a peacemaker? What does he or she look like? And is it worth the trouble just to be called a child of God?

One of the things that we've become very good at in society is reinterpreting symbols that have traditionally meant one thing, to mean something else. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Generation “X” have taken the Crucifix (the cross), emptied it of all its meaning and they're using it as a fashion accessory.

Christmas cards: Christmas cards have taken the dove which traditionally has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit and reinterpreted that to mean peace. Now, that's a subtle change but it's a significant change. Peace, it turns out, is something that we all value highly whether on a global scale or in our personal lives. We all want peace.

So what did Jesus mean when He said,

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Well, what did He mean? I mean, just in a few breaths before, remember we're going through His sayings on the Sermon on the Mount which are: Blessed are the peacemakers; Blessed are the merciful; Blessed are the pure in heart; Blessed are all of these different qualities that God blesses in us. And just in a few breaths before Jesus said,

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall receive mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

Why didn't He say,

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall receive peace?

Look at what's going on in the world. Look at what's going on in people's lives. Look at what's going on in your life and in my life. Peace would be a sensational outcome, don't you agree? I mean, wouldn't that be a wonderful blessing to get from God if we become peacemakers? Wouldn't it be nice if Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall have peace?" But He doesn't say that. He says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called children of God."

And here's a funny thing about God. He'll never settle for second best in our lives. If there's something good, He always wants to give us something better. If there's something better, He always wants to give us the very best. Obviously, peace is good. It's great. And elsewhere in the Bible God tells us to pursue His peace. His peace is His gift to us. But here, here Jesus says, "Hey, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God." I believe that Jesus has the best in mind here. "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they will be called children of God." He's talking family.

I have a friend, a really good friend who has six kids. He and his wife have brought these children up. They're beautiful children. Now, they have always struggled financially. They are ministers of the gospel. They are not well remunerated. And recently they felt called to go to a war torn country to adopt an orphan girl. Before you say to me, "Hang on. I don't think it's right that they should take this girl out of that country and bring her here."

Let me explain something about this girl. This girl has a disability. She has a hearing disability. And the people in her country don't want to adopt her. So here is this family that really can't afford it; that has enough children by any measure. And they decide to fly to this war torn country and to meet this girl.

Now, I've seen — he sent me photos of her before and after. The photos of her at home in her own country had fear on her face. They had a lost-ness on her face. And yet now, when I see photos of the family, this kid is happy. This kid has a smile on her dial. She has love. She has security. She has nurture. She has food in her stomach.

And it doesn't matter whether we are a child with a hearing disability from a war torn country or we are a wealthy business person or we are a mother in a wealthy household. It doesn't matter who we are or where we live. Living in a loving, secure family is an awesome blessing — having that safety, that love, that security, that warmth that meets not only our physical needs but our emotional needs and our spiritual needs.

What does it mean to be a peacemaker?

Simple: where there is conflict a peacemaker initiates peace. A peacemaker nurtures peace. A peacemaker fosters and encourages peace no matter what the cost to them. If there are walls, we knock them down. If there's misunderstanding, we help bring clarity. If there's mistrust, we build trust.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.

A peacemaker is not a passenger. A peacemaker is not someone who just sits there and lets it all happen and says, "I won't participate in that". A peacemaker is someone who actively and proactively steps in to create peace.

I learned that in working as a consultant in the information technology industry for many, many years. A lot of the organisations I walked into were in conflict. In fact, I would say out of the 200 organisations I've worked in 80% would be in serious conflict. I always used to laugh when the CEO or the Chief Executive Officer would talk about his or her management team in an expansive sort of a way. Inwards I would always smile and think, He's talking about that loose confederation of warier chieftains that is his management team. You know, it was never the management team (or very, very rarely let me say).

And one of the things my mentor, and the man who was the Managing Director of our consulting organisation taught me over many years was how to become a peacemaker, how to listen to people, how to encourage people, how to clarify misunderstandings. It's amazing; you know how people will beat each other up over the head when they are in violent agreement. They're just using different language and they think they have to kill one another.

And, little bit by little bit, I learned to be a peacemaker. And what I discovered was, ultimately, I was normally invited into organisations — not because of my great information technology insights. In fact, the older I became the longer I'd been doing it, the less technical I became and had younger people working with me who were much more technical.

By in large, people invited me into their organisations because whether they could put it into words or not they were hiring a peacemaker. And, in the consulting business, people are prepared to pay thousands of dollars a day for peacemakers. It turns out that people value the ability in someone to make peace, to get parties talking, to get over problems, to knock down walls, to encourage people. None of it is rocket science. People are prepared to pay a fortune for it. We can all be peacemakers.

But being a peacemaker costs; it's not free. It's painful sometimes. And often when I left organisations, I had the satisfaction of saying, "Well, they may not know my name. They may not know who I was. But there's some peace happening there." But why are peacemakers called children of God? What's that about?

The apostle, Paul in his letter to the Roman church said that God makes peace with us. Sin (as unpopular a word as that might be in our society today) is our overt act of rebellion against God. But says Paul, we know love by this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. When did Christ die for us? While we were still sinners, while we were still at war with Him—a war that we had initiated, a rebellion against Him, He dreams up this outrageous declaration of peace. Proactively, radically, at infinite cost He puts His Son on a cross and says, "Let there be peace."

If we become peacemakers, if we sacrifice our rights, if we lay down our own lives and usher in peace, why will we be called Children of God? Because, there in what might look like a moment of weakness, we look like Jesus. There in a moment of weakness where we deny ourselves, where we say, "I don't have to win", ultimately people will look back and say, "That person's like Jesus."

Blessed is the peacemaker for he or she will be called a child of God. It is an awesome thing to help peace to break out. It is a wonderful thing. And, ultimately, it's not only valued by people but it is enormously valued by God.