Peacemakers

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Peacemakers

by David Beckmann

The Advent season has long been a time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christmas. Jesus was born to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21), and so Advent is a good time to consider what He might want to do for us.

I'm sure you are aware of how divided our society is at this time about a number of different things. As

Christians, we want to be sure we hold onto our mission to preach and live the good news of Jesus in our community—to be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. We, therefore, ask, “What does the Bible say about what is going on?”

A good place to go is surely James 4, where we read: “But about the feuds and struggles that exist among you—where do you suppose they come from? Can’t you see that they arise from conflicting passions within yourselves? You crave for something and don’t get it; you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves” (J. B. Philips).

A lot of our problem today is rooted in the sins of jealousy and envy. We often hear of connections between certain political agendas and the philosophy of Marxism. Marxism is an atheistic, materialist Christian heresy that encourages the resentment of classes of people based on jealousy and envy, pitting the haves against the have-nots. It encourages a perpetual condemnation of those who seem to have certain privileges, and those who have those privileges are supposed to feel ashamed of them and allow others to take them from them. As one fellow said recently, it used to be that our privileges and advantages were called “blessings.” God has given to us whatever we have (John 3:27; I Cor. 4:7). We may ourselves have been stingy or even thieving in our past, but now, because of what Jesus has done to save us, we work and use whatever resources God has given us so we can provide for our own and give to those in need (Ephesians 4:28). As believers who love their neighbors, we share what we have with others and help them. This is called charity. At the same time, instead of envying what others may have that we do not—for whatever reason—we learn to be thankful for what God has given us and to be content (I Thess. 5:18; Phil. 4:11). We trust in Jesus’s cleansing blood and the power of His salvation, we turn away from the sins of jealousy and envy, and this frees us. Jesus frees us to know the joy of contentment and to avoid getting trapped in unhappy and sinful political pursuits.

Brethren, we are called to be peacemakers. Let us show our community how to look to Jesus to save us from our jealousy and envy. He will save us from our sins and give us His peace.

About The Author The Rev. David Beckmann is an Anglican priest and Moderator of the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. Recently, he was director of the C. S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns, Oxford, UK. He blogs at revbeckmann.com.