Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 22nd November 1998

From the Pastor: Beatitudes and PC VIII

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Matthew 5:9 During the Cold War, in an effort to win respectability and at the same time discredit the Free World, the then Soviet government of Russia embarked on a "peace offensive". Through client states and a multitude of front organisations the object was to depict the United States, along with all their sympathisers, as the home of "Fascists" and warmongers; and the Communists as paragons of peace-loving virtue. Meanwhile, the reality was that from 1968 to 1983 the Soviets were adding to their arsenal two new missile launchers each week. Most of us will remember this fatuous charade and the sad catalogue of dupes in our own country, as well as others, who were taken in by this inversion of the truth. This reflection on recent history raises the question as to who are the real lovers of peace, let alone the peacemakers? "Anti-war" sentiment has become closely allied to political correctness, such that if one advocates a military solution to e.g. the sabre-rattling of Saddam Hussein, or the treacheries of President Milosevich, he is some kind of criminal. But it is not the pacifists who are blessed, since time and again they show a passion, indeed a belligerence for their position which belies their whole profession. Nor is it the United Nations, which passes endless resolutions on peace, but never consults the representatives of the Prince of Peace. In the first instance, a peacemaker is one who brings the message of Gospel peace, just as Christ did on the Resurrection night when He announced "Peace be unto you" Luke 24:36. Furthermore, a peacemaker is one who, having been transformed by that Gospel and the Christ whose it is, then does his utmost to promote harmony and reconciliation, to defuse tensions, remembering that "a soft answer turns away wrath" Proverbs 15:1. This person will be a "son of God", i.e. reflect the character of his Heavenly Father, Who sent His Son into this strife-torn world to effect reconciliation. Are you an effective peace-maker, rather than merely a peace-lover?