Cleaning Up Messes (Friday Devotional)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

- Matthew 5:9

I never have to wonder when my one-year-old son is finished eating. We’re working on teaching him sign language for “all done,” but in the mean time he’s come up with his own sign: he starts throwing his food on the ground. There’s no malice to it, but I’ll admit that it never ceases to annoy me—after all, once he’s gotten his message across that he’s finished, he gets to crawl around and play. As the responsible adult, I’m left to pick up his crumbs and scrub the floor. And the sticky mess that took him just a few seconds to create usually takes me several minutes to wipe away.

No doubt about it, it’s faster, more immediately gratifying, and more entertaining to make a mess than to clean one up, a truth that applies to far more than throwing food. As much as we claim to desire peace in our lives, conflict just comes more naturally. There’s an instant enjoyment that comes from lobbing bombs at your opposition and putting them in their place. Given the choice between stoking conflict or seeking reconciliation, between waging war and pursuing peace, there’s no question which is easier.

But easier isn’t always better. Shouting down an opponent may shut them up, but it also eliminates any chance at constructive dialogue. Punches and counterpunches win fights, but never friends. Even when retaliation is just, it’s never healing. So Jesus commends those who pursue the harder road of forgiveness and reconciliation, saying that peacemakers will be blessed as “children of God.”

In this Advent season, we are reminded that Jesus came not only preaching peace, but embodying it, from Bethlehem to Calvary. Every time that violence or vengeance seemed to provide a clear path to an earthly kingdom, Jesus insisted on the narrow path to God’s kingdom. Even when it cost him his life, Jesus refused to hate and hurt the lost—because his mission was to seek and to save them.

So as you rejoice with the angel chorus, praising God and praying for “peace on earth and goodwill toward men,” may you do your part to make such peace a reality, even when doing so is difficult. It takes far more strength to bear a cross than to bear arms—but those who dare to find that strength are truly children of God.