The Tracks of a Pilgrim Preacher

Resentment Never Shows Our Best Side

I want to talk to you about a friend of mine this morning.  I know that it is not polite to talk about other people in public, but our Scripture this morning forces me to do so.  I’m sure you know my friend, although some of you may not know him as well.  On the other hand, some of you may know him better than I do.  He has befriended all of us at some point in our lives, and he always stands ready at any time we need him to step in and make us feel better, much like a child’s pacifier.

I am talking about our friend, resentment.

He lurks around in the shadows of our lives, ready to step in at every disappointment, every hurt feeling, and every perceived injustice that we experience.  He gives us ideas about how we can make ourselves feel better, but in the end resentment is not a very good friend.

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What Makes a Peacemaker?

The Beatitudes begin a section in the gospel of Matthew called "The Sermon on the Mount." The Beatitudes speak about the nature of a person who would presume to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. John 1:12 states, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God… Through a relationship with Christ, we inherit certain rights. The Beatitudes give us a description of what a person looks like when he or she lives up to those rights.

Specifically, we are thinking about the seventh Beatitude on the list, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Historically, I have usually looked at this verse in terms of what a peacemaker does, but today I want us to consider what a peacemaker is. What makes a peacemaker?

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Put All of Your Eggs in One Basket

     If you spend much time with an investment advisor planning for a retirement fund or a college fund, you will most likely hear the phrase, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.”  The common wisdom is that in order to protect yourself from sudden changes in the financial markets, you should spread your investment portfolio out into a variety of financial instruments that balance out the risk of investing, but yield a reasonable rate of return.

     However, what if you knew in your heart, you believed, you trusted with all of your being that one basket was the right basket?  No matter how great the risk, would you put all of your eggs in one basket?

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The Character of a Servant

I have been preaching a series of sermons from the book of Philippians.  It seems to me that Paul holds up Jesus Christ as the ultimate example of a servant, and then encourages the Philippians to imitate what they see in Christ.  In this particular passage, Paul uses Timothy and Epaphroditus as an example of two men who have worked to develop the mind of Christ.

The Character of a Servant (Philippians 2:19-30

     Hall of Fame football coach George Allen used to tell his players that, “Every play is the ball game.”  Allen wanted to emphasize to his players that an entire game was the sum of all of the individual plays, and the effort that they gave on any given play influenced the outcome of the contest.  Therefore, they needed to develop habits that helped them to fully concentrate on every second of action, because their effort would weave its way into the overall story of the game.

     Human character is that way.  Simple actions weave themselves into the fabric of who we are, and when repeated often enough they become habits that form the basis of character.  Every moment of every day builds itself into a life, and the person we are at the end of life is influenced by the tiny responses that we make every moment.

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