Called to be Peacemakers

Philippians 2:1–13, The Inclusive Bible

If our life in Christ means anything to you—if love, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness or sympathy can persuade you at all—then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing that would make me completely happy.

There must be no competition among you, no conceit, but everybody is to be humble: value others over yourselves, each of you thinking of the interests of others before your own.

Your attitude must be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Christ, though in the image of God, didn’t deem equality with God something to be clung to—but instead became completely empty and took on the image of oppressed humankind: born into the human condition, found in the likeness of a human being. 

Jesus was thus humbled—obediently accepting death, even death on a cross!

Because of this, God highly exalted Christ and gave to Jesus the name above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God: Jesus Christ reigns supreme! 

Therefore, my dear friends, you who are always obedient to my urging, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, not only when I happen to be with you, but all the more now that I’m absent. It is God at work in you that creates the desire to do God’s will.

Each year, the International Day of Peace invites us to imagine a world without violence and war. But what does it actually mean to make peace?

In Philippians 2, Paul calls a diverse community to be united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That does not mean that everyone must think alike. As people of faith, we bring different values, life experiences, expectations, and perspectives to our life together. Conflict is inevitable.

The challenge is what we do with it.

Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. There is an important difference between keeping peace and making peace. Peacekeeping can sometimes mean simply quieting conflict or maintaining order: sometimes violently. Peacemaking asks more of us: in our interpersonal relationships, our communities, our cities, our nation, and our world.

To begin with, real peace cannot simply mean the absence of visible conflict. If injustice, domination, or oppression continues beneath the surface, silencing injustice does not create peace. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught, we must instead seek “positive peace”—a peace rooted in justice, a Just Peace.

That work requires us to listen to perspectives other than our own and resist the temptation to insist that our way is the only way. Our differences can broaden our understanding of what it means to live fully and abundantly together. They can even help us move closer to peace.

In that spirit, may we remember that peace is not something we simply hope will happen. It is something we are called to make happen: not just on the International Day of Peace each year, but every day.

Finally, Beloveds, as outlined in the Prayer for World Peace from 1978, may we seek the power to be gentle, the strength to forgive, the patience to understand, and the courage to stand for what is right.

And may we trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred. May we be peacemakers.

Blog adapted from a sermon by the Rev. Sonya Gravlee at Beloved Community Church, 27 September 2026.

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