John Adams is probably best known as the 2nd President of the United States, but he himself wanted to be remembered for ONE thing more than any other. He wrote to a friend of his, ‘I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: “Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of peace with France in the year 1800.”’” (David McCullough, John Adams, pp. 566-567)
France had been our ally in the Revolutionary War, but we almost got into a devastating war with them in 1800, as a very young nation — but through John Adams’ deft maneuvering and diplomacy, war was avoided.
So of all the things he accomplished in his life: as a member of the Continental Congress; all he did in the American Revolution, and even as the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams said that the ONE greatest accomplishment of his life, at least in his eyes, was that he kept peace between America and France in 1800. Peacemaking was the most important thing.
This morning we come to the 7th Beatitude, “blessed are the peacemakers,” and, similar to what John Adams expressed, peacemaking should be regarded as the greatest achievement in our character, the most Christlike thing we can do. This is the next to last Beatitude; all the others have led up to this. The last Beatitude is persecution, which is really more the response of the world to us for being like Christ — so this 7th is really the height of Christlikeness. When you have achieved this quality, people will recognize you as being like Jesus. Like John Adams said: this is the one thing you want on your headstone! The “Peacemaking” that Jesus describes here is, in a very real sense, “The Pinnacle of Christlikeness.”
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