Since it’s the first Sunday of the month, we have a new key verse, and I think you will like it.  It’s found in Matthew 5:9, where Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”  That’s not too hard to memorize, is it?  Plus, there’s something compelling about that word, “blessed”.  Anytime I hear, “Blessed are…”, I pay attention, because I want to find out who is getting blessed! If it’s not me, I want to know who it is!  To be blessed is to receive a sacred gift from God.  Jesus said there is a special blessing, a special gift from God, for those people who will reflect God’s image in the world, who will continue Jesus’ legacy of being a peacemaker.  Peacemakers are children of God, members of God’s own family, chips off the old block.

But what does it mean to be a peacemaker?  Notice Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the peace-keepers”, or “blessed are the peace lovers.”  This is an important distinction, because often being a peace lover or peace-keeper is really about preserving the status quo, promoting a false peace, and not about working to bring about the peace Jesus offers.  It’s been hot as blazes, but think back to Christmas Eve.  When the angels sang in the sky above the shepherds on that first Christmas night, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace”, they were talking about a peace that was the exact opposite of preserving the status quo!  They were talking about a peace that broke into the world, uninvited.  A peace that disrupts and divides and isn’t afraid to crack some eggs on the way to making an omelet.

The peacemaking Jesus talks about is not passive.  It’s not placating.  It’s not wimpy!  The story of Jesus begins with an announcement of peace, but it’s not like any peace the world had ever known.  Jesus came to bring peace between God and people, and between people and creation, and people and each other.  But in bringing this peace, Jesus knew full well that things were going to get stirred up.  His peace would ignite conflict between good and evil, old and new, dark and light, sons against their fathers and daughters against their mothers.  We are children of God—members of God’s family—when we join Jesus in the world of being peacemakers.  But this work is likely to create the opposite of peace, even in the midst of the very people who we would expect to love and support us no matter what.  Jesus came with a sword, ready to make deep cuts, so that God’s perfect loving intentions for humanity could become a reality.

Last week in our online service, I preached about kindness, which is defined as being friendly, generous and considerate.  I used our commitment to supporting the Media Food Pantry as an example of kindness.  Kindness sees a need, and does what it can to meet that need.  Kindness is not the same as being polite.  Being polite is safe.  But it takes courage to show kindness.  Kindness requires that we put ourselves out there a little bit, and risk being vulnerable.  There is risk in kindness.  But kindness always makes a difference.  And kindness, well kindness gets remembered.

But not every problem can be solved with kindness.  There’s an African proverb, something about what happens when you show kindness to a bumble bee?  You get stung!  Some situations call for more than being friendly, generous and considerate.  Sometimes another quality, this one also a fruit of the Spirit, is needed.  And that quality is goodness.  In our gospel lesson today, I don’t think any of us would call Jesus’ words kind.  They’re divisive, inflammatory even.  They are not friendly, that’s for sure!  Although Jesus was often kind, he knew kindness was not the antidote for every problem. Sometimes you need goodness.  Sometimes what was needed was some teeth, some limits, some prophecy, some words of warning, some words and actions with shock value, some metaphorical swords, so that God’s perfect good intentions for humanity could become reality.

Goodness is an essential ingredient to becoming a peacemaker.  If it takes courage to be kind, it takes even greater bravery to be good!  Goodness is not afraid to speak the truth in love, to rock the boat, to confront evil, and to hold people accountable.  It is not the same as kindness.  A couple of examples come to mind, like when I was in kindergarten the aide in my classroom, Mrs. Geiger, was one of the kindest souls ever created by God.  One time I walked past Mrs. Geiger’s desk, and she was cutting out shapes for the bulletin board. I went right up to her and said, “Mrs. Geiger, I bet I can cut better than you can.”  Can you imagine that?  I was barely five years old.  I had those short scissors with the blunt ends that don’t cut anything.  I had the attention span of a fly and the small motor skills of an elephant.  I couldn’t cut as good as any of my classmates, let alone Mrs. Geiger.

But you want to know how kind Mrs. Geiger was?  She looked at me and smiled her very gentle smile and said, “Dorry, I’ll bet you can cut better than me.”  There was not even a hint of sarcasm in her voice!  Mrs. Geiger knew only an insecure kid would brag like that.  She saw my need for affirmation, and what does kindness do when it sees a need?  It does what it can to fill it.  That’s exactly what Mrs. Geiger did.  She saw my need for affirmation and she gave me some.  That’s kindness!

But.  As I said, Mrs. Geiger was the aide in my kindergarten class. She was not the teacher.  The teacher’s name was Mrs. Cooper, and of all the words you could use to describe her, “kind” would not be very high on the list.  Mrs. Cooper ran a tight ship!  You know how much I like to talk, right?  Well, I was afraid to say even two words to her.  Literally!  One day I had been out in the hallway hanging up my art project, and we were supposed to come back into the classroom and sit back down at our seats.  But when I tried to come back in through the door, Mrs. Cooper was standing there talking to another teacher.  I didn’t know what to do, because if I didn’t get back to my seat, she might yell at me.  But I didn’t want to interrupt her, either.  So I crouched down and squeezed myself through the space created between the back of Mrs. Cooper’s legs and the wall she was standing against.  I honestly thought this was the best course of action.  But Mrs. Cooper reached back and grabbed me by the shirt and said, “Dorry Kuhn!  There are words for this type of situation, and they are ‘excuse me’.  You will need them your whole life.”  She made me practice approaching the two teachers, saying excuse me, and walking in between them as if I were a person of great worth and not an embarrassed and afraid five year old.

At the time I thought Mrs. Cooper was mean.  But looking back, I think the word that sums her up is our focus for today, goodness.  Mrs. Cooper was a high expectations, high support kind of person.  Even though she was strict, I think everyone in the class knew, she wanted the very best for us.  She expected us to work hard, because she knew we needed to master the skills of kindergarten in order to live well.  Her intentions toward us were loving and benevolent.  Do you know, she taught us to count to ten and to say several basic phrases in Spanish?  Keep in mind, this was 1971 in a dairy farming community in the middle of nowhere!  She wanted us to know that it’s a big world out there, and she wanted to do what she could to erase the prejudices that so often divide the human family.  Mrs. Cooper would never have been voted, “Most Popular Teacher” at my school.  But she embodied goodness.

So that’s the difference between kindness and goodness.  Kindness is friendly, generous, and considerate.  But goodness is like kindness with teeth.  Goodness challenges things that are wrong.  Goodness sets limits.  Goodness sets consequences.  Goodness seeks to break down those structures that are unjust or unhealthy so that something better can take their place.

Hopefully God has blessed you with many people in your life who have shown you kindness and goodness.  We need both.  We all know that kindness always makes a difference.  But it doesn’t always make THE difference.  Some problems cannot be solved with just some patching up.  They need some teeth, some confrontation, some structure in order to get better.  That’s what goodness does.

The thing about goodness is, it’s usually painful.  Years ago, at a different church, a new person started attending our worship services.  Everyone was very friendly to him and invited him to the Tuesday night soup supper.  At that dinner he explained where he lived, but one of my church members couldn’t picture the property he described, so she googled him.  That’s when she found out he was on the Megan’s Law list.  What ensued were several conversations with the man, local police, a lawyer, neighbors, and church leaders.  If this man genuinely wanted a new start, my church wanted to help him.  But our best guess was, he was not at all interested in a new, wholesome start.  He was attending church looking for his next victim.  In the end, we decided we could not be an appropriate church home for him.  Was that kind?  No!  But was it good?  I have absolutely no doubt that was a good decision.

Clearly kindness and goodness are closely related, and as fruit of the Spirit, they should both be present in full bloom in the church.  Kindness I think we have a pretty good hold on.  We’ve got a lot of friendly, generous and considerate people here.  But goodness is harder.  Most of us would rather go along to get along than confront what’s wrong in our midst.  Most of us would rather keep a false peace than work for God’s peace. Most of us would rather be peacekeepers than peacemakers.  But the special gift from God, the blessing, is for those who will follow Jesus’ lead, and disrupt the status quo for the sake of the greater good.

Kindness is wonderful, but did you ever try being kind to a bumblebee?  You get stung!  Kindness has its limits.  Sometimes love needs to have some teeth.  Sometimes love needs to be focused on protection, advocacy, and change.  Do we have the Mrs. Cooper’s that we need in our congregation?  Do we respect them?  You know, it’s not easy being Mrs. Cooper.  What a sacrifice she made, letting Mrs. Geiger be the class favorite, and get all the hugs, and have kids bring in apples and flowers the way kindergarteners do.  There is sacrifice involved in goodness.  If there isn’t personal sacrifice, it’s not goodness that is being displayed but something not of the Spirit.

We will be talking all month long about being peacemakers, because this is a calling that requires discernment, and wisdom, and maturity.  But goodness gracious, we’ve got to start somewhere!  So let’s start with being on the lookout for goodness.  For promoting goodness.  For recognizing that kindness has limits. Kindness alone isn’t enough to bring about the peace of Christ.  Sometimes even more courage will be required.  If we will be open to that, we will certainly experience a special gift, a blessing from God.  Amen.