Ephesians 2:14-17Matthew 5:1-12

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." These are words from President Lincoln's second inaugural address, seeking to make peace after our nation's Civil War.

Being the bringer and maker of peace marked Jesus from the very beginning. At his birth the angels said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all." Instructions about peace are woven through this Sermon on the Mount: "Love your enemies and pray…