The world is a dangerous place. It is full of pain, and cruelty, horror and atrocity.
Some people say this is proof that there is no God, or that if there is a God then it is a God who is weak or indifferent or vicious.
The problem with those folks is that they are too optimistic; they don’t take the power of evil and death seriously enough. The world is even worse off than they think. They are naive.
The truth is that it is a miracle that we are still here at all, it is amazing that we are not extinct, that environmental collapse has not already happened, that mercy and peace are valued at all, that we do manage love each other even a little.
The fact that the world continues to exist, that humanity still values things other than corruption and violence is a miracle of God, proof not only that God is real, but also that God is awesome, wonderful and full of blazing love and pleasure for us.
I have an old back pack.
It is basically a metal frame with bags and straps attached with lots of little metal fasteners and the fasteners are held on by a little twist of wire called a cotter pin. If a cotter pin falls off or breaks then the fastener slips out, and if the fastener slips out what ever it was holding comes apart.
When your shoulder strap snaps off of your back pack when you are in the middle of no where, then you realize just how important cotter pins are.
They keep wheels from falling off of axils.
They keep those spinning carnival rides from flying apart.
Cotter pins are little bitty nothings, but they hold things together.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
There is a Jewish tradition of the “the righteous ones”, in Hebrew they are called the tsadikim.
We usually think of the righteous as being those who have their act together, are morally straight, the virtuous.
But the tsadikim are more than that, they are first of all in communion with God, and it is a gift given, not something achieved, they are a gift from God for the world, to keep the world from falling apart.
The are the God’s cotter pins, and they don’t know it, they could be anyone, the ones who give the little push who keep things from falling over.
Walking in this world are those who keep this wild spinning carnival ride from flying apart. The righteous ones, the peacemakers.
They are blessed.
They are God’s children.
The are the little bitty ones, the little cotter pins who keep us from falling over the edge into destruction.
The reason we are still here is by God’s grace, and God’s grace works through people, the tsadikim, the cotter pins, the righteous ones, those who make peace where violence threatens to destroy, they reconcile enemies.
The Roman emperor used to be called the peacemaker, conquering all division by military superiority. The early Christians got into a great deal of trouble by not taking part in the imperial understanding of making peace through violence.
We still have that imperial understanding of making peace through violence, the colt pistol was called the peacemaker, the giant bomber the B-36 was called the peace maker, ICBM’s are called peacemakers.
But Jesus was talking about something else, the tsadikim, those who keep the violent from going too far.
The world is not saved through the imperial use of force; rather it is saved by the leavening influence of the righteous ones, the peacemakers.
Jesus is the peacemaker. Jesus is the righteous one, God’s gift to save a world that is spinning apart.
Perhaps we are part of that gift of Jesus to the world.
Perhaps we are those who keep things from the brink.
Perhaps the world is a better place because we are here.
That would be a great gift, that would be a good reason to give great thanks.
That is something to hope for and trust God with, that God fills the world with his tsadikim, that we may live a little longer.
All it takes is a few cotter pins.