Blessed Are the Peacemakers
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9)
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Nowhere is Jesus’ message of nonviolence clearer than in Matthew 5 when he climbed the hillside in Galilee, sat among the poor and the vulnerable living under the shadow of Roman occupation, and taught of a God who blesses the meek, the peacemakers, and those who hunger and thirst for justice. Peace is possible wherever Christians, however imperfectly, strive toward a world shaped by Jesus’ teaching of nonviolence — where life is protected, where words are spoken with care, where the stranger is not feared but welcomed — wherever suffering, war, and cruelty are met with uncompromising love.
Rev. Leanne Walt
UCC Norwell (MA)
Nowhere is Jesus’ message of nonviolence clearer than in Matthew 5 when he climbed the hillside in Galilee, sat among the poor and the vulnerable living under the shadow of Roman occupation, and taught of a God who blesses the meek, the peacemakers, and those who hunger and thirst for justice. Peace is possible wherever Christians, however imperfectly, strive toward a world shaped by Jesus’ teaching of nonviolence — where life is protected, where words are spoken with care, where the stranger is not feared but welcomed — wherever suffering, war, and cruelty are met with uncompromising love.
Rev. Leanne Walt
UCC Norwell (MA)
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God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.
Pope Leo XIV
April 10, 2026
God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.
Pope Leo XIV
April 10, 2026
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Peace is not only possible, it is preferable. War solves nothing. It kills the innocent, creates new enemies with long memories, calls upon the poor to wear a uniform and sacrifice their lives while the rich profit off their fear and misery, and scorches an already parched Earth. Let there be peace on Earth; and let it begin with me.
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
First Congregational United Church of Christ, DeKalb, IL
Peace is not only possible, it is preferable. War solves nothing. It kills the innocent, creates new enemies with long memories, calls upon the poor to wear a uniform and sacrifice their lives while the rich profit off their fear and misery, and scorches an already parched Earth. Let there be peace on Earth; and let it begin with me.
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
First Congregational United Church of Christ, DeKalb, IL
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So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man’s creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a ‘peace race’. If we have the will and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 11, 1964
So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man’s creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a ‘peace race’. If we have the will and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 11, 1964
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The peace the world longs for is not only the absence of wars, nor one which is enforced by coercion and dominance. It is not to be brokered by the highest bidder. Peace is not for sale. It is a peace which includes justice and which transforms our collective culture. Peace is the presence of justice, dignity, and flourishing for all God’s children.
Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, & World Methodist Council
From a joint statement issued March 2026
The peace the world longs for is not only the absence of wars, nor one which is enforced by coercion and dominance. It is not to be brokered by the highest bidder. Peace is not for sale. It is a peace which includes justice and which transforms our collective culture. Peace is the presence of justice, dignity, and flourishing for all God’s children.
Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, & World Methodist Council
From a joint statement issued March 2026
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True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, or any other identity attribute.
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town
In his 2010 letter to the student leaders at the University of California–Berkeley
True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, or any other identity attribute.
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town
In his 2010 letter to the student leaders at the University of California–Berkeley
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The followers of Christ have been called to peace. And they must not only have peace but also make it. To that end they renounce all violence and tumult….His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Cost of Discipleship (originally published, 1937, Germany)
The followers of Christ have been called to peace. And they must not only have peace but also make it. To that end they renounce all violence and tumult….His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Cost of Discipleship (originally published, 1937, Germany)
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The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must.
President Jimmy Carter
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 10, 2002
The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must.
President Jimmy Carter
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 10, 2002
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We call for peace in these times, a just peace that is more than the absence of war. We want a world where weapons of mass destruction will be no more. We want a world where all of God’s children can live without fear… we pray today that our governments will find ways to support life rather than death, to seek peace rather than war…it was Jesus who said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ As people of faith, may we find our way to being peacemakers, finding ways to end war and conflict in our world. The church lending its voice, its energy, and its time to solving crisis and conflict.
Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson
UCC General Minister and President/CEO – excerpts from her response to the U.S. Bombing of Iran
We call for peace in these times, a just peace that is more than the absence of war. We want a world where weapons of mass destruction will be no more. We want a world where all of God’s children can live without fear… we pray today that our governments will find ways to support life rather than death, to seek peace rather than war…it was Jesus who said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ As people of faith, may we find our way to being peacemakers, finding ways to end war and conflict in our world. The church lending its voice, its energy, and its time to solving crisis and conflict.
Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson
UCC General Minister and President/CEO – excerpts from her response to the U.S. Bombing of Iran
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Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighbouring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.
The 14th Dalai Lama
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 11, 1989
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighbouring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.
The 14th Dalai Lama
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 11, 1989
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We are so grateful, so inspired, and so grateful that the monks are calling out the best in all of us as they make their pilgrimage among us. Their commitment to embody and bring peace to us all. Our response–across all that seems to divide us as a nation–reveals how united we are in our longing for peace, God willing, our readiness for peace. The monks, like all our spiritual masters of all faiths, including Jesus, remind us that true peace begins in the human heart, and in genuine peace offerings to those we love, the we struggle to love, and even those we would consider our adversaries.
The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde
On welcoming the Buddhist monks to the Washington National Cathedral
We are so grateful, so inspired, and so grateful that the monks are calling out the best in all of us as they make their pilgrimage among us. Their commitment to embody and bring peace to us all. Our response–across all that seems to divide us as a nation–reveals how united we are in our longing for peace, God willing, our readiness for peace. The monks, like all our spiritual masters of all faiths, including Jesus, remind us that true peace begins in the human heart, and in genuine peace offerings to those we love, the we struggle to love, and even those we would consider our adversaries.
The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde
On welcoming the Buddhist monks to the Washington National Cathedral
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Therefore, peace is ultimately an act of love.
Maria Corina Machado
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 10, 2025
Therefore, peace is ultimately an act of love.
Maria Corina Machado
Nobel Prize Lecture, December 10, 2025