Audience: Fredericksburg Ward
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States of America
Date: 17 September 2023
Introduce Myself and the Topic
Hello everyone. For those of you that don’t know me, my name is David Mitchell. I am here today to speak on assignment as a Stake High Councilor. I am happy to see many familiar faces and I hope to be better acquainted with those of you who I do not know yet.
Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I have lived in the Massaponax ward for about 11 years. I live with my wife Rachael, and with 5 of our 6 children. I have 5 sons from the age of 24 to 11. And our daughter is 5. My wife and I grew up in northern Virginia and met in middle school. Since being married, we have lived in West Virginia and Alabama, and now back in Virginia.
Bishop Hintze asked me to use Elder Soares’ last General Conference talk entitled “Followers of the Prince of Peace” as the inspiration for my talk today. It is not a very long talk. I think Elder Soares usually likes to get to the point. I’ve found his talks are concise and cogent and each paragraph is rich and deep with meaning. Allow me to share just a few ideas right off the bat he shared that struck me, and then allow me to go off in a particular direction I felt led to.
- From ancient scripture to very recent prophetic admonitions, there are a LOT of places where we are told to be peacemakers and to end contentions.
- As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be promoters of the peace offered through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
- We think of outward expressions of charity, such as donations to the poor and other generous acts. But charity is an attribute of the Savior, and is an attribute we can acquire and have become part of our character.
- Nephi prophesied that in the latter days, the enemy would rage and stir up people to anger against what is good.20 The scriptures teach that “every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.”21 On the other hand, “that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.”22
The adversary delights when we argue with others, when we criticize and ridicule others. Putting labels on ourselves and others pits ourselves against each other. Being dismissive of others is destructive.
Again, there is a lot of depth in each of these principles. I believe this is one of those talks you can read multiple times and glean something new from it each time.
Peacekeeper vs. Peacemaker
Allow me to shift to a conversation I had in my car a week or so ago. I was in the car with my wife and with our 19 year old son Owen, and I told them I had been thinking about this talk I’m delivering to you today. I told them essentially it is about being a Peacemaker.
My wife, very sincerely replied, “Oh David, I don’t think you are able to speak about that.” I agreed with her! I had been pondering about times where I was the peacemaker. Absolutely there have been times I have been the level headed one and the reconciler. I think I’m pretty good at that in the work environment. But shamefully, it’s harder to think of more personal examples. And I admit, even at work, it is pretty easy to think of times where I was the one to light the fire.
And so I’m not the only one of the spot, I want each of you to think about a time you were a peacemaker. I’m 100% sure there are several of you here that have no trouble thinking of personal examples. If you are like me and are struggling, perhaps think of a peacemaker you know. Think of what are the characteristics of a peacemaker. I am going to share a few that I think are important in this talk. I’ll be curious how they line up.
So back to thinking of times you were a peacemaker, I want to see if I can make it a bit more difficult. Maybe your examples were already like this, but think of times you were a peacemaker, not between two other people, but when you were one of the people in the middle of conflict. What did you do to bring peace? What kind of attributes are necessary for a person to make peace with another?
Back to the car, my wife then said, “You should ask Owen for help; he’s a peacemaker.” Owen then said something very insightful and very self aware. He said, “I’m not a peacemaker; I just do my best to avoid conflict.”
What I learned is that there is a difference between being a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. Keeping the peace, avoiding confrontation, maybe even letting others walk over you isn’t the same as bringing people together, overcoming differences, and creating mutual understanding. The peacekeeper avoids discomfort. The peacemaker brings peace and love.
The Attributes of a Peacemaker
The last few weeks I have pondered a lot about the definition of a peacemaker. Some alternative definitions inspired by Elder Soares include:
- A person who sees and treats others as God sees them.
- A person who invites others to Christ and to be partakers of His atonement.
- A person that rejoices in good and in the happiness of others.
- A person filled with the love of Christ. In other words somebody who has charity.
I began considering the attributes of charity listed in Moroni, chapter 7, verses 45 through 47. Moroni lists 13 of them:
- Suffereth long
- Is kind
- Envieth not
- Is not puffed up
- Seeketh not her own
- Is not easily provoked
- Thinketh no evil
- Rejoiceth in truth
- Beareth all things
- Believeth all things
- Hopeth all things
- Endureth all things
- Endureth forever
With this list of attributes in mind, I want to go deeper into 4 of them that I believe are at the heart of the character of a peacemaker.
Is Kind
The first charitable attribute I want to discuss is to be kind. We all know this. But I think we all have room for improvement too.
Especially with our own families, sometimes we are the least kind to those we are most familiar with. Are we sometimes a bit too sarcastic, slip out a cutting remark, or perhaps playfully (maybe in your own mind) tease. Why not instead give sincere praise, compliment, and lovingly embrace our uniqueness.
In the church I’ve heard it said, and I like to repeat: We are nice people, but we aren’t always friendly. I think that is at least partly true. I think of when we have non-members visit us at church. We aren’t going to be mean or rude, but a lot of us are trying to get our kids to their classes or we are heading off to a class we need to teach, and we forget to be welcoming and friendly. I think this principle is universal to all places and people though. Do we go out of our way to be friendly or do we just keep to ourselves? Do we let our busy lives be an excuse to not slow down and be kind? Staying in our own lane is being a peacekeeper. Keeping our eyes open to others and looking for opportunities to leave our own lane to serve others is peacemaking.
Being kind is essential for peacemaking. Often there are hurt feelings. Often there are misunderstandings. A peacemaker will be gentle. A peacemaker will be empathetic.
Rejoiceth In Truth
The second charitable attribute on my list is “rejoiceth in truth”. When you have two friends upset with each other, it is so easy to just nod in agreement with each one when you are with them. Again, that is peacekeeping and not peacemaking. A peacemaker may need to provide some correction. Point out and help reconcile the misunderstandings.
Rejoicing in truth means you are not passive, but are active. Getting to the truth brings joy. Although a peacemaker is kind and empathetic, they do not set aside God’s truth. They seek for God’s truth to find answers. A peacemaker seeks the Holy Spirit for help. Not only for peace but for answers. As Moroni says in Moroni, chapter 10, verse 5:
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may aknow the btruth of all things.
Beareth All Things
The third charitable attribute on my list is “beareth all things”. I think of patience and humility.
In my last reading of the Sermon on the Mount, I was struck by how radical the teachings of Jesus are. He isn’t tweaking societal norms, but he almost flips those norms on their head. He sets a new higher standard, perhaps an impossible standard. Who do you know that actually is and actually does all of the following laid out in the Sermon on the Mount:
- Is meek, merciful, and pure in heart.
- Somebody who truly loves their enemies.
- Would be willing to pluck out their own eyes to end an addiction to pornography. Even if we excuse ourselves and don’t take that literally, the spiritual metaphor defines the prescription to overcome any addiction and sin to be of great personal sacrifice.
- Is a peacemaker and rejoices in the hardships that come with being a follower of Christ.
When somebody wrongs us, we are all so quick to want justice. To demand it even. When we are offended we sometimes even see it as our moral imperative to call it out, to stand for what is right. We want the world to know that somebody or some thing is bad and wrong. And yes, we are told to be a light to the world, and to let it shine for all to see. But when somebody has hurt you, when was the last time you had the attitude, “I’m going to let it slide. I’m going to take this one on the chin. I’m not going to judge.” This is not to say we should in any way tolerate ongoing abuse. But when not ongoing abuse, perhaps the next time we feel an injustice, we put ourselves aside and not for our sake, but for the glory of God’s sake instead, we just swallow our pride.
Again, we don’t set aside God’s truth. But I think we often mistake “my truth” as being “the truth.” Instead, a peacemaker accepts God’s truth. Peacemaking requires being humble enough to recognize when the view or attitude that needs to change is our own. And sometimes even being right is not the most important thing.
Is Not Easily Provoked
The last charitable attribute I want to talk about is “not easily provoked.” I believe that before you can be a peacemaker that peace must rule in your own heart first.
A little side story. A few years ago I was listening to the news on the radio as I drove home from work. On that day the Supreme Court had a ruling that at the time I felt would continue to lead to societal moral decay. I can’t remember the exact issue, but at the time I was feeling worked up. I thought in my mind that if the prophet asked the church to go demonstrate in Washington DC that I would lead the march.
It just so happens that on that weekend that there was a special training scheduled to be broadcast from Salt Lake City. I was thinking, this could be the call for us to stand up and make sure our voices are being heard!
What the training was actually about was about keeping the Sabbath day holy and putting an emphasis on how each individual can make the day more spiritual, more meaningful, and more dedicated to God. I learned a very important lesson. The world is going to do what the world is going to do. What the world does has absolutely nothing to do with my personal relationship with the Savior. Instead of worrying about what courts are doing, I needed to change my focus to what I am doing in my personal and family life to bring myself and my family closer to Christ.
A peacemaker has already established peace in their own life and in their own heart. They can be surrounded by a tumultuous world, but by being themselves grounded on the Savior, they can help bring peace to others as well.
In the April 2022 General Conference, our prophet Russell M. Nelson gave a talk entitled “The Power of Spiritual Momentum“. In that, he suggested five specific actions for us to take. I will quote:
Suggestion number 5: End conflict in your personal life.
I repeat my call to end the conflicts in your life. Exercise the humility, courage, and strength required both to forgive and to seek forgiveness. The Savior has promised that “if [we] forgive men their trespasses, [our] heavenly Father will also forgive [us].”25
Conclusion
To conclude, I asked you earlier to think about the attributes of the peacemakers in your life, either yourself or ones you have seen. I imagine many of you had other ideas than the ones I shared. Perhaps as I shared my ideas you had additional thoughts come to mind. I would suggest that thoughts you may have had while pondering peacemaking is inspiration from the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to follow those promptings and to focus on those attributes in your own life.
I know that for myself personally, there are many attributes I can improve that would make me a better peacemaker.
I know that as we repent that we will come closer to Jesus Christ. I know that through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we can have joy and peace in our lives. My hope and prayer is that we can all have more peace as we better follow the Prince of Peace.
I say these things….