SHALOM
I enjoy rolling some words off my tongue just for the sound of them; a gift maybe shared by my granddaughter who at the age of 3 thought "Chipping Camden" the most hysterically funny thing she had ever heard. Sometimes in my case the word is a foreign one whose meaning I may not even be sure of but which seems to suggest a certain mood or feeling. Such a word to me is "Shalom". There is something about the very word which brings a sense of calm .. a feeling that "all will be well". Why should this be, and why do we yearn for what we think the word may be conveying?
On its most basic level, the word could be nothing more than a salutation; no more than "hi" or "bye" - the sort of thing we probably all say many times in the course of a day. And yet ... what is it that we are we saying to the other person?
"Peace"is the literal meaning; a word that itself asks to be said in a calm, relaxed manner. Peace itself can be interpreted on so many different levels, each of them a desirable state:
firstly, there's the opposite of war, nation against nation, faction against faction; how we, and our fathers before us, yearn for that, but never seem to achieve! Maybe we feel we have very little say in achieving that one, being dragged into a war by a government we may or may not have voted for:
on a more personal level, it can be the opposite of falling out with our neighbours, over things that seem so important to us - the volume of music coming through the wall, the smell of the barbeque, the number of times the children's football lands in our garden; or, more profoundly, differences over religious or political beliefs. Maybe here we could do more to bring about peace, or reconciliation; have we tried offering friendship or a cup of tea? "Be at peace with each other" Jesus urges us. "Live in peace with each other" Paul begs.
Then there's the most direct level: peace in ourselves: the absence of anxiety; the need for harmony, balance, wholeness, completeness. It could be found in good physical health - it's easier to be at peace if your digestion is quiet and your muscles don't ache. It's easier to achieve if family members are not in conflict with you or each other. "Peace of mind" is a state much sought after by those who consult "life style gurus". It includes peace with our situation; not striving after a better job, a bigger house, a bigger car. And the ability to see what we can do for others and what we should not attempt, conveyed in the prayer "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." This sounds a wonderful state to achieve, but HOW? Where can we find such peace? As so often, we reach for the handbook:
The word "peace" occurs many times in the Bible (I'm told more than 250); so from Old Testament days, we find pointers of which here are a few:
Proverbs 14 v30 tells us "a heart at peace gives life to the body"
Isaiah 32 v17 spells out that "the fruit of righteousness will be peace"
and we know that when the Israelites did not walk with God they did not have peace in themselves or their land. Thus comes the association of peace with righteousness, law, justice - the way people react with one another and the way public officials rule over them - Psalm 119, v165: expresses it as "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble". So it becomes clear that our relationship with God is of prime importance, as we find in Judges 6.24: "The Lord is peace"; not only that, but it is he who will "grant peace in the land" and who "blesses his people with peace". So we see that the peace which we are striving after cannot be found if we move ourselves away from God into disunity.
That takes us into the New Testament, where we hear that Jesus has come to guide our feet into the way of peace. It looks as though we've found the answer; follow Jesus and our problems are over. But Jesus adds a caveat which seems to suggest a paradox: he tells us that he did not come to bring peace, and that our turning to him can indeed bring the opposite, for we shall find ourselves in conflict with those who do not listen to him or accept his invitation to walk with him. How do we resolve that? Read on and we learn "peace I leave with you; MY peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid". THIS is a peace very different from any other, coming from the salvation of Christ's redemptive work, bringing us that total well-being and inner assurance that is true peace which we have no matter what is raging around us; that peace which Christ offered to his disciples when he appeared to them that first Easter. As Paul told us "He (Jesus) himself is our peace" (Eph 2.v14). It is indeed that peace of God which transcends all human understanding; a fruit of the Spirit which you may not be able to put your finger on, but you know when you've got it. And it is given us through Grace, a gift we cannot earn. It assures us of Jesus' presence and support.
So with that peace, how is our daily life affected? Paul pointed the way in his letter to the Thessalonians. I think it gives us the ability to reach out, go the second mile, love our enemies - ie those with whom we disagree -, turn the other cheek and love God and our fellow men with all our hearts. We then find we want to care for those who seem to have no-one to speak up for them, the poor and oppressed; we want to work for justice in our own land and in others, and find ways to help all who suffer. We need God's grace to help us to listen to and respect those whose opinions are not ours. Until we can do those things, can we claim to be at peace? No wonder Christ was moved to tears when he looked at Jerusalem: "if you, even you, had only recognised this day the things that make for peace!" Our prayer should be that we can recognise those things and enjoy the good health such recognition brings.
So, when offering the peace of our Lord to one another, as we do regularly, let us remember the different blessings we are wishing them and accept with gratitude their offering of peace.
Elizabeth Dunnett
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