“Peace,” is the
best word we have in the English language to translate the Hebrew word,
“Shalom.” Yet, it definitely falls short of a fuller, richer understanding of
shalom.
Shalom is more than the greeting we use, “peace be with you.” It is meant to convey more than the absence of war, and certainly more than a stand-off. The original sense of shalom was connected to God’s original plan for creation; a peace that was infused in every bit of what is. It means, things are right, things are as God intended.
This is what Jesus the risen Saviour says to his followers when he greets them in a locked room. He offers them a “shalom” that only God can offer.
How audacious for Jesus to offer shalom, in a world that is anything but at peace. In the same breath he commissions his followers to offer the same shalom to the world. His followers includes us. We are likewise commissioned to offer shalom in a world that is not at peace.
In a world of horrible accidences, maddening violence and childish world leaders, we are to proclaim God’s deep shalom. This deep shalom is God’s intension for all that God created. This deep shalom is at the core of the Gospel. This deep shalom is the first thing the risen Saviour offers to the world.
If we repeat this deep shalom often enough… If we make this deep shalom our intension… Then maybe this deep shalom will be the world’s lived reality. And I don’t really mean “maybe”, I mean “will.” This deep shalom will become the world’s reality.
Shalom is more than the greeting we use, “peace be with you.” It is meant to convey more than the absence of war, and certainly more than a stand-off. The original sense of shalom was connected to God’s original plan for creation; a peace that was infused in every bit of what is. It means, things are right, things are as God intended.
This is what Jesus the risen Saviour says to his followers when he greets them in a locked room. He offers them a “shalom” that only God can offer.
How audacious for Jesus to offer shalom, in a world that is anything but at peace. In the same breath he commissions his followers to offer the same shalom to the world. His followers includes us. We are likewise commissioned to offer shalom in a world that is not at peace.
In a world of horrible accidences, maddening violence and childish world leaders, we are to proclaim God’s deep shalom. This deep shalom is God’s intension for all that God created. This deep shalom is at the core of the Gospel. This deep shalom is the first thing the risen Saviour offers to the world.
If we repeat this deep shalom often enough… If we make this deep shalom our intension… Then maybe this deep shalom will be the world’s lived reality. And I don’t really mean “maybe”, I mean “will.” This deep shalom will become the world’s reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment