I use the word Peace often. I write it when closing a letter or note. It has been part of my email signature for more than fourteen years. I say it to both friend and stranger when departing and I mean it. It is shorthand for “I wish you God’s peace.”
You might think that I lob it out because it is a kind Christianese signature and you would be correct. You may also wonder if there’s a hippie part of me lurking just beneath the surface. Yep, that’s true, too. I’ve owned two vintage Volkswagens and briefly lived in both the Pacific Northwest and California. But the real reason I invoke a word of peace regularly is because of the deep gravity of this holy word.
Our world is not at peace and our hearts and minds are not at peace. We need God’s peace every chance we get. Each Sunday throughout my entire life, our congregational prayers have included a petition for peace – in our neighborhoods and cities, in our schools and places of work, among our government leaders, in our lives, and throughout the world. We live in fractured relationships in a broken world that is mangled and disfigured by greed, selfishness, fear, and the other symptoms of sin.
The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness and its frame of reference throughout Jewish literature is bound up with the notion of shelemut, perfection.
(www.myjewishlearning.com). Shalom is the daily greeting in Israel and shalom alekem “peace be upon you” is a common expression we could translate as “Good day” or “May you be well.” The Greek word eirene springs from the same essence meaning “unity and accord.”
In our Christmas reading from Isaiah, we hear, among other things, that the name of Jesus is “Prince of Peace.”
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
The psalmist declares that the LORD blesses God’s people with shalom (Psalm 29:11) and encourages all people to seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14). Jesus spent his life speaking a word of shalom to those who were alone, hurting, fearful, and anxious. On Easter, Jesus met his disciples in the upper room and brought a word of eirene – peace and unity (Luke 24:36).
When we pass the Peace in worship, it is not our peace. It is not the “Hey dude, chill out!” kind of peace that the world offers and it is not some shallow aspiration of “Can’t we all just get along?” This is not just about our well wishes. Instead, we are clear that our wish – our prayer – is that the Spirit of God would fill the one to whom we are speaking with hope and joy, alleviating fear and anxiety, now and forever. “The Peace of Christ be with you – always!”
Today, let’s “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” As we do, may the Spirit of God use us to bring wholeness and unity as we get to work in Jesus’ name.
Wishing you God’s deep and abiding Peace,
Pastor Lowell