Shalom means peace, but it's not just the peace of a cease fire. Author Nicholas Wolterstorff says Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight, inner and outer harmony, whole and abundant life, humans doing what we were created to do, in right relationship with God, ourselves, others, and the environment.
The first story in the Bible is about the Garden of Eden. We meet a loving God who has carefully and creatively crafted a garden. God works as a gardener, taking care of the earth and the animals. God makes people, and walks with them and talks with them like a good parents. God teaches the people how to take care of the earth and how to build a family together. (Genesis 2:8,15)
I hope you have had some relationships in your life that aren full of shalom. Maybe a family member, a friend, or a partner. You know when you have a good relationship with someone- You listen to each other. You emphasize, celebrate happiness and mourn sufferings together. Your relationship makes you stronger.
We see much of the world with broken relationships right now. Some of these are on an individual level, like having a hurtful relationship with a parent or an ex. Some of that brokenness is on a systemic level, when two people are treated in radically different ways by their society or government. Systems of authority can be used to help people flourish, or to hold them back.
Sometimes churches hurt people. If that has been your experience, I want to apologize on the church's behalf. I'm so sorry for every time a church or a person who represented Jesus acted without love. Churches and Christians have often sought power rather than serving others, or sought to exclude rather than share. That is not what shalom is about.
My second picture of Shalom is the opposite of an selfish church. At the end of time, the world is restored and redeemed. Instead of a garden, we see a city in the book of Revelation.
Rev 21:3-4, 22-26, 22:2
God is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
I did not see a [church] in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its [church]. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
A river runs down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
We see a restored relationship with God, a God who lives with the people and takes away our tears. There are no church buildings to facilitate a relationship- it's as personal as family.
We see a world united in love- nations are healed, people of every race and color come together sharing their unique cultures, art, food, music, everything!
Revelation ends with a invitation- Come, let all who are thirsty come and drink from the water of life. I'm so thirsty for this- are you?
We don't live in a world that looks like Revelation yet, but we can start living in the Kingdom of God now. When Jesus began his ministry, he explained what he came to do.
Luke 4:16-21
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:Shalom can be a mission, the actions of bringing justice, helping feed the hungry, making homes for refugee families, listening to and praying for your friend going through a hard time, educating people about mental illness through art, treating everyone fairly, pursuing careers in education, law, or politics to make the world a better place.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
I share these pictures of encouragement for what can be, but I also believe it starts today. I'm not waiting for God's Kingdom after I die, we are working to build it now. Do you want to be part of that? Let's do it together.
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