Learn the Power of God's Shalom!
"Shalom" is the Hebrew word for "Peace." We have shalom with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel for today, Luke 10:1-23, we Learn the Power of God's Shalom! July 15, 2007.
A brief history lesson! Back in 1850 one of three churches that founded the Wisconsin Synod, along with Grace Downtown, was Salem Lutheran on 107th Street in Milwaukee.
A brief vocabulary lesson! Salem is the name of many churches. And many cities. Salem, MA. Salem, OR. West Salem, WI (must also be a Salem, WI, for it to be west of). Do you know what Salem means? Salem is simply the anglicized form of that great Hebrew / Jewish word Shalom. And Shalom means peace. Shalom, Salem, Peace—all the same. Shalom is so resonant and calming. It’s the word Jesus actually used all the times he said, “Peace be with you!” Shalom aleichem! Shalom be with you!
I’ve long harbored a secret desire to have been born Jewish and then become Christian. Impossible, of course! Ethnicity is beyond our control. But to have participated in all the great Jewish traditions and to have had the Jewish vocabulary (words like Shalom)—then to have learned their Christian significance—I would have liked that.
As an alternative, today let’s Learn the Power of God’s Shalom! As Jesus helped the 72 disciples in today’s Gospel Lesson, may he help us Learn the Power of God’s Shalom! Power to keep. Power to attract.
The Power to Keep
Sometimes Jesus sent the Twelve out in pairs: Peter, James, John and the rest of the Twelve. This time it was a larger group—72 disciples, 36 pairs—sent into the harvest fields, the towns and villages of Judea. The message he put on their lips: “The kingdom of God is near you.” Do you know how the Bible defines the kingdom of God? “The kingdom is righteousness, peace (Shalom), and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Another instruction Jesus gave them; when they entered a house they were to say: “Peace to this house.” “Shalom to this house.” It was all about peace, all about Shalom.
How insignificant, sinful humans—who are abusive in their relationships with one another and abusive in their relationship with God—are able to be at peace with a high and holy God—that’s one of the greatest mysteries, if not the greatest mystery of the universe. Some guilty sinners try to find peace by running away from God (like running away from the law), hiding the way Adam and Eve did in the Garden. They think that is peace. Some seek peace by pretending they are really okay with God in their own right; the Pharisees tried that. Others seek peace in their pleasures, in their busy work, in their close-knit family or whatever else gives them a measure of calm in this world and numbs their awareness of the holy God.
There’s profound truth in the catchy little saying: No Jesus, no peace; Know Jesus, know peace. Spelled n-o No Jesus, no peace. Spelled k-n-o-w Know Jesus, Know peace.
Know that Jesus lived the perfect life you cannot live and lived it for you! Know that Jesus died the sinner’s death so you don’t have to die that horrible death! Know that Jesus speaks to you the marvelous promise: “Your sins are forgiven.” Know, as he says in our text: “Your names are written in heaven.” That’s righteousness, peace and joy! That’s shalom!
One truth from our story in Luke’s Gospel is this—Jesus wanted his disciples to know that the one thing that could keep them safe and strong and secure was his shalom. Nothing else! Nothing else at all! Only The Power of his Shalom.
Jesus told the 72 that their lives wouldn’t be easy. Their assignment would be tough. Jesus was sending them, he said, like sheep among wolves. In time many of the 72 would die because of their relationship with Jesus and their testimony about him. Not to worry! The power of God’s Shalom would keep them.
In a peculiar way Jesus taught the 72 that money would not keep them. They were to take no purse, no bag of coins, no cash, no checkbook, no plastic. Only the clothes they wore; no extra pair of sandals. No suitcases for this trip. God arranged for the people with whom they shared the good news of the kingdom, the good news of shalom—those people provided food and shelter. The power of God’s Shalom kept them.
Our money and wealth won’t keep us either. For some that comes as a relief; we were afraid we wouldn’t have enough anyway. For others it’s a bit disappointing; we thought our earthly riches would at least help. No, God’s Shalom has the Power to keep.
We may think our doctors have the power to keep us. Have a problem … call the doctor! Really serious … go to Mayo! There’s a lesson about that in this story too. The 72 were given the ability to cure diseases. They amazed everyone with that ability, even amazed themselves. Our doctors do amazing things; modern medicine is a marvelous thing. But in the end our doctors always fail us—their rate of failure is 100% because everyone of us dies. Good thing our names are written in heaven! Good thing we have The power of God’s Shalom to keep us!
The Power to Attract
What was the purpose of this little foray the 72 disciples made into the harvest fields of Judea? Why did Jesus send them? It was nothing less than to win these people over to faith in Jesus as the Christ of God, the Savior of the world and their Savior. How would they be won over? The Shalom of God had the Power to attract them.
Jesus didn’t instruct them to beat people over the head until they submitted. Not to coerce them into saying, “I believe; I believe.” Not to win them by heated argument. Not to threaten by wagging the finger or pounding the pulpit. No, all they were to do was proclaim the word of peace and let The Power of God’s Shalom attract them to Jesus and his peace.
That’s the purpose of every little foray we make into the harvest fields where we live too, isn’t it? Simply to speak the message of God’s peace at every opportunity. Also to model that peace of God in our lives. Today’s other reading from Galatians encourages us to issue even our reprimands gently. And to do good to all people. It’s the Power of God’s Shalom in words and actions that will attract people to Jesus.
That’s how it works. Some are attracted and are blessed. Others reject with smug indifference or with violent hostility. Some believe in the name of God’s one and only Son and are saved; others do not believe and are condemned. “Worse for them on that day,” Jesus said, “than for the people of Sodom.”
As I walk the streets of my East Side neighborhood, I frequently see a blue bumper sticker with white letters. It’s not easy to read and it took me a while to figure out that the word on the bumper sticker is COEXIST. What makes it hard to read is that the letters are formed with religious symbols that represent what are called the great religions of the world. The C in COEXIST is the crescent symbol of Islam. The E is the relativity symbol of science (rather an acknowledgment that science is some people’s religion). The X is formed out of the Jewish Star of David. Less familiar symbols form the other letters and the T, the last letter of COEXIST is the Christian cross.
The bumper sticker message is obviously that peace amounts to a kind of tolerance that lets all the religions of the world COEXIST. It’s a new way of expressing the old idea that all roads lead to heaven; let people take the road they choose! Not Christianity’s idea of peace, is it? Jesus said, “I am the way.” One way to have peace with God! Through faith in him! That insistence on the peace that attracts people to Jesus is what also leads some to reject his peace, even reject it with hostility.
I’m reminded of a visit I made a few years ago to Ivano-Frankivsk a city in southwestern Ukraine near the Carpathian Mountains. In the early 1900s that area was the center of a thriving Ukrainian Lutheran Church with many congregations and many Lutheran Christians. On a winder day we went to a nearby village and were taken to the remains of a foundation. It had been the Lutheran Church in that village, but the building was gone. Just the foundation remained. Before the Second World War enemies of the Gospel had burned the church. The story was that the Lutheran pastor had been butchered; his body cut up in pieces and thrown in the river—never recovered.
At the time one villager recovered the metal cross that had been on top of the church’s steeple. He hid it away. For decades no one knew it was there except his family. When Lutheran pastors returned to that village a few years ago, his family brought the cross out of hiding and returned it to the pastors in the hope that the Lutheran church could prosper there again. And the peace of God could be proclaimed. So The Shalom of God could attract people to Jesus and they could have peace.
Now you know: Peace; Salem; Shalom. The Bible says: We have Shalom with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said: “My Shalom I leave with you; my Shalom I give you.” And the Shalom of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
PRAYER
Remember, O Lord, our congregation,
Your people,
who are nothing without you,
who need the Word of your forgiveness,
who need comfort and solace,
who need healing and help,
who need courage and strength,
who need counsel and guidance,
who need food and shelter,
who need correction and admonition,
who need acceptance and assurance,
who need zeal and a willing mind,
who need example and direction,
who need charity and goodness,
who need humility and honesty,
who need faith and hope,
who need love and joy,
Bless us with the fullness of your peace in Jesus Christ!
As we are your people gathered by Your Spirit around Word and Sacraments, also scatter us into the harvest fields of this world to share your peace love with our words and actions. Bless others with the peace of God that endures through all eternity, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on July 15, 2007
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