"Pray for the Peace..." sermon preview

After celebrating World Communion Sunday last week, this week we come to Shalom (Peace) Sunday.  We are a part of a world wide fellowship of believers and we do strive to have unity together, and yet the reality of our fallen world is ever present before us.  The fact of the matter is that achieving peace whether it be in the world around us, among fellow believers or even within ourselves requires intentionality and effort on our part, especially if we are striving for shalom, the Biblical understanding of peace.

While peace can sometimes be understood as merely the absence of conflict, shalom is much deeper and much more extensive. Shalom carries with it a sense of wholeness, completeness, and welfare.  To experience shalom is far beyond not fighting with one another.  To experience shalom is to experience wholeness and welfare in our lives, of which peace is an important part.

In the words of Psalm 122:6, we are encouraged to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  We are encouraged to pray for the shalom of Jerusalem.  The irony here of course is that Jerusalem means "city of peace," and so the Psalm is literally instructing us to pray for the shalom of the city of shalom.  And yet given it's long and sordid history, we also understand the need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Throughout the years, decades, centuries and even millennia, Jerusalem has seen very little peace let alone shalom.

We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem as well as the peace of our world.  And the choices that we make here have an impact on these realities, especially if our aim is shalom.  But ultimately, it seems to me that this shalom begins within our own selves and in our immediate relationships.  And how many of us struggle in one way or another in our own lives to maintain peace with one another let alone shalom?

And yet, isn't that what Romans 12 is calling us to?  Isn't it calling us to a deep and abiding shalom within our relationships?  It calls us to bless those who curse us.  It calls us to live in harmony with one another.  It instructs us not to repay anyone evil for evil and to live at peace with everyone as far as it depends on us.  And this is even to the point of feeding your enemy when he is hungry. That sounds like a hard road but that also sounds like the aim of shalom to me.

As you consider shalom and what it means to be at peace and to experience wholeness; reflect on these questions in a time of silence, through journaling or in group dialogue.

1. What does peace and/or shalom mean to you?  When have you experienced that in a profound or impacting way?

2. In what ways are you practicing shalom in your own life?  Are there ways that God is calling you to be more intentional about that?

3. In the words of Romans 12, as far as it depends on us, we are to be at peace with one another.  Are there those that you could do more to be at peace with?  If so, how might you make changes to move in that direction?

May Jesus richly bless you in this week ahead, leading you in His kingdom purposes. Amen