It is week 2 of Advent and this week we focus on the gift of God’s peace. In scripture, the word “Peace” is often translated from the word “Shalom” in Hebrew. Hebrew words usually have much more depth and meaning to them than the surface meaning. Most people think of the word “peace” and associate it with “calmness” or “restfulness” which it absolutely can mean that at times! However, the word SHALOM in Hebrew means something more, it means wholeness and completeness. To “have peace” means to be whole, to be complete in God, to be fully formed by God’s peace and love. This peace is the theme of this week’s readings:
- Isaiah 11:1-10
- Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
- Romans 15:4-13
- Matthew 3:1-12
There are two main aspects of peace that I believe are important to understand. HAVING peace and BEING or LIVING OUT peace. The internal and the external. The personal and the communal.
We know God wants us to have peace. We read that all through the Bible in the benedictions and blessings throughout it. God desires for us to find our peace, our rest, our completeness, our fullness in Christ. Having peace does not always come easy since we live in a not so peaceful world right now. I know that this last week has brought me some personal anxiety due to life circumstances and I was feeling scared and overwhelmed. In these hard times we know God’s peace is real because we have the HOPE we talked about last week. The reading from Romans this week ended with this, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” When we have hope in God, we can find peace in God too. There is a podcast I occasionally listen to, and they did an episode recently where they asked the question: “Are you trying to control peace or cultivate peace?” So often we try to control everything and expect it to create peace in our lives, but that is not what God shows us. When we allow our hearts to seek God’s peace, to intentionally find our rest and serenity in the Lord, to cultivate it carefully with the Holy Spirit, God will be with us. May God’s peace be with you this Advent.
The second aspect of peace is to BE peace, to live out God’s peace, to create God’s peace in the world, to be peacemakers. Romans 12:8 tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” That sounds like a tall order doesn’t it? Looking at our world today, it kind of seems impossible. Yet, Isaiah 11 shows us God’s vision for God’s kingdom. This is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. I had a professor in college who had us recite it every day before we began class. He always told us that if we are serious about seeking to be part of the people of God, we are called to live Isaiah 11 out in our lives and world. This passage is a messianic oracle, meaning it is referring to the coming Messiah, Jesus. The people were in waiting, Advent. The chapter is called “The Peaceable Kingdom”. It is all about how God ordered the world to be at peace- a world where “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) David’s kingdom was falling but hope was not lost because a prince of peace was coming! A prince of peace, the shoot of Jesse, that shows us how we ought to live: predator and prey, oppressor and those oppressed, strong and weak, all at rest because of who God is! If we want to be people of peace, we have to know who God is, we have to have knowledge of the Lord. Carol L. Wade wrote, “When we journey to the heart of God, we become God’s peace in the world.”
My favorite Christmas song is “O Holy Night”. I listen to it on repeat Christmas Eve and usually fall asleep to it that night. It’s a powerful song because it so clearly speaks God’s truth in this. The lyrics state, “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!” We have hope in this weary world because of Jesus and verse three is what happens when that hope becomes incarnate. “Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease.”
The good news is PEACE and that peace means we are called to live it out and break chains of oppression, to live out the reality Isaiah lays out for us in chapter 11. We have hope in Christ because God’s law is one of love. And that law of love means we truly can HAVE peace and BE peace to others, we get to participate in the gospel of peace, the good news of peace to the world! This Advent, don’t let your waiting be stagnant. Let your waiting be your heart being prepared by God’s peace (like John the Baptist in Matthew 3). Let God cultivate peace in you this advent so that not only will you be at peace, but so that you may be a bearer of God’s peace, God’s SHALOM, to our weary world.
Be Blessed & Be a Blessing
-Maddie