“Peace (Shalom)”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Isaiah 42:10-17
Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim his praise in the islands. The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.
“For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills. and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.
Peace is the absence of conflict.
Theme today is about the meaning and complexities of the word Shalom. Peace is a defining of actions. Shalom is the complex interplaying between God and man – the emotions of man and their sense of wellbeing. Because man has a relationship with God, the quieting of the human heart and mind is because of the relationship with God.
New Testament reading: Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the
Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Shalom: Peace, prosperity, safety, tranquility, wellbeing, security, wholeness, ideal of what was intended by God, ultimate end of His mission, realization of the full potential of all creation, ultimate reconciliation and unity in Christ.
Jesus is called the Prince of Shalom and I think the peace that God offers in Christ and in our hearts is dependent on our trust in God. ~D. Moore
The typical atheist rebels against God as a teenager rebels against his parents. When his own desires or standards are not fulfilled in the way that he sees fit, he, in revolt storms out of the house in denial of the Word of God in scrutiny of a great deal of those who stand by the Word of God. The epithet ‘Heavenly Father’ is a grand reflection, a relation to that of human nature. ~Criss Jami
Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1) Jesus came to make peace between God and man. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
2) Jesus takes the sin of all of us on Himself and creates shalom between God and us. Romans 5:1 3) Jesus came to bring us shalom in our past life. Colossians 1:20-22
4) Jesus and the Holy Spirit also brings a future promise of peace. Isaiah 11:6-8
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. ~St. Francis of Assisi
When we develop a lifestyle of making the Lord our refuge, we begin to live in the peace of God. “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” (Psalm 91:1).
Today, we have learned that Jesus came to bring peace between us and God, in changing our past. Peace with God and others in the present reminds us that we look forward to the future with Jesus. A new Heaven and a new earth with pervasive peace, a shalom of healing, wholeness, grace, forgiveness, thankfulness will be the way the world will become. Remember, we trust Jesus because of all He has done for us and we are the recipient of the blessing of shalom. ~D. Moore
May the full meaning of shalom bless you all now and forever more. Have a good week!