The Sixth Sunday of Easter, 26 May 2019
Clapham
Shalom aleichem: Aleichem shalom
Peace be upon you: Upon you be peace
I like preaching on the subject of The Peace here at Clapham because I know just how much you all love sharing The Peace…
On the eve of the Sabbath Jewish people have a custom of singing a song which is called Shalom aleichem, before they recite together the words of blessing of the Shabbat dinner (the Kiddush). Similar words are used in Arabic. [1]
In the Gospels in the New Testament, Jesus often uses the greeting "Peace be unto you". He does it in today's Gospel reading - from John 14 - where he is preparing his disciples for his departure from them.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
Jesus is in the middle of promising his followers "the Advocate, the Holy Spirit" as his replacement once he is taken away from them. When he is gone, Jesus is saying, what will remain with his followers will be his gift of peace to them, and that peace will free them from fear and in that peace the Holy Spirit will come who will empower and enable them to continue to live in Christ while also in the world, to be filled with God's Spirit with a foot in both kingdoms.
Jesus uses the word "peace" five times in the Gospel of John. John 16:33 is used in a context similar to our gospel lesson for today, when he warns them of his departure from them but reminds them they will continue with Jesus' peace, even in his absence. The three references in John 20 are at Jesus' resurrection when he appears to the disciples and blesses them with the words, "Peace be with you".
But what does Jesus mean by "peace"? With what is he blessing his disciples? What is he promising his disciples will keep with them once he has been "taken away" from them?
To first century Jews including Jesus and his disciples, the word "peace" (in Hebrew, shalom) meant many different things.
And in the bible Shalom has been translated into a lot of English words, as translators have tried to capture the various subtle meanings of the Hebrew or Greek word as it is used in different ways. In the Old Testament Shalom is translated with the English words weal, welfare, completeness, to cause to be at peace, to make peace, peace-offering, at rest, at ease, secure, safe, to finish well, to prosper, to be whole, to be perfect, to be victorious and, of course, peace. Likewise, the Greek word eirene is translated in the New Testament as unity, concord, to desire peace as well as peace.
So shalom does not simply mean what the English word peace means.
The English word is essentially a negative word - we tend to use it to describe the absence of something - we are at peace when there is no war, conflict or violence; we feel peaceful where there is no noise or busyness; we are at peace when our minds aren't troubled.
We mean that peace is something that exists when there is no conflict. But it feels a bit neutral, a bit empty, a bit of a nothingness. The best example of this is when we say that people are at peace when they are dead.ÊUsing peace this way turns it into somethinmg lifeless. But the Hebrew word shalom goes far beyond that.
Shalom can be used simply as a greeting or a wish to a friend or loved one ("Shalom to you, my friend"). But at its fullest, shalom captures the Hebrew vision of human society, the non-human world, the whole environment in a completeness - where "the wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 65:25). Shalom describes the hope of Israel and of the early church, its vision of what the world some day will be.
So when Jesus used the word shalom, he was describing the world as God intended it to be. He was describing the Kingdom of God on earth and the way in which God's kingdom people - empowered by the Holy Spirit - would live.
Jesus' shalom described the Kingdom of God where people lived justly; where wealth was distributed fairly and poverty was eliminated; the Kingdom of God whose people shared what they had together as in the early church described in the book of Acts, and who together enjoyed an intimate and committed relationship with God and each other.
Jesus' shalom sums up his vision of the world as God intended it to be. A world which Jesus is offering his disciples after his departure - with the promise that with the Holy Spirit’s help we begin to embrace in our own lives Jesus' vision of the world as God intended it to be. The Spirit gives us the power to translate that vision into action; and that power will not depart from the church!
Being in the kingdom of God makes us "peacemakers", "shalom-makers", with the immense power of Jesus at our disposal to play our part in transforming the world into the world as God created it to be.
Shalom aleichem: Aleichem shalom
Peace be upon you: Upon you be peace
Notes
[1] First preached in Liverpool in 2007. The sermon is based on lectionary study notes from the Partners in Urban Transformation website (accessed in 2007, now unavailable).
[2] Wikipedia: Shalom.
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