(L)Isaiah...
Illustration
(L)
Isaiah speaks of "perfect peace" for the one who trusts in God. We live in a world where even imperfect peace seems far beyond our grasp. Nevertheless, perfect peace is a valid concept.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. This doesn't mean merely the absence of strife and conflict, but it means fullness -- having everything one needs to be whole. For Jesus, peace was not the absence of conflict; rather, it was the presence of love. If we would have that perfect peace of which Isaiah speaks, we need to cultivate the presence of Christ in our lives. We need to move out in the world in the struggle against the things that make for war. We must combat poverty and injustice. Shalom, or perfect peace, may well involve conflict. The peaceful person may be the person who is full of anger at the root causes of hunger in the world. The peace-full person may be involved in conflict within the political processes in order to change the system. The peace-full person may be filled with righteous indignation over the fact that persons are starving in a world that produces enough food to feed all people.
To trust in the Lord is to do the will of God. God's will is shalom for all people. Shalom becomes real when God's love becomes real -- in and through each one of us. It is no guarantee of the absence of strife in our lives; it is, however, a promise of wholeness, of our being complete in Christ.
-- Aber
Isaiah speaks of "perfect peace" for the one who trusts in God. We live in a world where even imperfect peace seems far beyond our grasp. Nevertheless, perfect peace is a valid concept.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. This doesn't mean merely the absence of strife and conflict, but it means fullness -- having everything one needs to be whole. For Jesus, peace was not the absence of conflict; rather, it was the presence of love. If we would have that perfect peace of which Isaiah speaks, we need to cultivate the presence of Christ in our lives. We need to move out in the world in the struggle against the things that make for war. We must combat poverty and injustice. Shalom, or perfect peace, may well involve conflict. The peaceful person may be the person who is full of anger at the root causes of hunger in the world. The peace-full person may be involved in conflict within the political processes in order to change the system. The peace-full person may be filled with righteous indignation over the fact that persons are starving in a world that produces enough food to feed all people.
To trust in the Lord is to do the will of God. God's will is shalom for all people. Shalom becomes real when God's love becomes real -- in and through each one of us. It is no guarantee of the absence of strife in our lives; it is, however, a promise of wholeness, of our being complete in Christ.
-- Aber
