Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
January 12, 2020
Romans 14:17-19
17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. 19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
For the next several weeks, I want us to focus on one of the five “P”s I talked about last week in my sermon. It just happens to be not only an important topic, but also a relevant topic in our world, and one of our Quaker S.P.I.C.E.S. Some would say it is the foundation for all of Christ’s actions and what we are to be working on as humans on this planet. The topic I would like to explore is PEACE.
When I first came into Quakerism, I was asked to serve on a committee…[pause]…go figure…that developed materials for what the Northwest Yearly Meeting labeled, “Peace Month.” I believe I was asked because I had just completed a draft of my doctoral dissertation where I focused my Biblical Materials chapter on Shalom Theology and traced peace throughout the Old and New Testaments. In one of the leaders guides for Peace Month I wrote the following.
Our peace testimony is perhaps the most famous and most controversial of the Quaker testimonies. Instead of simply trying to ensure pax (the Latin word for peace), which simply refers to a lack of open conflict, Friends aim to ensure shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, which has the additional connotation of a life free of the various factors which can lead to conflict (such as: hunger, resentment, rampant poverty, sharp class or race divides, etc.).
When we become aware of conflicts or concerns in our communities, Friends often find themselves helping in various non-combatant ways to tend to those suffering and hurt on both sides of an issue. Some see these matters as only being solved at a national or international level, with very little the local meeting can do to help, yet that is not the case.
Our perspective for peacebuilding in our local communities should be one of well-informed and living HOPE!
Without becoming aware of the local struggles in our communities, the process of healing, reconciliation, and restoration cannot take place. In the work of promoting peace, Friends have long taken an active role, not simply disconnecting from the local community and being passive but working to actively find alternate methods to solve conflicts, often through negotiation, education, and service projects.
With Christ as our Guiding Light, our meetings are called to educate, raise awareness, inspire, connect, network, and identify the places we can bring peace to our local settings. Let’s use our pulpits, classrooms, and times of discernment and open worship to help promote local peace-building this Peace Month and all year long.
That captures the essence of the next several sermons and will lead us nicely into the concluding sermons from our Fall series, “It’s time to Get Moving – Quakerism for Today.”
For today’s sermon, I would like to focus our attention on some possible misconceptions of our shalom or peace foundations. And that means I am going to need to start with a little theology and biblical lesson on shalom or peace.
So often “seeking peace” in our day and age has been labeled being “politically correct,” “part of the liberal agenda,” “majoring in the minors,” and “not essential to the central message of the Bible.” This is the same for issues such as diversity, gender inclusive language, disabilities and the like. All those aforementioned labels are articulated as sufficient reasons why Christians/Quakers should not be “seeking peace” in its fullest biblical vision. Ironically, this may just be the reason many well-meaning Christians/Quakers find themselves “up-to-their-neck” in conflict.
When we turn to the Bible, we find a different story. Far from being peripheral or a “buzz word” to the scriptural witness, we see the biblical theme of peace as foundational. The biblical term “peace” (Hb. shalom, Gk. eirene) and its cognates appear 550 times in the Bible – within almost every book in some form from Genesis to Revelation. It is clear that peace is more than a simple “buzz word” or peripheral concept in scripture.
Whether it is from the beginning of Genesis or the beginning of time shalom has been a pillar of God’s creative action in the world. Shalom is not a byproduct or an evolving concept with God, rather it is a required condition that stabilizes order, relationships, stewardship, beauty and rhythm in our universe.
I often find myself having a hard time trying to explain this shalom condition utilizing our typical Christian metaphors. So, let me borrow an illustration from Hinduism’s Rig Veda, what is called “Indra’s Net.” I first learned about Indra’s Net from Margaret Wheatley in her book, “Turing to One Another.” She explains the idea of Indra’s Net by saying…
“We are all individual jewels that shine uniquely. But we are all jewels gleaming on the same web, each sparkling outward from our place on the net, each reflected in the other. As paradoxical as it is, our unique expressions are the only source of light we have to see each other. We need the light from each unique jewel in order to illuminate our oneness.”
As Quakers, I think we can relate to this metaphor. Each of us carries within us the Light of God and like Indra’s Net, God has created a complex, intricate and interwoven system that consists of the various aspects of shalom; order, relationships, responsibility, beauty and rhythm.
The theologian Cornelius Platinga helped me understand this concept even more in his book, “Engaging the World.” I find it interesting that he too utilizes the concept of webbing. He states…
“The webbing together of God, humans and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Old Testament prophets called shalom. We call it “peace”, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or cease-fire among enemies. (As a matter of fact, the areas over which two armies declare a cease-fire may be acres of smoldering ruin.) In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, all under the arch of God’s love. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be.”
But as we know too well in our world today, things are not as they are supposed to be. We lack the universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight in so many ways.
And sadly, way too often we easily dismiss seeking peace or shalom as simply idealistic.
But then there is Jesus. Jesus brings it literally “down to earth.” I like to consider Jesus – Peace Incarnate. His life was filled with the work of shalom and helping us see the way life is supposed to be. Not an ideal concept but a genuine way of life.
If we take into consideration the cultures, personalities, writing styles and relationships to Jesus, of each Gospel writer, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we realize that they all approach and emphasize distinct aspects of Jesus’ shalom work. A former Campus Ministry colleague, Terry McGonigal, who I spent a lot of time learning Shalom Theology from said this about the gospel writers,
Matthew asserts shalom stewardship/responsibility through Jesus’ teachings.
Mark focuses on shalom order through Jesus’ miracles.
Luke reclaims the priority of shalom relationships in Jesus’ community.
John highlights shalom beauty/glory through Jesus’ incarnation and suffering.
For each of the gospel writers, shalom was no longer an ideal concept that was lost in the garden when the first couple began to make bad choices. Rather, shalom for them, “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood (as John 1:14 reads in The Message). Shalom was now a living, breathing, human being with skin and bones.
In his very first sermon, Jesus even announced his shalom life by proclaiming good news, freedom and recovery from the struggles of this life (Luke 4:18-19). Soon Jesus would be seen reaching out to the poor, the sinners, the tax collectors and even the despised Samaritans. It was the natural first move in his shalom life.
Sadly, most people in Jesus day could not see this as creating peace, but rather very disruptive and for many simply wrong. It would be through a series of teachings and parables that Jesus would challenge some of the people out of this thinking.
As I studied Jesus’ shalom life more, I was surprised to find a unique source to help put this into perspective. That source was Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi saw the way Jesus lived more important than his dying. He felt that if any of us lived the life that Jesus lived, we too would end up in conflict with the powers that be. Gandhi saw Jesus befriend the poor and stand with those whom society considered outsiders. He also recognized that Jesus worked to get those responsible for oppression, both religious and civil leadership, to change. “Why did Jesus die?”, Gandhi asked, “because of the way he lived.” Jesus’s shalom life brought a peace that transformed us and lead us back to the true shalom God intended from the beginning.
This Shalom Life that Jesus lived and incarnated is our example and I believe our mandate. My friend, Phil Gully said it well,
“It is tempting to think peace will happen for us or to us, but it must happen through us and because of us. The peace Jesus leaves us is the capacity to forgive, the potential for reconciliation, and the example of determined grace.”
Or as one of my favorite paragraphs from the Peace Testimony of Quakers in the United Kingdom reads:
All this sounds grand indeed; its consequences are for the most part very ordinary. The peace testimony is not something Quakers take down from a shelf and dust off only in wartime or in times of personal or political crisis. Living out a witness to peace has to do with everyday choices about the work we do, the relationships we build, what part we take in politics, what we buy, how we raise our children. It is a matter of fostering relationships and structures - from personal to international - which are strong and healthy enough to contain conflict when it arises and allow its creative resolution. It is a matter of withdrawing our co-operation from structures and relationships which are unjust and explorative. It is a matter of finding creative ways of dealing with conflict when it does arise, with the aim of freeing all concerned to find a just and loving solution.
I would say that is The Shalom Life the required condition that stabilizes order, relationships, stewardship, beauty and rhythm in our universe.
May we, as the scriptures said this morning, pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding for the glory of God. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”
In what ways has “peace” become simply a “buzz word” among Friends?
How is First Friends addressing issues of peace in our community? and where should we be more involved?
What areas of life do I struggle or avoid seeking a loving and peaceful solution?
Where am I living out a witness to peace/shalom in my daily life?