Psalm 122
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
That is where the tribes go up—
the tribes of the Lord—
to praise the name of the Lord
according to the statute given to Israel.
There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
This morning as our caravan inches closer to its destination, we begin to let our minds imagine what it might be like when we get there. Our hearts swell with joy just to think of God's Holy City. Some of us in our group of pilgrims are making their way toward Jerusalem for the first time. They only have the vivid descriptions of the temple and all its sights and sounds given to them around campfires. Others are making their way for the first time in along time, clinging to distant memories. Still others make this pilgrimage every year. They know what to expect but still they smile as the mountain on the horizon grows, day by day. But all of us, as our caravan makes its way toward its destination, are called by the Psalmist to stop and pray for peace.
The Hebrew word often translated as peace is "shalom." Shalom is a greeting. A sort of Hebrew aloha that can be said as 'hello' and 'goodbye.' It means both 'peace' and 'wholeness.' 'Well being' and 'prosperity.'
This is an important theological concept. God's shalom/peace encompasses all of these ideas: wholeness... wellness... prosperity... rest from conflict. It is not a hollow peace we pray for but a holy peace.
Peace without wholeness is empty. If Mom and Dad are not right now yelling at each other but there is still a sense that the house is broken and divided-- that every word spoken carries an undercurrent of contempt --shalom has not been achieved. All that exists is a temporary peace that isn't really peace. Nations can be in a state of ceasefire but if one still has its boot on the other's throat, shalom has not been achieved. Dr. Martin Luther King famously observed that "peace is not the absence of tension but the presence of justice." Shalom is achieved when the rifts are healed and all enjoy the same well being and prosperity. When what was once broken by conflict is made whole again through healing.
What does a world covered in God's shalom look like? Dare we imagine? The prophets spoke of a time when people would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. When people would enjoy the fruits of their own labors and sit under the shade of their own vine... When worship on God's Holy Mountain would unite the nations. Shalom is no less than the coming of God's Kingdom here on earth that we pray for every Sunday.
As we caravan together, we are called to joyfully pray for healing. Healing not just for the people who have contracted this virus, but also healing for our nation. We are called to pray for God's shalom to fill these walls.
Right now we are in the midst of a cessation of hostilities. Congress is working more efficiently and cooperatively than they have in years to put together aid bills and pass them quickly. Our leaders are spending less time name-calling on twitter and more time reassuring us from behind their podiums. There is less talk in our denomination about our divisions right now as we mobilize to respond as a united Church during this crisis. Communities like ours are working together to make sure everyone is taken care of whether we agree on everything or not. Everyone is making sacrifices for the good of their neighbors.
Experience says that this in only a temporary cease-fire. That everything will revert back to the norm when this is all over. That we'll remember all the reasons we have to be upset with each other and pick up right where we left off. The prophets say it doesn't have to be this way and that someday it won't. Christian piety calls us to fervently pray for that someday. Christian duty calls us to work for a world in which that someday is now. To work for an end to the spiritual crisis that plagued us long before this medical crisis: the crisis of deep bitterness and ugly hostility, of tribalism and endless culture war.
The Rabbi Abraham Hechel once marched beside Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement. He later described the experience. He said, "It was like I was praying with my feet." Is that not what all pilgrims are called to do? To pray with our feet? To march toward the city even as we pray for it to come? It's in vogue these days to malign the idea of offering "thoughts and prayers" during times of crisis and tragedy. But thoughts and prayers married to action-- faith joined with works --is an unstoppable force.
"Blessed are the peacemakers" says Jesus, "For they will be called children of God."
We pray for peace, according to the Psalmist, for the sake of our family and friends and for the sake of God's house. We work for peace so that when we finally reach that house, we will be welcomed as children. Let us pray for God's shalom to fall upon us all. Let us pray on our knees with folded hands but let us also pray with our feet.
Lord Jesus, We know that you are the Prince of Peace. You are the true source of wholeness, wellness, security, and prosperity. Help us to be your hands and feet in bringing about that peace. We boldly pray that you would bring peace within these walls-- true lasting shalom --for the sake of our family and friends and for the sake of your house. Amen.
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