Peace and Justice

Pastor Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just, gave me some fresh insights on the topics highlighted in the title of this post. In fact, this topic of the relationship between justice and peace will be a subject frequently discussed in this blog. Keller brought in a third dimension and I want to share his insights with you.

Keller’s discussion is set in the context of the creation story and how radically different the Jewish Scriptures are from every other ancient account of the beginning of the world. Except for the Bible, most ancient cultures depict creation as the result of a battle or a struggle between warring cosmic forces. But the people of Israel, unlike any of their neighbors, did not believe any other divine power was on par with God. They believed that creation was the work of God without a rival, and that God created the world like an artist paints a picture or shapes a sculpture. God is a craftsman, an artist.

The Old Testament uses two kinds of imagery to describe the creation of the world. One image is architectural – God built the world like a person constructs a home or a royal dwelling. But the Bible also describes the creation of the world as the weaving of a garment. The fabric metaphor conveys the importance of relationships. If you throw lots of pieces of thread onto a table, no fabric results. The threads must be carefully woven together, one thread over and around many others.

This, in Keller’s judgment, is what God did at creation. He created “all things to be in a beautiful, harmonious, interdependent, knitted, webbed relationship to one another. . . . This interwovenness is what the Bible calls shalom, or harmonious peace” (p. 173). Keller is in agreement with the argument I made when I began this blog -- the English word “peace” simply does not adequately convey the true biblical meaning of this word shalom. Keller defines shalom as “complete reconciliation, a state of fullest flourishing in every dimension – physical, emotional, social and spiritual – because all relationships are right, perfect, and filled with joy” (p. 174). I think this is a great definition!

When sin entered the world, it defaced and marred everything that God had made and ripped apart the harmonious relationship between God and human beings. The whole world stopped “working right.” Because our relationship with God has broken down, shalom is gone.

Keller argues that if we desire to “do justice” as God commands us, we need to live in a way that generates a strong community where human beings can flourish. To “do justice” means to go places where the fabric of shalom has broken down, where the weaker members of society are falling through the fabric, and to repair it. Keller stresses that “the only way to reweave and strengthen the fabric is by weaving yourself into it” (p. 177).

This is a powerful metaphor and it accurately describes how Jesus lived his life. He spent his time and energy repairing the broken and torn “fabric” of first-century Palestine. If we choose to follow Jesus, we need to learn how to repair torn fabric and re-weave the broken strands in our society.

So What?

• To be a peacemaker, we need a vision of God’s shalom and an ability to articulate what it is that we are working for in the context where God had placed us. Making “right relationships” so everyone can flourish is a big vision -- but we can participate in this venture.
• Buy Keller’s Generous Justice – it has helpful insights and you will be blessed by this short book! Keller’s strength is highlighting biblical truths and then giving them practical application. Let me know if this book was helpful to you.

The Apostle Paul’s Practical Advice

Saint Paul Writing His Epistles,
V. de Boulogne c. 1594-1632

As we have noted in recent posts, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of the gospel as a message of reconciliation. He highlights the fact that God has given us the task of being his agents of reconciliation in the world and that’s part of our witness as followers of Jesus.

But then Paul offers some very practical advice on what this means in terms of our daily lives:

• “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV).
• “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14: 19, NIV).
• “Live in peace with each other. . . . Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. . . . Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (I Thessalonians 5: 13-22, NIV).

Practical advice like this is hard to follow in our rough-and-tumble world. But Paul gives us an assurance that if we are ”in Christ,” we are a “new creation.” He goes on to write that God has committed to us the message of reconciliation and “we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors” (II Corinthians 5: 17-20, NIV).

So God is telling those whose sins have been “blotted out” (forgiven) by Jesus’ death that now they have the privilege of carrying that message to the rest of the world as royal appointees of the King!

So What?

• An ambassadorial appointment – not bad for people like us! I remind myself periodically when I am meeting with government or business leaders in Russia that I am there on an “ambassadorial appointment” and therefore have no reason to be fearful. This gives me strength and courage, in times when I could be intimidated.
• What a radical concept in our culture – make the interests of others, not just of yourself and your family, a priority! “Consider others better than yourselves” – what a testimony this would be in our world if we practiced this teaching!

Jesus Holds All Things Together

The Apostle Paul,
Rembrandt c. 1633

The Apostle Paul was a Jew, trained in the finest religious instruction available at that time. Fervent in his faith and committed to eliminating false religious beliefs, he was a zealous persecutor of Christians before his conversion on the road to Damascus. How did he understand Jesus’ teachings and deeds related to peacemaking? Recently we discussed other disciples and their views on this topic, but how about the Apostle Paul?

When Paul was in prison in Rome, he wrote a letter to the church at Colosse that was arguing over different views of who Jesus was. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians is a marvelous statement of the role of Christ and, in fact, biblical scholars believe that six verses (Colossians 1:15-20) of this letter may have been an early Christian hymn, used to teach important doctrines.

Take the time to read these powerful verses. The text begins by establishing Christ’s reign over all of creation, both in the spiritual world and the physical world. Paul emphasizes this point by deliberately referring to things in heaven and on earth; to make sure the point is not missed, he then refers to the visible and the invisible.

Paul describes Jesus’ central role in the process of redemption and summarizes Christ’s ministry as one of reconciliation. God the Father chose to reconcile all things in creation to himself by “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” For the Apostle, the gospel message was summarized in the concept of reconciliation and peacemaking. It was not reconciliation merely on the spiritual level, but – as these verses make clear – a reconciliation that included all the dimensions of shalom described in the Old Testament and reinstated in Jesus’ “manifesto.” For indeed, “in him all things hold together.”

So What?

• I find great comfort in the fact that in Jesus all of creation holds together. When things seem so out of control in our world or in our personal lives, it is reassuring for me that the Bible teaches I can trust God because “he’s got the whole world in his hands.”
• The Apostle Paul also teaches me that reconciliation and peacemaking is not just an abstract theological concept, but is practical – it relates to “things on earth.” God is in the reconciliation business, making people whole, making communities whole, and that’s part of our calling as well.
• To be Christ-like, then, means to work for peace and reconciliation. This is what it means to “follow Jesus.”

Try a New Greeting

I have a challenge for you. Are you willing to try something new? I would like to encourage you to change the way you greet people and to use the word “shalom” or “peace” instead of the greetings you normally use. It can also be used as a farewell.

In our culture, the typical greetings are “Hi!” or “How are you doing? (for which we do not really expect an honest answer) or “What’s up?” or “Hey!” If we are in “polite company,” we might say “Good morning.” None of these greetings really say very much, so how about being creative.

The same is true with our typical farewells: “Take care,” “Don’t work too hard,” “Good-bye,” or “See you later.” I think we can do better than this.

Let me tell you why I think it is a good idea to greet friends, especially Christian friends, with the words “shalom” or “peace.” During the first century, church leaders often used the words “grace” and “peace” to summarize the heart of the gospel. It then became a standard practice in the early church to greet other Christians with these words and to bid them farewell in the same way.

For them the words were not a casual greeting, as many of our present-day greetings or farewells are, but were powerful reminders of the essence of the Christian faith. Every letter written by the Apostle Paul begins with a greeting that includes the words “grace” and “peace.” Paul’s standard greeting is: “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7). Most of Paul’s letters end in a similar fashion, usually with a benediction about God’s peace. In the letter to the Romans, for example, he writes: “The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (15:33).

The Apostle Peter follows the same pattern in his two letters, greeting his readers as follows: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (II Peter 1:2). Jude, the brother of James, uses a slightly different greeting: “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance” (v. 2). For the disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the “good news” of God’s grace and peace – their summary of Jesus’ message – was always on their lips.

I am not proposing that we use the full greetings of the Apostle Paul or the Apostle Peter, but how about a shorter version? Do you remember some of the early posts in this Blog where we talked about how shalom incorporates interpersonal relationships, good health, the well-being of society, and living a full life? It is a beautiful word, a rich word, that includes everything humanly speaking you could desire for a friend.

I try to make this a habit in my correspondence or when I meet people. I sometimes end my e-mails to friends with “Blessings!” because I want them to know I wish God’s richest blessings on them and their families. A few are starting to send this blessing back to me.

Some friends I know say “shalom – salaam,” using both the Hebrew and Arabic words for peace. I like this as well. Why not greet and say farewell to friends with words that have substance, words that encourage them? Why not use this greeting or farewell with new people you meet? They might even ask why you use these words – and you have a chance to share something about your beliefs.

Any of you willing to try it? Soon it may become a habit and you’ll be blessing people who come into your life.

So What?

• If you try this for several weeks, let me know about your experiences and any responses that you might get – either good or bad.
• I’ve talked about the “pluses” of greeting with the word “peace” or “shalom.” Are there “minuses” or issues arguing against this? What might they be? Do the “pluses” outweigh the “minuses” or not?

Overcoming the World

For many of us, just surviving is a big challenge. Our lives are full, our work days are long, and our free time is very limited.

So what do we do when, as followers of Jesus, we are commanded to “overcome the world”? Not only does the Bible tell us this, it gives us a radical strategy for making it happen: love. The Apostle John makes this case most powerfully.

Apostle St. John the Evangelist,
El Greco, c. 1612

John was a disciple of Jesus and one of his closest companions. Along with Peter and James, John developed a special friendship with Jesus that provided opportunities for him to know Jesus more intimately than the other disciples. John was the one who rested his head on Jesus during the “Last Supper” (John 13:23-25) as an expression of their close friendship and he was the only disciple who faithfully remained to witness Jesus on the cross first-hand (John 19:26).

The Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John, Revelation, and the three Letters of John. In the first of his three Letters, John insists that the true test of a disciple’s life is whether or not the love of God is evident in that person’s relationship with others. John emphasizes that loving God means keeping his commands and, in doing this, followers of Jesus “overcome the world” (I John 5:4).

Although John did not use the word “peace” to describe the gospel message as frequently as the Apostles Peter and Paul, for example, the substance of his teaching is the same. The Apostle John preaches the love of God like no other first century church leader. He has a clear memory of Jesus’ gift of peace given to the disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23). For him, peace with God, a “right relationship” with Jesus, means living a life of love for others.

There is power in the simplicity of John’s words: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (I John 5:3-5).

Stressed out? Too busy? Just trying to “make it”? This radical teaching by the Apostle John is good news if we are followers of Jesus and if we choose to live out the love of Jesus in our daily lives. John’s words are words of triumph because the love of God will “overcome the world.”

So What?

• This truth is so hard to hear and understand, right? In our rough-and-tumble world, how can love overcome anything? It’s force and power that seems to be dominant. Have you seen any examples of love “overcoming the world”?
• What can you do in a practical way to begin implementing these teachings? Are you willing to trust the Apostle John’s teachings that love is God’s radical strategy for “overcoming the world”?
• Think of a person who is difficult to love, or a situation that is difficult to handle in a loving way. Then think about how you could change your approach to this person or this situation in a loving way, beginning first with prayer. Ask God to help you to take this approach of love and see what happens in the course of a month or two.

Patient Peacemakers

Being patient does not come easy with me. I am not a patient guy. But I have learned, especially since coming to Russia twenty years ago, that patience is a Biblical virtue. Waiting five years to get a construction permit, instead of the normal eighteen-month wait because we would not pay bribes, taught me about patience. It is also an important reality for peacemakers.

"St James the Elder"
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1612

The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, developed into a major leader in the first century church. Although he did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and even challenged his claims (John 7:2-5), James became a believer when he saw the resurrected Jesus. The Apostle Paul referred to James as a “pillar” of the church (Galatians 2:9) and Luke records James’ critical role as a mediator during the debate at the Jerusalem council over whether or not Gentile Christians must observe Jewish practices required by Mosaic law.

The Book of James was written to a Jewish audience and is one of the earliest of all New Testament writings. James’ letter shows his great familiarity with Jesus’ teaching and its central concern is the vital link between faith and works. James persuasively argues that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (2:17).

James then goes on to compare two kinds of wisdom, “earthly wisdom” and “wisdom that comes from heaven.” In ways that would be very familiar to his Jewish readers, James describes the relationship between God’s wisdom and shalom – “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all, pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” And then James adds this note: “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (3:17-18).

To Jesus’ brother, sowing in peace would result in creating conditions of justice. But James also warned the followers of Jesus to be patient: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm” (5:7b-8a).

James’ message is clear – and we all need to hear it: Be an obedient peacemaker and trust that God will bring a “harvest of righteousness” in his own timing, as he promised.

So What?

• Do you find it as hard as I do to be patient, especially when you feel you’ve done something important and are waiting for the results? Can you think of any example in your life? How do you handle this timing of waiting when patience is needed?
• Being patient is not an act of passivity – it requires actively trusting in God’s promises that he will bless your efforts at peacemaking and reconciliation in his time. Has this been your experience?

The Big Story

Do you wake up in the morning sometimes, look around, and wonder what is going on in our crazy world?   I do.   When this happens, it reminds me of the observation made by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge in their book, The Sacred Romance, that “most of us live our lives like a movie we’ve arrived at twenty minutes late.  The action is well underway and we haven’t a clue what’s happening.  Who are these people?  Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?  Why are they doing that?  What’s going on?  We sense that something really important, perhaps even glorious, is taking place, and yet it all seems so random.”  This insight appears in a chapter in their book entitled “A Story Big Enough to Live In.”

For many of us, when we read the Bible, it can be a confusing book and it is hard to understand what the principal themes are and how they hold together.  How do the Old and New Testaments relate to each other?  More importantly, where do we fit into this story, if at all?

Theologians talk about a meta-narrative– about the big story – of Scripture and it seems to me that getting a firm grasp on this big story is very important if we want to live as disciples of Jesus, if we want to be peacemakers in our broken world.

           

Recently I gained a fresh insight on the subject of “the big story” that I am excited to share with you.  Oxford Professor N.T. Wright suggests that we should view the Bible as a drama in multiple acts.  The creation story is Act I, where God’s plot for the world is initially revealed; Act II is the fall, where there is conflict in the story.  The remainder of the drama is the torturous resolution of this conflict and it can be divided into four further acts. 

Act III is the story of Israel, Act IV is the story of Jesus (who begins to unravel the plot conflict at is deepest roots), Act V is the story of the church, and the sixth and final act is the consummation when God’s intentions for creation are fully realized and when Jesus returns to earth in glory.

What is unusual about the Biblical drama is that the script breaks off in the middle of the fifth act, resulting in a sizable gap between Act V, Scene I (the story of the early church) and Act VI.   While there are hints in the Bible about how the story will end, there is no clear line leading from the break in Act V to the conclusion of the drama.

William Shakespeare

Professor Wright offers a creative insight on how we can think about “the big story” in the Bible and figure out where we fit in.  Suppose, he says, that there exists a Shakespeare play whose fifth act had been lost.  The first four acts provide a wealth of characters and a crescendo of excitement within the plot and those who found the lost play agree that the play ought to be staged.

The challenge is how to write a fifth act.   The best solution, Wright argues, would be to give key parts to highly trained, sensitive and experienced Shakespearian actors, who would immerse themselves in the first four acts, and in the language and culture of Shakespeare and his time, and who would then be told to work out the fifth act for themselves.

The first four acts, existing as they did, would be the undoubted authority for the task at hand.  The experienced Shakespearian actors would now have to improvise without developing behaviors that were inconsistent or unrelated to the existing text.  These actors would have to improvise and be innovative, while staying faithful to Shakespeare’s authority.

It is not necessary to draw this out much further.  When I read Dr. Wright’s insights on this, I was immediately drawn to the power of this analogy.  What a great way to think about our role as disciples in light of the authority of God’s Word.   As disciples, we need to be like highly trained, sensitive and experienced actors who know God so well that we can improvise and figure out how to live according to his teachings in our own particular context.  We need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word, so we can speak and live in light of the big story God has unfolded for us in Scripture.  Our job is to figure out, in light of God’s character and the teachings of Jesus, how we ought to live now.  This is an essential part of our calling as Jesus’ disciples.  It is indeed “A Story Big Enough to Live In”!

So What?

• Does this analogy help you?  In what ways?

• If one of your colleagues at work asked you to explain why you go to church and what your religious beliefs are, how would you answer their questions?  How would you explain “the big story” in the Bible?