They All Had the Same Vision – Peace
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
October 1, 2023
Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. This week I continue my series on the biblical prophets. The scripture I have chosen is from Romans 12:9-18 from the Common English Bible.
Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home. Bless people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them. Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying. Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart. Don’t pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good. If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.
In February of 2009, I was attending a campus ministries conference in Los Angeles. The conference was held at Rancho Capistrano, at the time this was the Retreat Center for the Crystal Cathedral – yes, the mega-church television ministry that hosted Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power each Sunday while I was growing up. Today, the retreat center is owned by another mega-church ministry, Saddleback Church, where Rick Warren and his bestselling “Purpose Driven Life” books were birthed.
At the conference, I was sitting at a table at dinner time sharing pleasantries with other campus ministers from across the United States, when we broke out into a discussion on theology. This was a common theme among ministers serving a variety of denominational colleges and universities. I had recently begun my doctoral program at George Fox Evangelical Seminary (now Portland Seminary) and was talking about my exploration in African American spirituality and the theologies we saw during the Civil Rights Movement in America. I shared that I had written a paper on Gandhi’s influence on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Spirituality during the Civil Rights movement which brought a lot of questions and discussion.
It was out of this conversation that the rest of my night changed course. Sitting across from me was Terry McGonigal, a veteran campus minister from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. I did not know Terry that well, but he was hanging on every word I shared. Finally, he could not contain himself anymore and shared that he was working on his PhD and thought I should read part of his dissertation which he titled, “If You Only Knew What Would Bring Peace: Shalom Theology as the Biblical Foundation for Diversity.”
Wow, that title piqued my interest, but since we weren’t as tech savvy as we are today, he actually had to send it to me when he returned to his office after the conference. Wanting to glean as much as I could from Terry, for the rest of the night and into the early hours of the morning, me and a couple other interested theology nerds talked Shalom Theology with Terry. It was clear that he considered Shalom the nucleus of the Bible. He drew me in when he spent about 5 minutes showing us how everything in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation was pointing to Peace or Shalom.
Terry was the one to first show me how each of the prophets, even though they talked of destruction and God’s disappointment in the people, would ultimately find their way to Shalom. That once you get through the poetic rhetoric of repentance, destruction, and God’s wrath, the final outcome they were presenting was a world at peace with God and one another.
A few years later, Terry’s work on Shalom Theology would find a prominent place in my doctoral dissertation’s biblical chapter. There I would spend an entire section on what I called “Shalom Prophesied.” I even opened the section by saying,
“Often we think of the minor prophets of the Old Testament as harbingers of judgment and gloom…[BUT]…If you are careful in your reading, you will see in each a prophetic word of God’s desire to restore this world and his people to shalom.”
I then went through the prophets one by one and showed this common focus on peace, something that was foreign to me and actually would, later down the road, change the course of my theological thinking. When you make the outcome peace in the present, instead of heaven or hell later, the Bible opens up in new ways. It also paints a different picture of Jesus – who we interestingly title the “Prince of Peace.”
Much of this is due to what Howard Macy labels the “world God intends.” Listen to what Howard says in “Befriending the Prophets.”
The prophets offer soaring images of the world God intends. Isaiah describes a reign of peace without limit, where justice and righteousness prevail. He also looks to a time when nations will stream to hear God’s teaching and will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning tools. Amos calls on Israel to “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an over-flowing stream. Israel’s singers join in the vision, using words that often accompany each other in the prophets: “Faithful love and truth have met; righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth springs up from the ground; righteousness gazes down from heaven. Such grand words encourage us and inspire hope.
The prophets warned of what the people of their day were making of the world, and they made it clear they were destroying or getting in the way of what God intended. Thus, they packaged their messages in big words like repentance, redemption, and restoration.
Instead of using big religious words, we might say it a little “more frank,” today.
· What the hell are you doing?
· Do you realize the consequences of your actions?
· Do you notice how this is affecting you and those around you? Do you care?
· What are you going to do about this?
· How is this going to bring peace?
I am sure as I just read those “more frank” ways of saying what the prophets were trying to convey that you heard those words through someone in your life?
Maybe a parent or relative, a teacher or mentor, even a close friend. I bet it even possibly churned up an emotional response. Maybe you even had an image of a finger pointing in your direction or a disappointed face staring you down. And I bet you could feel your reluctance to answering or responding in the core of your being. These types of messages are very difficult to hear and respond to, because they speak to the depths of our condition.
Now, you can understand why the prophets were run out of town. Take away all the religious words and put it in plain language and this was tough stuff.
On that note, let me take you on a brief walk through some of the prophets and what they were trying to say.
The prophet Hosea was calling for people to turn from their ways that had gotten way out of control, so far that people had begun to sacrifice humans and follow false idols. Hosea cries out, “What are you doing? You have got to stop this.” And while Hosea is freaking out, God reminds him to tell them about the promise. And Hosea comes around to reminding them that God wants to free them, that death is not the answer, but that he wants them to return to shalom and peace with one another.
The prophet Joel also wants his people to turn from their ways, but reminds them that if they do, they will see restoration, renewal, blessing and ultimately peace.
The prophet Amos took a slightly different approach by emphasizing social justice as the true expression of piety and says the change that needs to come is to turn from your ways and turn to simpler living and being mindful of social justice. God’s word in Amos 5:11-25 reads,
Seek me and live....You trample on the poor and force them to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them...You deprive the poor of justice in the courts.... Seek good, not evil, that you may live.... Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-falling stream...
Through Amos, God decries those who make a practice of skimping on the measure of goods for sale to the poor, “cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat...” (Amos 8:6).
The prophets are calling for their siblings in the faith to turn from these ways – this is not turning to faith in God, but it is a call to stop cheating people and treating them dishonest and start caring for one another, especially those in need. And when they start doing that, then Amos says they will restore shalom (Peace) and be transformed.
The prophet Obadiah, much like Jeremiah, states boldly, “As you have done, it will be done to you.” But if they realize what they are doing, they too can find the peace that God intends.
After running from God, the prophet Jonah goes to Nineveh where, as a result of his preaching, the people and their king actually turn from their ways and peace is restored to the land. This becomes a perfect example of what God intends. And in this example, we all can probably relate to Jonah in not wanting to be the one to speak up and say what needed to be said. In the end he answered the call and Jonah was shocked at the outcome of shalom in Nineveh.
The prophet Micah spoke directly to the people about having a new attitude and lifestyle of peace…where they will stop their fighting and wars and actually beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
The prophet Nahum prophesies as a contemporary of Zephaniah and the young Jeremiah. He, like Jonah addressed Nineveh, saying it would fall if it did not change its ways. Yet he too in the end gives hope for a restoration to shalom.
The prophet Habakkuk begs for shalom in his cries to the Lord;
“How long, O Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?... Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?...” (Habakkuk 1:3).
“Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?...” (1:13).
I can relate to Habakkuk – those are queries I too have asked, but in the end he too shares God’s plan not only to restore peace, but to teach the people to know the Lord’s ways – which as I showed last week were, kindness, justice, and righteousness (or moral living).
The prophet Zephaniah points out that the chosen people of God, Israel, were not exempt from this. It may end up being a small remnant in the end, but there will be some who turn and embrace the way of shalom – Zephaniah says that remnant of people will be those who are meek and humble and who trust the Lord’s ways.
The prophet Haggai’s words show the personal consequences of obedience and disobedience. Yet amid his cautions and chastisements, Haggai says that “The Lord will fill the temple with glory” and bless them in the end with a restoration of peace.
Like Haggai, Zechariah says the Lord calls for true social justice, mercy, and compassion rather than just insincere fasting. He also speaks of a king who will come to restore the peace - some consider the description to be of Jesus, but it may just be coincidence.
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!... See your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.... He will proclaim peace to the nations.... His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:10).
Thus, the people of the northern and southern kingdoms will be reunited and there will be peace again. More than anything this was to be a beautiful picture of global shalom.
The prophet Malachi brought a message of hope to the people of God’s restored community who had begun to lose hope.
What each of the Minor Prophets were prophetically arriving at was the fact that God was going to bring shalom to the lives of his people and ultimately the world; through the obedient and transformed lives of those same people.
That same prophetic voice was evident in Jeremiah as he responded with a vision to rekindle God’s shalom to the people of Israel:
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.”
And finally, Jeremiah prophesies further about God’s plan to restore shalom by making a new covenant with his people:
“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
So, I think it is clear the ultimate intention of the prophets were to urge the people to live together in ways that made for peace (shalom). To live as a community of peace, they would need to turn from their ways and learn the ways of God – righteousness, justice, loving kindness, and this week I will add truth.
We talked briefly about those last week, but to bring them more into focus. Howard says,
“The prophets see righteousness as practical living.” Meaning “They point to daily ethical behavior, often with special attention to the poor and needy, the widow and orphan, and the foreign resident (“strangers”).
For the prophets, it wasn’t all turn and burn, but rather turn and see your neighbor and those who you are living with. Are you treating them honestly, kindly, and generously? This right living together is what brings shalom to our world.
How about you and me? Do we see our neighbors – those who we are living with, working with, worshipping with? Do we treat them honestly, kindly, and generously?
Thus, Howard says, “So to be righteous, maybe a bit oversimply, is to do the right thing, steadily, habitually, daily, in our ordinary rounds.”
Then there is justice, which often is overlapped by righteousness and this is where we get the concept of Social Justice. Please folks, if someone says to you that Social Justice is not biblical – they are downright wrong. It is directly linked to who God is and what God intends. Howard points out that for the prophets the idea of justice was connected to God’s character, actions, and guidance.
Sometimes our laws and government and even our own personal wants get in the way of helping our neighbors. Dishonesty, cheating, and exploiting people for gain is not what God intends.
How about you and me? Who do we take advantage of with our privileges or who are we not willing to defend?
And then there is love/kindness which Howard says is maybe the most difficult to discuss because we do not have an adequate word in English to express the word we find in Hebrew – hesed. It can be translated love kindness, love mercy, love goodness, or better than most, “embrace faithful love.” Many just use the translation of “steadfast love.” But Howard points out that it is the character of God’s love that should guide us. He says,
“This challenges us to imagine how our love toward our neighbor can be generous and attentive, how it can persist and never give up, how it can be kind and compassionate, not just tolerant and polite. This love is not about feeling or about what one earns or discerns. Instead, it is a love of presence, desiring and working toward the best for the other.”
How about you and me? Are we aware of our love toward our neighbor? Is it generous, attentive, persistent, kind and compassionate? Are we working toward the best in our neighbors?
Finally, the fourth word that prophets often use is truth – which Howard says points to reliability, dependability, of things being firmly established. We are taught that we can always depend on God, but the bigger question, especially if there is that of God in us is, are we reliable and trustworthy as well?
When the prophets called the people to turn from their ways, it was clear that they had become unreliable and not trustworthy to each other. When we undercut our trust with one another we create as Howard points out chaos, confusion, and we damage our life together.
How about for you and me? How reliable and dependable are we to our neighbors? Can our neighbors trust us? Where might we be damaging our life together?
Once we strip away the cry of the prophets and get to their root message – we find it about living ordinary lives with our neighbors. Their words were and are disturbing because they meet us in our present moments and call us to take the high road – to be better people. To see our neighbors and want what’s best for them. And when we begin to do that – then we will begin to see that peace (shalom) that God intends for us!
Now, let us enter waiting worship. As we center down, take a moment to review the queries I just presented to us. Here they are again.
· Do we see our neighbors – those who we are living with, working with, worshipping with? Do we treat them honestly, kindly, and generously?
· Who do we take advantage of with our privileges or who are we not willing to defend?
· Are we aware of our love toward our neighbor? Is it generous, attentive, persistent, kind, and compassionate? Are we working toward the best in our neighbors?
· How reliable and dependable are we to our neighbors? Can our neighbors trust us? Where might we be damaging our life together?