Seeking Shalom
If we had been together last Sunday in worship, we would have heard the gospel story from Luke of Jesus calling the first disciples. That story takes place on the Lake of Gennesaret (also known as the Sea of Galilee); where Jesus did much of his public ministry.
Jesus was standing by that lake when a large crowd of people gathered around him to “hear the word of God”. Jesus got into the boat of a local fisher (Simon) and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Which he did. Then Jesus began to teach the people. After a while, Jesus decided to put his teaching into action. He told Simon to cast his nets in the deep water “for a catch”. Now Simon and his friends had been fishing all night and had caught nothing; “Yet’, Simon said to Jesus, “if you say so, I will let down the nets”. And he did; he put down his nets and “caught so many fish” that the nets began to break. Simon did not know what to think about the sudden abundance of fish that they caught; he asks Jesus to go away from him. Jesus had other plans. He told Simon “from now on you will be catching people.” And, indeed, when they returned to shore, Simon (and his fishing partners, James and John) left everything and followed Jesus. They had seen the miracle of abundance that God provided through the Word of Jesus and they wanted to be part of it.
Today’s gospel reading tells the story of the great crowd of Jesus’ disciples gathered around him and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus’ entourage has grown, in a short period of time, from 3 fishers who left their boats behind to follow him, to now great crowds and multitudes of people following. Jesus and Simon have indeed started to catch people in abundance.
Some of these multitudes of people have come from great distances to see and hear Jesus. Jerusalem in Judea is about 85 miles south of where Jesus is living in Galilee. Tyre and Sidon (located in present day Lebanon) are about 35-50 miles north west in Phoenicia; these 2 ancient cities are not even part of the Promised Land. These people were outsiders; Gentiles; united with the Jewish people only by their common experience of living under occupation by the Roman Empire. It was easy to travel between Phoenicia and Galilee; no papers or documentation were needed to cross the border; Jesus made the trip at least one time himself, going off to Tyre for rest.
And all these people – these great crowds and multitudes – these followers of Jesus and seekers of Jesus; local village people and distant city people and foreigners; Jews and Gentiles; children and young people and grownups and elders – all of these people are eager to hear Jesus speak and they want him to heal them of all their diseases and cure them of their unclean spirits; and they keep trying to touch him “for power came out from him and healed all of them.”
And Jesus responds to all of them…he speaks to them all…he touches them all…even the ones that were considered “unclean” by the culture of the day. Jesus shows all these people the miracle of God’s abundance through his words and through his healing touch. He didn’t stop to ask anyone what nationality or ethnicity or religion they were. He didn’t care about age or gender or status. Those kinds of social divisions never concerned Jesus. He sees people in need – he blesses them and favors them – and he knows he has to act to heal them with his presence and with his touch.
Jesus had only one mission in life – to share the good news of God’s abundant love and favor – God’s blessing – with all the people he met.
Jesus came into the world to be the light in the world; the light that shines in the darkness; the light that can never be overcome. He came to lift people up and heal them and give them the peace that passes all understanding.
The peace that Jesus offers is more than just an absence of conflict or even a sense of tranquility; it is much fuller than that.
The peace that Jesus gives to all the world is the peace of Shalom, the Hebrew word that means completeness…wholeness…wellbeing…perfection…healing…wellness.
The peace of Shalom comes from being rooted in God – ”Happy are they who…delight…in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season…” (Psalm 1:1-3)
The peace of Shalom comes in and through our relationship with God; a relationship built on trust; trusting God’s promise of abundant love given to us through Jesus Christ.
The peace of Shalom is a blessing, a sign of favor with God – “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
The peace of Shalom is God’s vision for the world…the entire world…all the nations…the cosmos. It is the vision of all people living together with equity and justice and love; so that the abundance of all that God provides is shared equally among all people. None have too much and none have too little. In this vision, all are blessed and favored by God.
We are, of course, not yet living fully in God’s vision for the world – though sometimes we might get a glimpse of it here and there.
We are living in a time when the rich – and the ultra rich – are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
Jesus has a different point of view: “Blessed (favored) are you who are poor…woe to you who rich.”
We are living in a time when the leaders of our government have stopped working for the common good and, instead, work only for their own profit and gain.
Jesus has a different point of view: “Blessed (favored) are you who are hungry now…woe to you are full now.”
We are living in a time when we see people in need and we know we must act…with love and good courage…we must act to share the abundance of blessings that God provides and we must speak out to share the good news that God’s love is for all people through Jesus Christ.
Jesus makes this point: “Blessed (favored) are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy…for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets”.
We are living in a time when we are called to be the light in the world; to lift people up and make them well and share with them the peace that passes all understanding. It is not easy.
Shalom – peace – be with you, as you go about your work to serve the poor, the hungry, and those in need and to share the good news of Jesus Christ in a world that desperately needs to hear it.
Remember – as you go out – you are blessed.