Reconciliation, Shalom, and Peace-Making

Reconciliation, Shalom, and Peace-Making. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” (Matt. 5:9).

Another Way to Put This Beatitude. “You are so fortunate! You will grin from ear to ear when you are able to harmonize people and help those in discord to sing the same sweet tune. Congratulations! God is drawing up the adoption papers for those who work hand-in-hand with the Prince of Peace! And the Father is asking you to join the Family choir!”

A peacemaker is an ambassador from another Country, God’s Kingdom, bringing offers of peace, well-being and wholeness from the King to all people in all situations. The Jewish understanding of peace, shalom, would include a sense of well-being within and harmony with others. In fact, when asking someone about their general well-being, the people of the Bible would ask, “How is your peace?” If one was at peace within and without, one would be living in shalom, thinking that “all is well.”  A peacemaker is one who will seek to:

1. Reconcile the world to God through Christ, the Prince of Peace, in His ministry of reconciliation. (II Corinthians 5:18-20).
2. Walk into a volatile situation in which there is more heat than light, and is able to turn down the heat and add some new light.
3. Bring two competing parties to cooperate for the common good.
4. Heal brokenness between people who have hurt each other.
5. Build an atmosphere of prayerful serenity.
6. Enable uncompromising people to come to a truce and have further discussion.
7. Inject one’s own peace of mind into a troubled situation and create a calm atmosphere.
8. Ease the fears in those who need peace of mind and spirit.
9. Help persons to feel comfortable with an “agree to disagree” negotiation.
10. Stimulate others to flourish in wholeness, not merely survive.
11. “We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them.” (II Cor. 5:18-20, Message).
12. Helping people live in harmony with their deepest differences.
13. Develop the tools and relationships needed to heal racial discord.
14. Advocate for the unjustly treated, in order to bring about a lasting change and a humane concord between the powerful and powerless.
15. Enable two groups to talk productively instead of argue counterproductively.
16. Bring a spiritual balm to a festering wound between injured persons.
17. Add a winsome objectivity to people stuck in being selfishly subjective.
18. Help people to resolve their personal conflict and restore their relationship.
19. Help a conflicted person to resolve inner conflicts and enjoy peace of mind.
20. Provide the spiritual direction needed to restore a friendship between God and a person hostile to the Faith.
21. Help battling people or parties to “trade their swords for shovels and their spears for rakes.” (Micah 4:3, Message).

SHALOM = The ancient Hebrew word translated as peace: completeness or wholeness, as in the joining together of opposites; integrity, as in the effective holding together of separate pieces; to give/restore harmony; fulfillment; health; security; abundant well-being; the state of having the vitality needed to thrive and flourish; tranquility; freedom from disquiet and disorder; reconciliation; resolution of conflict/war; healing of division; prosperity. The Greek word for peace in the New Testament is “Eirene,” and means the same thing as “Shalom” in the Hebrew Bible. Shalom ranks the highest of all values in the Hebrew Bible, according to Jewish scholars. Shalom is the most important goal in all of life. “Rabbinic teaching describes it as the only vessel through which God’s blessings can flow into this world.” (Rabbi Arthur Green, These are the words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life).

SHALOM | Laura Hackett Park – YouTube

PURSUE SHALOM: Live in harmony with others; intentionally help in the combining of separate people into a unified whole; lend a helping  hand in reconciling apparent differences with others; adjust yourself in order to fit together with others; as much as is possible, honestly be of the same mind with others; be agreeable and forgiving; join together with others in a unifying purpose; actively listen to achieve mutual understanding; bravely pray that God’s shalom will flood the atmosphere with His presence.

Peace is one of the greatest gifts that God can give us. With the Prince of Peace, we are able to enjoy a taste of heavenly shalom now… full reconciliation with God; flourishing in mind and spirit; an inner harmony that heals us and joins together loose ends in our spirit; an outer harmony with others; a tranquil heart of contentment and trust; an inner assurance that all will be well.

The Kiss of Peace. Peace and harmony between believers, and unity in the church body, reflects the Kingdom of God, and has been God’s priority since Day One. Reconciliation between Christ-followers is even more important than celebrating Eucharist in church, which is why the Kiss of Peace has been a vital part of Christian worship services since the apostolic era in church history. This sacred Kiss, short and sincere, on the cheek between united believers who are in full fellowship is a symbol of complete reconciliation, with nothing to forgive, a clean slate between them. This holy Kiss is a physical symbol of the spiritual truth of unity between believers. Some have even called it a sacrament. However, if a Christian walks into church and realizes he needs to settle accounts with someone else in the church, he should seek him out, whether he offended the other person or the other person offended him (Matthew 5:23). This is why the Kiss of love is always placed before the Eucharist in the worship service. There needs to be union between people before there is Communion with God. There needs to be a feast of peace before there is the Lord’s Supper.

St. Paul included the Kiss of Peace, also called a “Holy Kiss“, four different times in his benedictions: Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26. For him to mention this part of worship in his letters, it must have been important, and it sounds like he expected it to be done in his churches. The Kiss is called holy, because it is set apart from romantic kisses and only allowed between believers who are at peace with each other. The Kiss of Peace is dependent upon a sincere confession, a gracious forgiveness, and a heartfelt reconciliation. The love that is required in all those difficult steps comes from one Source, the love of Christ. The love seen in a Kiss of Peace is grounded on the love of Christ poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no root of bitterness grows up to cause trouble and the corruption of many.” (Hebrews 12:4).

A Question of Roots. The writer of Hebrews is offering advice as to how to keep the peace with others: If you let bitterness take root in your heart, peace will be impossible. In fact, the bitter root will grow underground and end up corrupting the community. Letting resentment take root in one’s life will cause discord in a relationship and will guarantee a lack of peace in a community. But there is hope. There is another Root, Jesus. He twice called Himself a Root of David in Revelation (5:5 and 22:16). Jesus here claims to be the original source of existence itself, and of spiritual nutrition and stability as well. We can ask that God tear out the root of bitterness, uproot the resentment in our heart, and replace it with the righteous Root of Jesus. We need to cooperate with God by confronting any bitterness we might have with someone else, confessing it, then reconciling with our neighbor. Let the Root provide what is needed to heal the bitterness and keep it from spreading strife and discord. Let the Prince of Peace grow deep roots of peace. “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16).

Jesus the Son Promised Peace. So when Jesus offers His peace to us as a gift, He is telling us many important things: He is offering our reconciliation with God through Him; He is desiring that we flourish in mind and body and spirit; He is trusting that we grow in an inner harmony, blending together those loose ends within each of us; He is pushing for an outer harmony as well, between people at battle with each other; He is granting us untroubled hearts and minds. When Jesus offers His peace, He is opening the door to a soul-satisfying contentment in each of us. That is the gospel of peace, a deep, fearless peace that defies easy description, a life-long heavenly experience on earth that is not comparable to anything else we can experience.

1. Peace is a Blessing. Peace is both a greeting and a farewell in customary Jewish tradition. When said thoughtfully, this is not a casual greeting that merely involves positive thinking or good feelings. When you say shalom to someone, you are prayerfully hoping that she or he will flourish in wholeness and well-being. Jesus often used shalom as a greeting, and when the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6) says to you “Peace to you!” there can be no greater gift. He says that to each of us right now.
2. Peace is a Kiss. The kiss of peace on each cheek was a traditional greeting in the Middle East. The Christian Church continued that tradition, and it continues to this day in  the Eastern Orthodox Church. When someone offers a kiss of peace, that person is saying that she or he has a clear conscience with that other person, that any division has been healed, any wrong has been forgiven, any bitterness is in the past. When Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss of peace, his betrayal was grotesque and doubly hurtful (Luke 22:48). The kiss of peace in the Orthodox liturgy is done just before the Eucharist, for Jesus clearly stated that peace with others takes priority over the duties of worship (Matt. 5:23-24).
3. Peace is a Sigh. We live in a noisy world, in both an auditory and visual way. We have machines, phones, screens, billboards, the chattering of people. Noise has been linked to high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, stress, and even cognitive impairment. What do we do when we get just a minute of “peace and quiet?” We take a deep breath and exhale with an unhurried sigh. When Jesus breathed into His disciples after the Resurrection, it was a breath of peace (John 20:21-22). The tranquility of heart that comes with that sigh is a loving expression of peace. When possible, seek prayerful silence when you can get it, and you will experience that thoughtful sigh, the fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, the very peace that Christ offered His disciples in the Upper Room.
4. Peace is a Sword. This is a paradox, and is no doubt an aspect of peace that may be beyond human understanding. But Jesus said at one point that He is bringing not peace, but a sword. (Matt. 19:34). He indeed brought the righteous sword of His Holy Spirit, rightly dividing good from evil, a judgment on sin. Some will accept this sword, and some will not, at least for the time being. So Jesus saw division as being the immediate result of His work, division between people especially. But the eventual purpose of His ministry was to divide in order to unite, to bring peace, between people and between God and mankind. Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker. He wants to confront these deep differences and conflicts that inevitably come in His presence, and He earnestly wants to be the bringer of peace and healing and justice.
5. Peace is a Gift. Peace is clearly a gift offered by Jesus to us, and is in fact a sign of His presence. We can’t manufacture peace on our own, it comes to us from heaven, from His Holy Spirit. Peace is a quality that is seeded into our hearts and minds, and then grows, and becomes an eternal fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). The world is not capable of giving us this kind of peace. Peace is a gift that we live into, a confident assurance that we are in harmony with the God who has claimed the ultimate victory. This puts our hearts to rest.

There is no doubt that Jesus took great joy in fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 52:7:  “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’!”

Shalom is a full banquet of peace, but we are given by God a taste of that peace now, an hors ‘d’oeuvre before the full meal. Peace is something promised to us this side of the wedding banquet. God offers to give us a measure of peace now, a foretaste of our life in the New Jerusalem. This earthly peace is all a taste of the soul-satisfying peace awaiting us, a nibble of the eternal fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the peace that goes so deep it is beyond human understanding. (Phil. 4:7). “I leave the gift of peace with you – My peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace.” (John 14:27). “Everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you, and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must cheer up and be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33, TPT). In heaven, there will be peace in the valley, a valley no longer in the shadow of death, but shining in the light of life.