Words of Peace
by Brinton Rutherford

"What the world needs now is peace" sings Greg Coleman. T-shirts shout it. The pope says it. Activists groups lobby for it. But Jeremiah and Ezekiel say it well, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." Bono gets it right when he sings the paradox, "hope and history won't rhyme." In U2's song "Peace on Earth," he prays a prayer for the human race, "Jesus will you take the time to throw a drowning man a line ... peace on earth."

Shalom, the Hebrew word translated "peace" in English, describes the abundant life God dreams for creation. The "gospel of peace" is a holistic peace where nothing is missing, nothing is broken, all is well, and everything is complete. Can this exist in the midst of chaos? Christ's peace begins with peace with God. Jesus linked the holistic peace given to the disciples in John 20:21 to mission. "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Christ's peace does not end there. Christians are called to live a "way of peace," "be at peace with one another," "do things that make for peace," and "be peacemakers." We are told to "seek shalom and pursue it." "He is our peace" and thus we are people of Christ's peace. This peace is not our peace and not the world's peace, but Christ's peace, even on the cross.

We Are People of God's Peace Card [PDF]