{"id":1510,"date":"2017-01-25T17:30:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T22:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2017-01-25T17:30:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T22:30:54","slug":"shalom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/shalom\/","title":{"rendered":"‘SHALOM’…"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/span>t Christmas, we were reminded of the words the angels sang the night Jesus Christ was born:\u00a0\u201cPeace and goodwill\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0It is something we long for in a world that is torn by self-interest, injustice, terrorism, and war. \u2018Is the angels\u2019 message really true?\u2019 we ask. \u2018Where is the\u00a0peace and goodwill?<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we dismiss their words, we need to read them in the context of their complete statement:\u00a0\u201cGlory to God in the highest heaven,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>they sang,\u00a0\u201cAnd on earth peace among those he\u00a0<\/i>(God<\/i>)\u00a0favors!\u201d<\/i>\u00a0The promise was to a specific group of people<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider Paul the Apostle\u2019s words in Philippians 4:7:\u00a0And\u00a0<\/i>the peace of God<\/i><\/b>, which surpasses all understanding,\u00a0<\/i>will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0<\/i>And in 4:9: \u2026And the God of peace will be with you.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Peace \u2013 Shalom!\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a word of security. Paul understood what it is to be anxious, even fearful about the unexpected in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He also knew the barbs of opposition that hurt God\u2019s people.\u00a0In December 2012, Dr. Angela Merkel remarked that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today. Richard Glover, himself an atheist, asked in an article in the\u00a0Sydney Morning Herald<\/i>\u00a0(Nov. 14, 2015) why are \u2018Believers, Christian people, so derided and ridiculed?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time he wrote his\u00a0Letter to the Philippians<\/i>, Paul the Apostle was in prison for his faith.\u00a0He knew what it was like to be in situations that cause anxiety and fear<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s word\u00a0\u2018guard\u2019<\/b>\u00a0in the context of his speaking about God\u2019s peace is very encouraging. It actually means \u2018a garrison\u2019. Being a Roman citizen he may have had the Praetorian Guard in mind. It\u2019s a great thought: God\u2019s \u2018Praetorian Guard\u2019 providing a security for our hearts and minds, and so giving us peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

The word\u00a0\u2018hearts\u2019<\/b>\u00a0in the Bible is a reference to our mind and will, our conscience and our emotions. It\u2019s what is going on within us that finds outward expression in our life.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the word\u00a0\u2018mind\u2019<\/b>\u00a0is a reference to our conscious thoughts and ideas that spring from these inner longings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Ashley Null, one of the foremost scholars concerning Abp Thomas Cranmer, observes that Cranmer\u2019s anthropology can be summarized:\u00a0\u2018What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.\u2019\u00a0<\/i>Null explains that, according to Cranmer, \u2018The mind doesn\u2019t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself is captive to what the heart wants\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Paul speaks about \u2018the peace of God\u00a0guarding our hearts and minds<\/i>, he is speaking about our need, not just for inner transformation, but our on-going need to keep our hearts and minds centered on Christ. Otherwise \u2018our hearts and minds\u2019, will turn away from Christ and become enemies of his cross \u2013 something that Paul speaks about at the end of Philippians 3.<\/span><\/p>\n

CONSCIOUS PRESENCE OF GOD<\/h2>\n

But we need something more.\u00a0We need the conscious presence of God<\/b>. So in Philippians 4:9 Paul tells us again, \u2018The peace of God will be with you\u2019. Why would he make this promise unless we need this peace?<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul knows that our faith can easily become a creedal formula rather than a living experience.<\/strong> While we theoretically know that Christ is with us, we can at the same time, in reality, forget Him. And in the absence of a sense of His presence, it is so easy to fall into sin and slackness. We need to know that in truth and in reality, the God of peace is with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Philippians 4:7 and 9, Paul identifies some very encouraging promises: \u2018The peace of God which passes all understanding\u00a0will keep you<\/i><\/b>\u2026 God\u2019s peace will be with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

The peace of God that passes all understanding is the promise that our lives will be touched by the supernatural. It is beyond the range of our human understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

So often our problem in standing firm in the face of hostility is that others do not see why we want to be different. As one commentator remarked, \u2018Society looks on us as being in the category of the lady whose obituary noted that her chief hobby was religion’. What we need as God\u2019s people, individually and as a people, is the touch of the supernatural \u2013 something that cannot be explained except by saying, \u2018This is the finger of God\u2019. (Exodus 8:19)<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about some mystical power. Rather\u00a0I am speaking of the work of God\u2019s Word through his Spirit in our lives<\/b>, enabling us to rise above the challenges of life in such a way that it can be explained only by the power of God at work within us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 John G. Mason<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

t Christmas, we were reminded of the words the angels sang the night Jesus Christ was born:\u00a0\u201cPeace and goodwill\u2026\u201d\u00a0It is something we long for in a world that is torn by self-interest, injustice, terrorism, and war. \u2018Is the angels\u2019 message really true?\u2019 we ask. \u2018Where is the\u00a0peace and goodwill? Before we dismiss their words, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\n'SHALOM'... - The Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Paul speaks about shalom \u2018the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds, he is speaking about our need to keep our hearts and minds centered on Christ.'\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/shalom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'SHALOM'... - 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