I was recently pondering one of Jesus’ parables from the Gospel of Matthew. In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, a merchant sells all they own to buy the pearl. What would the Pearl of Great Price be for us? Aside from personal needs and wants, everyone says they want peace. At the cathedral we so often bring peace to God in our prayers. But… can there be peace without justice?
The Hebrew word Shalom, one of my favourite words, has a meaning so much richer than the English word peace. It carries with it a wider meaning including health, wellbeing, flourishing and wholeness. It is so much more than an absence of war!
A recent podcast in the Gravity Commons series, Conversations to help us develop a Christian spirituality, rooted in love, that fosters resilient faith in everyday life, made me sit up and take note. It was a conversation between two Palestinian theologians. It will be of no surprise that they commented on the perceived silence of the Western church to the current situation in Gaza. But it was what followed that made me sit up and take note.
“We commit the sin,” they said, referring to themselves. “Not seeing the other as made in the image of God.” They went on, “Palestinian Christians need to be careful not to fall into the same trap. The biggest sin is the dehumanising and demonising of people, who are all made in the image of God, and that applies to enemies as well as friends. If you pray for justice without holding on to the humanity of the other side, you move from justice to revenge.”
Praying for peace globally, locally, in the family, and in our hearts, will involve a change of heart. It will involve repentance, forgiveness, and letting go of a desire for revenge. Peace and justice cannot be separated, and in God’s heart, justice comes with mercy. We in the church need to be inclusive of our work on ourselves and our work in the world. Like justice and peace, they cannot be separated. The kingdom work is here and now, not just to come, and it will cost us everything!
Canon Michael