Afghanistan is thousands of miles away, but there, just across the median strip, was the grim reality of a war that for that brief moment came home to me. It made a night at the football quite mundane.
I have to confess that it made my Sunday morning message on ‘Come and die’ all the more important to me personally and if no one else listened to me, I did!
There is a passage in the Book of Micah that I was reflecting on this morning:
‘He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.’Micah 4:3,4
It is of course an impossible dream – or is it? When Jesus came among people his common greeting or call to others was that they might have peace or go in peace. In Hebrew the word for peace is Shalom and while Jesus undoubtedly spoke in Aramaic, I like to think that for such an important word he would have used the language of the prophets and said ‘Shalom’.
An important part of the ministry of Jesus was that of peace carrier. A key part of our growth as disciples of Jesus is to move from having faith in Jesus to having the faith of Jesus (I think I pinched that from Dallas Willard but am not sure where?) Having faith in is cerebral, while having the faith of is gut. There is a very big difference.
Having faith in is like believing that the Parramatta Eels is a good football team. It’s a faith statement that really requires nothing more from us. We can attend the occasional game if we like but the hard work is done by others who we can feel free to boo and criticise because after all, we are believers!
Having the faith of is a different matter altogether. It lifts our eyes to far horizons and gives us hope and vision far beyond ourselves and the tiny kingdoms that we have built for ourselves. I was once abused and accused of being self righteous because I was thinking of giving a large amount of money away to a worthy charity. Strange behaviour you might say; but I think it is becoming normal in a society of shrinking worlds and shrinking values.
Leonard Sweet tells this story:
‘There was once an old Jewish man. All he ever did in his spare time was to go to the edge of the village and plant fig trees. People would ask him, “Why are you planting fig trees? You are going to die before you can eat any of the fruit that they produce.” But he said, “I have spent so many happy hours sitting under fig trees and eating their fruit. Those trees were planted by others. Why shouldn’t I make sure that others will enjoy the enjoyment that I have had?”’ So Beautiful – David C. Cook – 2009 – pg 188
People can keep their ‘ticky tacky’ faith; I want something with a bit of guts. For me three hearses on Windsor Road has been a powerful impetus to faith. It has been a powerful reminder that we followers of Jesus are ‘Shalomers’, people of peace. It starts where we are but who knows where it might go?
Shalom - John
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