Shalom, The Promise Of Christmas

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 26

Shalom, The Promise Of Christmas

(Written for the Christian Festival Committee by the

REV. JOHN MURRAY)

Christmas makes me sad. It is not that I do not enjoy myself, for I like parties and presents as much as anyone—and I am not against others enjoying themselves either.

But if I stop to think about the great gap there is between the promise of Christmas and the way in which we fulfil it, how else can I feel but sad?

The promise given to us by God at the birth of our Lord was that there should be “peace on earth, good will among men.” We all know this, and there is not one of us against it. Only a fool would not want peace and good will. Yet after nearly two thousand reminders we do not yet seem to have got the message. There is still a great gap between the promise and the fulfilment. That is what makes me sad. Christmas is peace. The Jews had a word for it. They called it Shalom. It was a very special word to them, for they used it each time they met someone. “Peace be with you,” they would say, and by that they meant much more than “how do you do?” With these words they would say to the other person, “May you prosper and enjoy all the blessings of God.” To a Jew, Shalom meant more than the absence of war. It meant the welfare of people, living together in harmony and goodwill, sharing with one another both the good things of life and the good things of the spirit, for both come from God. One Jew described it like this—- “ 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 any more;, But they shall sit, every man. under his vine and underi his fig tree, And none shall make them afraid Then we shall walk in the name of the Lord God For ever and ever.” No, not jast absence of war, but the freedom of every man to live his own life without need and without fear. Gone the divisions among men which separate us and make us suspicious and hostile to one another. This is Shalom, the promise of Christmas. Removing Barriers Christmas is the breaking down of barriers. A few years ago in Holland a rather unusual group of Christians came into existence. They were concerned with breaking down barriers, at first be-

tween the various Churches to which they belonged. They had experienced this unity themselves and wanted to stay together. When they looked for a name for themselves they called the group simply “Shalom." They would meet and “break bread together” just as Jesus and the disciples had done. This challenged the Churches to pull down their barriers and the Church authorities were not always very pleased with them. But that was only tbe beginning, for the real problems of peace today belong to the world, the barriers between rich and poor, black and white, educated and illiterate, East and West, armed intervention and international reconciliation, the rights of the individual and | the rights of the State. Though only a small group, they have influenced many in the Churches and beyond the Churches, in the community as a whole and in the Government. They aim to make people concerned and out of I their concern, to act. For example, when last year in the Netherlands there was a tax reduction, they with a group of some hundreds of people, sent back each month to the Minister of Finance the amount of the reduction, because it was always being said that there was no money in the country to increase the level of overseas aid. The tax reduction, they said, proved that the money was there, Lut instead of being given to those who needed it, it was being used by themselves. By showing the real connection between taxation and aid in this way. they attracted a lot of publicity and had considerable influence. When, on another occasion. ( the Minister of Finance put* forth a proposal to raise a loan for overseas aid from the | community. “Shalom” pointed j out that this problem was not] to be solved by individual! charity but was a political problem for the Government itself to tackle. The economists agreed that the Minister’s proposal was a bad one! and in the end it was withdrawn.

One Thing In Common

The people who make up "Shalom” are very different. There are some pastors and priests, some teachers and a doctor, a printer, a furniture; maker, some technicians and al man who sells high voltage! switches! The one thing they I have in common is a concern j for people in the spirit of I

Jesus Christ. They are concerned with peace, with the breaking down of barriers, with a new world where there will be no more war and every man, woman and child will enjoy all the blessings of God. For Christmas is people. It is about a person called Jesus who came to bring Shalom to all people from God. How sad He must be to see how little His promise of peace has been accepted and how many of His people still suffer, are still the victims of the sword and still have no tree of their own under which they may sit, unafraid. Perhaps we should have a “Shalom" group here to help fulfil the promise. In tlie gospel story, we are told that though God said “Peace,” man said “there is no room.” This is what makes Christmas, the time of good news for all men, so sad. We must make room. Most merciful God, For whose chosen handmaid and her Holy Child, There was no room in the inn al Bethlehem; Help us all by Thy Spirit To make mure room for the Christ In our daily life, That his peace and joy may fill our hearts, And his love flow through our lives To the blessing of others. For His name’s sake. AMEN.