The Dream of Shalom

"So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them."  Numbers 6:27

The Dream of Shalom
By Rev. William Dohle

"I have a dream..." Dr. King said.  And a nation listened.

Reading Dr. Martin Luther King's speech this morning made me think of dreams and how we think about the future together.

If someone asked you, "What are your dreams?" you would probably respond in a personal way.

You would tell them about your hopes for your family or your vision of the future.  If you were a younger person, you might mention what you want to become "when you grow up" and the career you'd like to pursue.  If you're older, your dreams would surely include your family, your hopes and wishes for them as they grow into their future.

But all of those "dreams" would be personal.  They would be YOUR dreams.  And they probably wouldn't take into account or reflect the dreams and hopes of anyone else but you.  They are YOUR(singular) dream, YOUR(singular) hope, and YOUR (singular) vision for the future.

But what about the others around you?  What about them?  Are they included in your dream?  Is there a dream that we can truly say we share with others?  Or are our dreams just for us?

The words from Numbers today carry with it a dream.  The dream of Shalom.  These words are said in Christian churches and in Jewish synagogues to this very day.  They carry with them a dream for the future...God's dream!  In English they read this...

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.     (Num. 6:24-26)

It's that last word...peace...that is the key here!

The word for peace in Hebrew is Shalom and it carries with it more than we think.

Shalom doesn't just mean "the end to violence" or "quiet" or even "rest" as we might think with our English word "peace."  Literally the word means...

...to "restore" in the sense of replacing or providing what is needed in order to make someone or something whole and complete. 

To restore... not just to stop fighting.  Providing what is needed to make something whole and complete again.

It's not rest.  It's not "peace and quiet."  It's certainly not only the end of violence.

Shalom has the sense of wholeness and completeness.  Shalom comes after you place the last piece on a puzzle and you say, with a sigh, "It's finished!"  It is the feeling a painter has when he's finished his masterpiece and after a writer has after she has submitted her manuscript.  Shalom is the completeness that comes after one has graduated from high school.  Shalom is the finished product.

Shalom is the dream of God shared with humanity.  As such Shalom is our dream, our dream together!

It is not like other dreams which are ours, singular.  This dream we share with all of humanity.  This dream, passed down through the ages from our ancestors, is truly OUR dream TOGETHER!  Our dream, shared by God, for a completeness and wholeness.

We shall never achieve Shalom in this lifetime they say.  There are always more things to complete and more projects to finish and more "last pieces" to lay.  Creation itself will never be finished.  Not in our lifetime.  Possibly not ever.

But we pray for that shalom.  We pray for that completeness.  And as we hear the words of the Aaronic blessing said to us in worship, we join in a dream that is larger than we are.  A dream that Dr. King, Gandi, Jeremiah, St. Francis of Assisi and countless others have shared.  A dream that we shall see the fulfillment of Jesus words, "It is finished..." and experience true shalom.

Blessed are you, O God, King of the Universe, for you empower us with your Holy Spirit and call us into your dream of Shalom.  Complete us that we might experience the wholeness that you have promised.  Amen.