The Candle of Peace
Friday night my wife and I attended the installation ceremony of Ted Labow as cantor and spiritual leader of Agudas Israel Congregation right here in Hendersonville. Some of you met Mr. Labow when I interviewed him at The Buzz, the last stop on my Tangle Tour of ’23. During that interview I invited him to come to Providence sometime during 2024 and sing and preach for us. Following that overture, I received an invitation to attend the installation.
The event Friday night consisted of one long service, with elements of the standard shabbat service, features arising from the beginning of Hanukah, and things strictly related to his installation. Several things about the service stood out. It was, in many respects, what we would call a contemporary worship service. He played and led the singing with a guitar, the singing lasted at least 40 minutes, the songs were very familiar to the congregation, and they projected the words onto two screens at the front of the sanctuary. It had the feel of a casual folk song service.
But there were other elements: the text and the singing were all in Hebrew! This is unusual for a congregation of Reformed Jewish tradition. Cantor Ted was assisted in the leadership by two women, one his sister; both are trained opera singers, like Ted himself, and one is a cantor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They performed a concern last night, from Bach to the Beetles.
Jan and I were introduced. For dinner we were seated at the center table with Ted LaBow and the out-of-town guests. Seated next to Jan was the president of the synagogue, Sue Kopel. Seated next to me was the executive director of Jewish Family Services of Western North Carolina, Michael Barnett, also new to the area. Dinner began in a very familiar way, with a prayer in Hebrew followed by the distribution of the bread on a platter and the wine in a small plastic cup. I felt right at home!
Most of you know that the standard Shabbat greeting is “Shabbat Shalom,” Hebrew for “Sabbath peace to you.” It was repeated many times during the evening. The word Shalom appeared even more frequently. It is the standard Hebrew word for peace. It is used in many ways. The customary greeting, for instance, is MaShalomka, “How are you?” Shalom is also the standard parting word; it is like saying, Goodbye.
The Hebrew word Shalom is the same as the Semitic word or the Arabic word. Muslims use the same word as Jews and Christians, slightly different inflection of the word Shalom.
Shalom is a word that means peace and wellbeing in the most expansive and inclusive way possible. The shalom of God is the destiny of creation and history. Shalom is the purpose of redemption. Shalom is the description of the kingdom of God, the rule of God, and the way of Jesus. Shalom is the salvation of God for every person, for the whole human race, and for all of creation.
I.
Shalom is the theme of this hymn we read today as part of our prayer for peace. Last week, we lit the candle of hope and remembered the long-running hope of Zachariah and Elizabeth; they wanted a child, and they lived in that hope.
Their son was born, they named him John; and we know him as John the Baptist. That does not mean, of course, that he was affiliated with a Baptist church (although some preachers have taught that!). Rather, it refers to his practice of public baptism, of immersing people in the Jordan River to signal a new spiritual and moral direction. John was a great prophet who called people to the water in a spirit of repentance and faith, of changing their behaviors and their attitudes, of become new people. John the baptizer is a better way of naming him, or John the Big Dipper! A movie about him could well use the Allison Kraus song, from the movie “Oh Brother, Where Are Thou?”, “Let’s Go Down to the River to Pray.”
But this song recorded by the gospel writer Luke celebrates the birth of John. His birth was a miracle; now his life will be a marvel. Zechariah either composes or recites this Hebrew hymn. It begins, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel because the Lord has come to the people and redeemed them.” It ends like this, “You, John, will go before to prepare the way of the Lord, to give the people knowledge of salvation, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness, and to guide our feet into the path of shalom.”
This is what we are looking for today, the path of peace, the way to shalom. We want to know how to make peace between nations, to create shalom among tribes and parties and people with different ideas of what to do, to find peace among us, and within us, and through us.
The most important work in the world is that of peace maker. The peace maker seeks to bring waring nations to the table. The peace maker creates opportunity for families and organizations to live in peace. The peace maker welcomes peace into her own soul, his own spirit. The peaceful person radiates confidence in God and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peaceful person receives into his own soul the peace of God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus said. “The peace of God, the shalom of God, transcends all understanding and guards your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That is Paul the apostle, writing to the Philippians.
It is important that Jan and I went to the synagogue on Friday.
It is not just about the new cantor, Ted LaBow. It is about war half-way around the world. It is about rising antisemitism across Europe and North America. It is about the failure of leaders to push back against people who hate the Jews. This week the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania refused to condemn hateful speech calling for the genocide of the Jews. I am astounded. We do not have to take sides in the Israel-Hamas war in order to condemn genocide. Speech and actions calling for the eradication of any tribe, nation family, or country is immoral, deeply wicked, and totally contrary to our moral values as people, as Americans, and as Christians. Shame on those university presidents. I was not surprised when the president of the university of Pennsylvania resigned under pressure yesterday. The genocide of the Jews and the genocide of the Palestinians is wrong.
I went Friday night to support Israel; if I can find a Palestinian group in the county I will go to their meeting. I will stand with Palestinians just as easily and quickly as I stand with the Israelis.
In fact, the entire war is wrong. Hamas’ attack on the kibbutzim of Israel was wrong; and Israel’s attack on the citizens of Gasa is wrong. The waring spirit of the age is wrong. The waring spirit of Russia is wrong.
What makes some of this so terribly wrong is the use of religion to justify the violence and motivate the soldiers. Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all used God-language to just war. This also is morally bankrupt. We are familiar with the war cry of Muslims, “Allahu Akbar.” The prime minister of Israel legitimized his attack on Gaza by quoting the Bible, saying “This is a time for war.” And across the Unite States, Christian nationalists are arming themselves in a long-running culture war, they say, to take back America for God. This mixing of faith and fighting is an old formula for stirring up the people and pushing whole populations into war. War is evil, and leaders who stir up war also create chaos that lasts for generations.
III.
Peacemakers are honored with Nobel Prizes, while war mongers are condemned to the bottom run of moral respectability. Be a peacemaker. Be like Jesus who said, “put away the sword” when his own disciples wanted to fight. And when the destruction of Jesus appeared imminent, Jesus told his disciples to flee to the mountains.
Zachariah predicted that John the Baptizer would be a great leader. “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High. You will live to prepare the way of the Lord, to give the people the knowledge of the saving power of God, to shine a light on those living in darkness, and to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
That path of peace is what we want.
We want the path that runs through the Middle East and also from Moscow to Kiev. But we also want the path of peace that runs right down the middle of our church, our family, even our own soul. We want peace over there, but we also want peace in here and in here.
One of my favorite scenes in the Seinfeld series was the exchange between Kramer and Jerry. Kramer was taking a course in Karate. Jerry ridiculed Kramer, but Kramer said to Jerry, and I quote, “Karate is the lifetime pursuit of harmony and balance. It is not here (gesturing straight forward) but here (pointing to the head) and here (pointing to the heart) and here (spreading his hands to draw the large circle around himself.)
It is a hilarious scene, but it is helpful for us today. It is not only here (drawing the circle of the universe) that we need peace, but also here (pointing to the heart) and here (pointing to the head). Here is where we need peace, don’t you? In your family, your home, your circle of relatives or friends. We are boxed in today between the family gathering of Thanksgiving and the even bigger festivals of Christmas. Personal and family ties are strained. We have relatives we just as soon never see again, never hear again. Many of us long for peace just in our own family.
More than that we have needs buried deep in our own souls: anxiety, resentment, disappointment, anger, mistrust, even greed, lust, and deception. The heart is deceitful above all things, the gospel declares and our own experience mutters, “Amen.” We know that we—you and I—fall far short of even what we want to be, let alone the purposes of God.
Our family needs to find that path of peace. I need to pick up that candle of peace and carry it around for a few days, or weeks, or years. Do you need a candle of peace in your home?
Our church website has a feature that allows people to write the pastors with some concern. Marcy and I receive these emails and we respond as we are able. We received one this week. Like most, this one came from a stranger. She has a name, but no other identity. She asked for prayer, prayer for healing from, “depression, sleep disorder, and insomnia,” I need “peace of mind,” she wrote. She asked for healing in “my mind, my heart, and throughout my family tree.” Here, and here, and here.
People can’t hear Jesus if they are hungry, and people can’t long for peace on earth (around the world) if there is no peace here (in my soul) and here.
Today we gather in our search for peace. We see our friends, and that helps. We shake hands with people we respect, and that helps. We sing these songs, and that surely helps. We open up the Bible and read these wonderful words of life, and that helps. We pray, “Our father and creator, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name,” and that also helps. All of these ways help us find the path of peace. We want to walk that path of peace. We want shalom here, and here, and here. Help us, O Lord, and give us peace. In your spirit, we light the candle of peace today, and pray that this week, your peace that passes understanding will arise with great healing power here, and here, and here.
