Heaven is Shalom in Fullness

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. - John 14:27

As we think about heaven this week, perhaps it’s most helpful to think about it as the presence of complete shalom. Peace is the common definition of that old Hebrew word, but when Jesus Jesus broke into the locked room where the disciples were hiding after the crucifixion, he would have said, “Shalom I leave with you; my shalom I give you.” While ‘peace’ is a good enough one word definition of shalom, it meant so much more.

Shalom what the Law attempted to structure, it’s what the prophets foretold, and it’s what Jesus came to bring. Here is a really helpful way to think about it:

The webbing together of God, human, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means *universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight* …Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

- Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. Not the Way It's Supposed to Be

Brenda Salter-McNeil, coming out of the African American tradition, adds to Plantiga’s more European-American perspective the additional layer of systemic reconciliation that is too easy for those of us in the dominant culture to overlook:

Reconciliation is an ongoing spiritual process involving forgiveness, repentance, and justice that restores broken relationships and systems to reflect God’s original intention for all creation to flourish.

- Brenda Salter-McNeil, Roadmap to Reconciliation

What aspects of these definitions of shalom strike you most? Why? Is there something new in them that you haven’t thought of before? Take time to be quiet before God, letting your mind rest of this broader, deeper, richer understanding of heaven.