Session 3: The City of Shalom

Materials:
Hymnals or copies of the hymn “Dona Nobis Pacem”
Hymnals or copies of the hymn: “When Peace, Like a River” (“It Is Well With My Soul”)
Bible dictionaries, concordances, or computer Bible-search engines
Paper and pens for recorder

For Experiential Options:
Journal or piece of paper and pens

Opening Statement (Leader to summarize where indicated during session or to copy for group):
            Biblical peace, from the Hebrew word shalom, is more than the absence of war or the cessation of overt hostilities.  It is removal of barriers, the conquering of fears, and the destruction of stereotypes.  In scripture, peace is achieved when Boaz looks beyond the fact that Ruth is an alien and a member of a hated race and demonstrates khavod, the steadfast love associated with God. In Acts, Peter had to confront his prejudice and reluctance to answer the call of God’s Spirit and visit the centurion.  Ethnic Jews and Gentiles might meet in the marketplace, but they did not visit in each other’s homes.  Such interaction would make the Jews ritually unclean (not in the literal sense but in that ridiculous way which we as children sometimes called “cooties”).
            We don’t know if Peter hesitated on the centurion’s doorstep or if his heart or his stomach did a flip as he entered, but salvation did not come just to the Centurion’s home that day; it came to Peter as well. 
           Shalom is essential to the restoration of God’s plan.  The City of Shalom is the next stop on our journey to the City of God.  There is much brokenness in our lives, but our scars can be transformed into marks of peace, God’s peace, if we confront our prejudices and fears.

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

Focus Statement: God’s peace brings wholeness.

Gathering:
            Take time for meeting and greeting one another, using whatever rituals you have developed, as people arrive for the session.  There is no rush to get to the “meat” of the session; relationships are “meat,” too.  Sing “Dona Nobis Pacem,” until the group feels comfortable singing it as a three-part round. 
            Invite group members to say, popcorn style, words or phrases that define peace–spontaneously, quickly, making no attempt to tie things together.  Have a recorder write down on board or newsprint what people say.
            Using Bible dictionaries, concordances, and/or laptops with internet connections, look up the meaning of the word peace in a biblical context.  Work out together and write down a definition for peace as the Bible describes it.  Once again, the recorder should write this down.  Compare this latest meaning with the words and phrases mentioned earlier.  The leader may also repeat or summarize here thoughts from the Opening Statement. To end the discussion, pray the Lord’s Prayer together.

Marking the Milestones (Daily Meditations from The Upper Room)
            Today’s session will focus on The Upper Room meditations from Thursday, February 14 through Wednesday February 20.  As before, do not worry about keeping to a planned sequence if there are those in the group who especially responded to a particular meditation.  It is not necessary to touch on every meditation.

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Suffering Transformed
Can we grow to beat peace with our pain?  Many wonderful therapies and medicines help us, and certainly we wish to be as free from pain as possible.  But Dr. Paul Brand, in a book he co-authored with Philip Yancey, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, suggests that in most countries pain is recognized as a gift that tells us something is wrong.  Today’s writer tells how the ministries of The Upper Room have helped a doctor transform his suffering into an opportunity for ministry.  When have you experienced suffering in your life being transformed?  When have you failed to find anything good in suffering?

Friday, February 15, 2008
The Master Artist
Can we be at peace with an accurate picture of ourselves?  Our culture demands that we conform to standards set by the media.  But  God has given us the gift of unique and enduring beauty.  God has “begun a good work” in us (see Philippians 1:6).  Do we have the patience to wait while this good work comes to completion in God’s time?  What are your feelings about God’s true picture of you at different stages of your life?  Where do you think God is heading with the masterpiece that is you?

Saturday, February 16, 2008
God’s Project
Can we be at peace with God’s plan for the world?  The author compares God’s sure foundation with her husband’s confident operation of a back hoe.  While we give lip service to the notion that God knows best and sees more clearly than humans ever could, do we still tend to cling to the notion that secretly we really know what is better for us and for the world?  Talk about things that, like the operator of that machine, you are good at.  How do we see God at work through the talents we have been blessed with and the skills we have learned?  Are there ways we can call forth the gifts of others?  What gifts do we recognize in the Body of Christ?  Do we value some gifts and talents more than others?  The author uses the image of purposeful work that lays a strong foundation for God’s plan.  How do you see your gifts fitting into what God wants for the world?

Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Pane of Life
In this meditation the author writes about a fly that was literally at a dead end.  Even though the fly could see clearly through the glass pane, freedom did not lie straight ahead.  Reaching freedom would come only through following a circuitous route.  Can we grow to be at peace with God’s purpose and meaning for us?  Can we change?   The writer uses the important story from Luke in which Jesus describes the true meaning of peace – which included the restoration of those on the margins back into the community of God’s people – as compared to the dead end of simple political liberation.  Read Luke 4:14-21 aloud and imagine how angry the neighbors of Jesus felt when he refused to lead them as they wished but instead attempted to give them divine direction and purpose.

Monday, February 18, 2008
If We’d Only Listen
This writer turns the tables on herself. Her frustration with the shortcomings of others leads her to wonder about whether God is frustrated with us.  Families sometimes seem the farthest from peace.  Sometimes the journey can make sense only once it is over or when a major crisis is past.  Every relationship includes times of shalom and times of intense frustration, or anger, or even alienation.  But love always offers the possibility of reconciliation.  Silently consider incidents in your life, both from the vantage point of one who has been harmed and one who has harmed, which are similar to those described in this meditation.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Perfect Note
One hopes there are moments in all our lives when everything is in harmony, when God’s peace, shalom, is truly experienced.  Whether for a moment, a day, or a lifetime, peace is real.  The fact that the harmony is temporarily lost doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.  The author compares the need for us to tune our lives in Christ with the importance of every instrument in an orchestra being tuned to one standard.  For more on the perfect note and lives out of tune, explore the Experiential Option “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.”

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Looking for Opportunities
The author prays for strength to share her faith.  Certainly her life – and ours – speaks volumes.  Many people will tell others about new restaurants, movies they have seen, books they enjoyed, but find it hard to use the same language and strategies to express the joy and enjoyment they find in their church and their faith. Strategize ways to share with others what the Lord has done for you.

Reflection:

           Can I grow to trust God’s presence in my life?

           What stops God’s peace from permeating the world?

           How have I resisted God’s peace and thus prevented others’ lives from being enriched?

           Why is it so hard for me, for some of us, to speak about God’s goodness?

Going Forth:
            Both a journaling and a recitation option are given below.  Whichever you choose, when the time for parting comes, sing together “When Peace, like a River” (“It Is Well With My Soul”).  Return to the definitions of peace generated at the beginning of the session.  Which you would still choose, and how have your ideas about peace changed? 

            Close by reciting Psalm 85 in unison:

LORD, you were favorable to your land;
            you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
            you pardoned all their sin. Selah
You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
            and put away your indignation toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever?
            Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
            for he will speak peace to his people,
             to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
             that his glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
            righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
             and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The LORD will give what is good,
            and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

Experiential and Journaling Options
            Write in a paragraph in your journal or on a sheet of paper about one strong point or image that has stayed with you since you first read a particular meditation from this past week. Write about why you were attracted to this, including a short prayer praising God for the insight.

Recitation as Prayer:
            Perhaps you have been thinking about the “perfect note,” wondering how such a note could be drawn from us when our lives are out of tune. Many people are familiar with the poem “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.”  Since it is in the public domain, you can probably find it online through a search engine.  Or you may order a copy of it from Brethren Press.  The poem was written by Myra Brooks Welch (1878-1959) of LaVerne, California.  This story of the battered violin whose value goes from three bucks to three thousand after a master draws a wonderful tune from the instrument was soon reprinted the world ever, often without the author’s name.  It’s been set to music, made into a film, and reprinted thousands of times.
            Why was it so popular?  That’s hard to say.  Maybe many people have lives that are out of tune, feel they have been sold short by the world, or think that their souls are slipping away, going, going, gone.  Maybe the author herself said it best, “I think God took it as he did the little lad’s loaves and fishes and blessed it to his own praise and glory.”
            Myra Brooks Welch had been an accomplished musician but was robbed of her ability to play by crippling arthritis that confined her to a wheelchair.  She turned to writing poetry by grasping a pencil in each gnarled hand and striking the keys of her typewriter with the erasers.  The poem earned her seventy-five cents when it was first printed, and before her copyright ran out it never earned more than twenty dollars in royalties. 
           Recite the poem aloud.  Listen.  Reflect.

 

The Touch of the Master’s Hand*
by Myra Brooks Welch (1878-1959)

            Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
            Thought it scarcely worth his while
            To waste much time on the old violin,
            But held it up with a smile.
            “What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
            “Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
            “A dollar, a dollar” then, “two! Only two?
            Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
            Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
            Going for three—” But no,
            From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
            Came forward and picked up the bow;
            Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
            And tightening the loose strings,
            He played a melody pure and sweet
            As a caroling angel sings.

            The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
            With a voice that was quiet and low,
            Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”
            And he held it up with the bow.
            “A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?”
            Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
            Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
            And going, and gone,” said he.
            The people cheered, but some of them cried,
            “We do not quite understand
            What changed its worth.”  Swift came the reply:
            “The touch of a master’s hand.”

            And many a many with life out of tune,
            And battered and scarred with sin,
            Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
            Much like the old violin.
            A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine;
            A game – and he travels on.
            He is “going” once, and “going” twice,
            He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
            But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
            Never can quite understand
            The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
            By the touch of the Master’s hand.”

*Taken from The Story Behind the Touch of the Master’s Hand, Poem by Myra Brooks Welch. Story by Wendy McFadden.  Brethren Press.

For a Children’s Session:
            Materials:
            Meditation from The Upper Room for February 15: “The Master Artist.”
            Large sheet of newsprint; crayons and markers.
            Ingredients for Amish Pancakes:
            2 eggs
                        1/2 cup flour
                        1/2 cup milk
                        Pinch of salt
                        Pinch of nutmeg
                        1 tablespoon of butter
           
            Fast foods, microwave popcorn, ready-to-eat foods – it seems we try to remove the waiting from our lives.  In this session children will be invited to cook a treat that cannot be rushed.  While it cooks they will study, then live, one of the meditations from this past week.
            Gather children together and talk about things that are fast and things that are slow.  Read Isaiah 40:31 – “…but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Allow children to make, under your supervision, the following recipe. (You might try it in advance).  Since they are going to cut up and share the pancake, you don’t have to make one for each person.
           
Amish Pancakes           
(This recipe for Amish pancakes is almost foolproof; all it takes is a bit of time.)

2 eggs                                  pinch of salt
1/2 cup flour                        pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup milk                        1 T. butter

            Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Break the eggs into a small mixing bowl, sift in the flour, and mix it with the eggs.  Toss in a pinch of salt,  Add the milk and a pinch of nutmeg. Melt one tablespoon of butter in a large, cast-iron skillet.  When the butter bubbles, pour in the batter.  Put the skillet in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.  Remove the skillet and turn the cooked pancake onto a plate.  Allow it to cool slightly. Sprinkle the pancake with powdered sugar and/or some jam. 
            Step away from the cooking area while the pancake is cooking and spread out newsprint.  Read “The Master Artist.”  Then ask some of the following questions:
            What do you suppose the six-year-old girl thought while the artist was drawing a picture of her?
            How do you think the artist knew what lines to draw to make the picture look like the girl?
            What does God want for you and for your life? For everyone’s life?
            How long will it take to know God’s plan for our life?  What can we do to help us discover it?

            Ask each child in turn to take a crayon or marker and draw a line or a circle or some other shape on the paper and then to step back, without saying a word.  Each child in turn will add to the drawing without speaking.  Together watch as something takes shape on the paper.  Continue to draw until the timer goes off.  Then an adult should remove the skillet from the oven and turn the pancake onto a plate.  After adding the sugar and jam, cut the pancake into pieces to share with all participants.  Ask children to come back to the drawing after they have eaten to talk about their work together.   Say: “God is an artist who will always complete the picture of our lives.”  Pray the prayer printed with the meditation.