Communal Shalom
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
The consequences of justice and righteousness are shalom, an enduring Sabbath of joy and well-being. But the alternative is injustice and oppression, which leads inevitably to turmoil and anxiety, with no chance of well-being.
—Walter Brueggemann, Peace: Living Toward a Vision
Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley describes God’s vision of shalom, which is the ancient Hebrew vision of communal peace and universal thriving:
Shalom is communal, holistic, and tangible. There is no private or partial shalom. The whole community must have shalom or no one has shalom…. Shalom is not for the many, while a few suffer; nor is it for the few while many suffer. It must be available for everyone. In this way, shalom is everyone’s concern…. Shalom produces change for the good of all….
Shalom is not a utopian destination; it is a constant journey. One does not wait on shalom; one actually sets about the task of shalom. In other words, people need to be going about the business of shalom and living out shalom. This active, persistent effort takes place at every level, from personal relationships to societal and structural transformation. [1]
Woodley writes about Sabbath and Jubilee as practices that support God’s shalom:
Jubilee was good news for the poor. Sabbath, and especially Jubilee, was the awaited opportunity for new starts among marginalized people. The Acceptable Year of the Lord was the chance the oppressed needed in order to find new hope. Paradoxically, while the Year of Jubilee was good news to the poor, it might have felt like bad news to the rich and prosperous. Jubilee was good news to the oppressed but bad news to the oppressor. Certainly Mary, the mother of Jesus, understood the implications at the announcement of her pregnancy when she sang in Luke 1:51–53…. Mary, and those during Jesus’ time, understood well the radical implications of a Jubilee Year. Why were such radical social measures needed? The answer according to Isaiah 61 was because God “loves justice” and [God] “hates robbery and wrongdoing” [61:8].
God’s will and cosmic design is that no one suffer unjustly, but because human beings create unjust systems, shalom-type social parameters must serve as a social safety net to offset human disobedience. In order to create a shalom system of social harmony, no person could be oppressed for too long without hope of ease and eventual release; no family could remain in poverty for generations; no land could be worked until it was depleted and useless; no animals could go hungry for too long. Any of these violations of shalom that were left unmitigated for too long would upset the natural order of reciprocity fixed in all creation.
The Year of Jubilee ensured God’s sense of justice for everyone, just in case justice was not being enacted by God’s people in the way it was supposed to be done. Put in proper perspective, Sabbath days, Sabbath years, and Jubilee years were simply rehearsals for the real “game day,” and in the understanding of Jesus, who had the final playbook, “game day” was to live out shalom every day.
Story From Our Community
I was blessed to have grown up with parents who lived their faith by making Sundays a quiet celebration. When I left home, I carried the Sunday traditions with me, and when I had children of my own, we created our own ways of practicing the Sabbath. Like Renita J. Weems wrote in her meditation, I learned how necessary it is to have at least one day of freedom from the world’s system. I am surrounded by people who have never known the joy of practicing Sabbath, and I am so grateful to have grown up in a home where the Sabbath was a delight.
—Constance F.
A Hymn to Certainty
| ODDS AND ENNS FEB 1 |
Did you know I was a hymn writer? I’m not, though I did write one once.
I bring this up because many years ago, perhaps when I was no more than 20 or 21, I wrote a hymn for apologist Josh McDowell. I was an avid reader at the time of The Wittenburg Door Magazine (note misspelling), a Christian satire and humor magazine. (Please comment if you’ve ever read it. We can go to therapy together.) Josh was a hot item back in the day and low hanging fruit for satire, so I gave it a shot.
Why am I putting this out in the world? Why not? Also, I’m struck by how 45 or so years ago I was beginning to articulate a brand that has been with me ever since—snark and issues with people who are cocky about their faith–which is to say, I never really had a chance at normalcy.
I was also beginning to read some philosophy, namely the Spanish essayist, novelist, philosopher, etc., Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936), who penned such devotional lines as:
“Orthodoxy is often the grave of living faith.”
“It is not that I resign myself to uncertainty; it is that I live by it.”
“Faith which does not doubt is dead faith.”
“Christ did not come to teach a doctrine, but to awaken souls.”
“The Cross is not a solution; it is a problem.”
“I do not want to die; no, I neither want to die nor do I want to want to die.”
I was hooked.
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Anyway, I digress. So, now, finally, I give you “Hymn for Josh McDowell” (sung to the tune of “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand). And I think we can all agree that I am a little less sarcastic and slightly more mature 45 years later. Right? RIIIIGHT?!
Verse: My hope is built on nothing less
Then pure objective evidence.
I will not trust what others say,
I know I’m right, so what the hay.
Chorus: On intellect alone I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Verse: My books prove God’s eternity,
There is no faith but certainty.
Though I may teach “trust Christ for all,”
I push my books, talks, tapes, et al.
Verse: I’ve only read a book or two,
But still I know much more than you.
These cogent arguments abound,
My reasoning goes round and round.
Verse: I’m so important can’t you see
To present Christianity.
And if you can’t think just as I,
I pray God opens up your eyes.
I know. “Don’t quit your day job.”
