Shalom, a Way to Participate in God’s Will 9-05-04

Part 3 in a 3-Part Series on Ethics

By Pastor Marcia Moret Sietstra

Today’s sermon is the third in a series on ethical behavior, based on a series of lectures I heard this summer by Dr. Raymond Carey, Catholic psychologist, priest and ethicist. To talk about ethical behavior is to struggle to know and do the will of God. "But is this possible?" asked Dr. Carey. Can mere humans presume to know the mind of God, i.e. how can we ever know with confidence what God wants us to do?

Carey told us that when he was younger, he spent a lot of time trying to understand God’s precise will for him. Now, he says, he doubts that any person can discern the mind of God with absolute certainty. A story he told us, abut something that happed a few years ago, illustrates his point.

It was his task to interview young students intending to become priests. One day he asked a student, "What makes you think you should do this?" The student replied, "God is calling me." Dr. Carey said, "That’s nice, but what makes you think you should do this?" The student responded, this time in a louder voice, "God is calling me!"

"OK," said Dr. Carey, "to which side of the dorm is God calling you to live?" "Don’t be insulting," said the surprised student. And Dr. Carey explained, "Look, I’m serious here. Where on this continuum does God get off the train in your decision making?"

Discerning God’s will is not a simple task. Today Carey believes he wasted time asking the wrong questions. He had assumed there was a will of God for each person, individually tailored and specific. Today he believes that we can only know the overarching, general will of God for humanity. He said, "God would do very well whether I am working at Dairy Queen or Midas Muffler or being a Roman Catholic priest and ethicist, as long as my choice comes out of a sense of integrity."

I have heard people say with resignation that cancer is God’s will for them. Like Carey, I don’t think we can claim to know that God specifically doles out misfortune and disease. Granted, God seems to allow these things, but that is not the same thing as causing or willing these things to happen.

Some people think God has sentenced them to a bad marriage or a job that they hate. But what if God really is inviting us to grow up and take responsibility for making changes in our life instead?

Now, I can find texts in the Bible for you that suggest that everything that happens is God’s will. The scriptures of ancient Israel, for example, often suggest that bad things happen as God’s punishment. The book of Job argues just the opposite, that bad things aren’t punishment, they just happen!

The consistent theme we do see running throughout all of our scripture is this: that God’s will for us is shalom, to be at peace with God and one another. Dr. Carey finds this theme of shalom in all three Abrahamic religions—Judaism (the Jewish religion), Islam (the Muslim religion) and Christianity. Shalom is most frequently translated as peace, but it is really a much lovelier and more complicated term. It’s root means perfection, as in perfect balance and harmony, wholeness, and integrity. Justice and peace are the byproducts of shalom.

If we can all agree that God’s overarching will for humanity is shalom, that is – peacefulness that comes with justice and integrity – then we have a basis principle from which to act. We can ask, at every decision point, "What can I do to bring about shalom – harmony, integrity peacefulness for myself and others."

There are two ways in which we experience shalom: the first is in relationship to God. Recognizing that we are God’s own beloved creation is the basis for feeling at home with God. No one should fear God; perhaps it is appropriate to fear death a little, since none of us wishes to suffer and we don’t know what sort of existence follows this one, but none of us should fear the God whom we know from being cared for in this life! The more time we spend being mindful of God, the more in harmony we become.

The other way we experience shalom, that is peacefulness that comes with harmony and integrity, is in relationship with our neighbor. Throughout the Jewish and Christian scriptures there are references to loving one’s neighbors. There were no exceptions. "We are to be the answers to each other’s prayers," said Dr. Carey, "peacemakers all."

Everyplace people are, their behavior should be whatever contributes to shalom for themselves and others. And we should be upset if anyone lives in an environment not of shalom. Today there are homes where children know nothing of God’s shalom, homes where violence, abuse and humiliation rob children of shalom. Wherever there is war or famine or draught, where there is oppression and disrespect of persons, we need to become agents of shalom in the world.

One of the stories our lecturer told, I will not soon forget. It is a true story about a young nun who was a dear friend of his, but who died young from lymphoma. She truly experienced God’s shalom in her life, this harmony that leads to peace of mind, and she taught it to her friends by her death. Here is how it happened:

Katie, a young nun and one of the funniest people he had ever known, was involved in an oncology research experiment in Boston. As her cancer progressed, Katie chose to be part of a high risk research project. The research was to test the maximum strength of chemo medications for specific weights and sizes of patients. So the amount of medication had to be very, very carefully evaluated and administered, so that they could use the maximum amount but not too much for the patient’s body size.

On this particular day, well into the study, Katie was enjoying a visit with two friends, also nuns, and there was raucous laughter in the room. The doctor, who by now also enjoyed Katie’s sense of humor, came in to administer the chemo and got caught up in the exchange, until he was also sharing in belly laughter with her.

As they laughed, he reached back and picked up the wrong syringe, one meant for the next patient who weighed 100 pounds more than Katie. He administered it, turned around and realized almost immediately what he had done. He fell apart. He told her what he had done, that there was no antidote, and that she would die as soon as her body metabolized it, likely within an hour.

Katie’s response was to say two things, and these were told to Dr. Carey by the two nuns in the room there, with her and the doctor. She said, "Look, it was an accident. I forgive you and I want you to forgive yourself. Don’t give up doing this research. Don’t give up your practice. All it means for me is that I’ll meet my God sooner."

To her two sisters she said, "I do not want our congregation to sue this man or the hospital or the research organization. I want this research to continue. And I want you to pray with me now."

They prayed with her; Katie died in less than an hour. Dr. Carey said, "I loved her and to this day I love the model she was to all of us of shalom with her God and with her neighbor."

Each of us has a personal road to walk, but here’s the thing…to be in relationship with God inevitably brings us to a concern for others, equally beloved children of God. And when we aim for shalom—harmony, integrity, peace—in our relationship with God and others, our own lives become filled with it. May it be so. Amen.