church at watershed

Christmas!!!  Christmas is 10 days away!  And the countdown for children becomes even more a reality as the numbers drop to single digits.  I have to be honest, I love Christmas and “most” of the things that come with it.  Apart from the ridiculous spending and the freaking out over the right gift, Christmas is an amazing time.  Going out to chop down your own personal tree, going to the Columbus Zoo to see the lights, spending time with family, and one of my wife’s personal favorites, being creative and decorating the house with different Christmas decor.  Some of the decorations you will see hanging on people’s walls or doors are the words “Peace & Joy!”  If you’ve been at Watershed the last couple of weeks, we are worshiping together in the Advent season, and we have discussed these two distinct words.

Take a minute, what does it mean for you to be at “peace”?  What does it mean for you to be full of “joy”?  Now that you have answered that question, how will that affect you when you sing “Joy to the world” this Christmas season?  The words we say sometimes just have no real meaning to them.  The English language is notorious for this.  There are over 1 million words in the English language, so the emphasis on each word has been taken away.  But it has been said that there are only 7,000 words in the Hebrew language, so you can see that each word has significance and is truly rich in meaning.

We sometimes equate being at “peace” with a lack of anxiety or stress in our lives, and you would be somewhat right.  We even say it to someone when we part ways, “peace bro!”  But there is so much more to this word than we give it credit for.  The Hebrew word for “peace” is Shalom and can mean peace, completeness, and welfare/well-being.  The use of shalom in the Scriptures always points towards the transcendent action of wholeness.  It is harmony of life, peace within, and being complete with God.

Now the word “joy” is very interesting!  Especially if it is looked at in the Greek language.  The Greek word for “joy” is Chara which is derived from the word Charis, which is the Greek word for Grace.  Now why would the word for joy come from the root word for grace?  Rabbi’s disclaim that Chara is only produced by the Charis of God.  So if you think that joy is being “happy”, it goes much deeper than that.  If you can only get joy from the grace of God, then your joy is not a human-based happiness, but comes from a divine origin.

Just a brief, and if i may be honest, a mere glimmer of the meaning of these two words can at least open up our eyes during this holiday season.  Shalom and wholeness can only be found in God, who is the only one who can make someone complete, and Chara is a lifestyle that is chosen to be followed, knowing that life will throw you curve balls, but you can still be full of joy in the unhappiest of times.  Where does peace and joy come from?  How can peace and joy be obtained?  Everything starts with Jesus!  Which is why in 10 more days, we can celebrate that God Himself came in the flesh of man named Jesus to offer shalom and chara in a world so broken.

grace and peace to you…

why is it so hard to pray?  do you find that when you aren’t praying, you can think of a thousand things that you need to pray for, yet when you sit down to pray, your mind goes completely blank on the prayer stuff.  somehow though, everything that you need to do comes flooding into your mind.  it is so stinking frustrating!!!  to boot, if you have not prayed in a while, it feels like you have no idea what to say.  it’s like trying to have a conversation with someone from your past that you haven’t seen since your were young.  you know, “so…what have you been up to?”  “how have you been?”  it’s awkward, and if we are totally honest, it is so uncomfortable that you find yourself wanting to quit praying and go start on the list you have come up with in your mind.

if you are there, check out this article on relevant magazine’s site. hope it helps.