Paul reminds us that Jesus brought about a new beginning, bringing together all of humankind into one Body, that this peace which Jesus gives is not an absence of conflict. Rather it is its own presence. It creates something positive. It makes something wonderful possible. Paul reminds us that this peace Jesus brings is not about feeling calm. It is about becoming whole, about being complete.
May 17, 2026
Hope in Bloom: Practicing Spiritual Gardening
Part 3: “Peace as Shalom”
Ephesians 2:11-22
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Ephesians 2:11-22
But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.
The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. Christ is our Peace. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace. It showed us that there was another way and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
Peace as Shalom Ephesians 2:11-22
I will tell you by Thursday I was regretting choosing the most abstract, most hoped for, most needed…I don’t know “thing” for lack of a better word as the topic of this sermon. “Peace”. We know what it isn’t. It is not our reality now, with wars and fighting, with hunger and hate, with oppression and discrimination running rampant. And in spite of all that, still, we hope for peace to come to fruition here on Earth for all of God’s people. Because we have a promise that one day, God’s Shalom will be so evident in our world, so evident in our lives that we cannot, we will not be able to remember a time when peace was not our reality.
To show you how desperate I was to put this abstract concept of peace into words because I knew Sunday morning was coming, I googled “plan for world peace” and sure enough, there is a plan. In fact there are several plans for world peace, all available at our fingertips, all available for us to read and process, all available for us to implant and practice. From Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, given in January 1918, which were later taken as the basis for peace negotiations at the end of World War I to the United Nations’ actions for a peace, there is more than one plan to achieve world peace. Google is telling me, telling us that the experts have gotten world peace all figured out, all laid out, plans which include step by step direction on how we achieve world peace. And yet, here we are, century after century of dreaming, of hoping, of longing for peace, even after having step-by-step directions to achieve world peace, it is still not our reality.
Why are we not surprised? Because the other thing we know is that this dream of peace, this hope for peace, this longing for peace, all these plans with their step by step directions to achieving world peace all rely on the powers that be, all rely on humanity, all on us to actually do what is needed to be done to achieve world peace. You know… Step one: Don’t be greedy and hoard all resources. Step two: Don’t drop bombs on innocent countries just because you can.. Step 3: Help each other out of a sense of connection and community, and not because they owe you. Step 4: Treat all people with dignity, respect and love.
I’m paraphrasing a bit here but each of these plans, created by some of the most brilliant minds of our time, plans which sound awfully familiar, plans which have gotten world peace all figured out assume that we as humanity will do what needs to be done in the first place to achieve it. See why these plans fail. They all rely on one wild card…us as humanity.
The irony of this is not missed by me. We as humanity have been the wild card since the beginning of time. Not because we are horrible, awful people. I say we are the wild card because people never cease to amaze me, and I’m not talking about that in a positive way. Throughout history, far too many times, humanity has chosen a narrative which “others” people, a narrative which creates the haves and the have nots. Far too many times, humanity has chosen a narrative which says there is not enough to go around so I need to get mine before you get yours, and sometimes just for spite, we have chosen a narrative which hurts both sides just so that person or group of people we don’t like does not get something which might on the smallest of possibilities help make their life better in some shape or fashion.
And again… irony here… even with all these times of humanity choosing a narrative of scarcity, brokenness, and well spite, we still love those feel good stories where strangers become friends, how they break bread together, and how they build relationships which help them see beyond their assumptions and stereotypes about the other person. We love these types of stories and yet we don’t or will not practice what we preach.
See what I mean… humanity is the wild card in this whole conversation surrounding peace. Even Paul knew that. Why do you think he wrote this letter to the Ephesians? He was tired of them choosing a narrative of greed, of brokenness, of division. He was tired of people who should know better because well, they were disciples of Christ, he was tired of them constantly choosing a narrative which goes against the very Gospel message every single time.
In this letter, Paul calls them to account and says stop. This is not the way we are called to be in community with one another. This is not how we are to be in relationship with one another. Paul reminds the community at Ephesus, and remind us again today that all are created in God’s image, that all are a part of the Body of Christ, that Jesus breaks down every single barrier we put in place because in the Beloved Community of God, there is no separation, there is no division, there is no haves and have nots. There is no one group which is entitled to more privilege. There is no one group which is better than anyone else.
Paul tells them that as disciples of Christ, we are called to live out the teachings and preachings of Jesus which tell us over and over again… to share our resources, to not be greedy, and to care for one another. Paul writes this letter to remind us that as people of faith, we are called to a different way, a way of grace, a way of love, a way of mercy, a way of justice, a way of peace. Because Jesus is all those things to us. Jesus is all those things for us. As people of faith, we have been given a peace which passes all understanding because of who Jesus is for us, because of what Jesus has done for us.
Or let me say it this way… life is too complex, too complicated, it is too messy for us to intentionally, to constantly choose a narrative which only brings hurt, hate and brokenness. Jesus changed all that. Jesus brought about a new beginning for all of God’s people. Jesus brought together all of humanity and in doing so, expanded our vision of what is possible… God’s Beloved Community, coming to fruition here one Earth for all God’s people, God’s Shalom where the lion lays down with lamb, where instruments of war are turned into tools for growing. Because of who Jesus is, because of what he has done for us, because he showed us a different way, as his followers, we are called to be agents of peace, in all things, through all things for all people.
Because, you see, here is what all those plans for world peace miss and what we know to be truth as disciples of Christ, we know that peace is not just about curtailing negative. Peace is its own presence. It is its own power. It is a spirit which creates something positive, a spirit which makes new life come into being. Peace, God’s Shalom, is a completeness, a wholeness which is a direct result of being in right relationship with God, of being in right relationship with one another. And we cannot plan that. We cannot regulate that. And we cannot force it with power and might. God’s Shalom only comes about when we truly embrace who we are, who all of us as Beloved Children of God. Then and only then will the dream, the hope, the longing for peace come to an end because it will be our reality now and forevermore. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, May 17, 2026 – Peace as Shalom Ephesians 2:11-22.
Additional sermons are available in the Sermon Library.
Listen to the podcast.
*(from sanctifiedart.org)
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.