Image via WikipediaPeace – When most of us think of peace, we think of calm, stillness, tranquility, or silence. Peace can apply to individuals as well as to institutions, I believe. Both personal tranquility and institutional peace are characterized by a state of inner harmony and serenity. Looking at it from this standpoint, the prayer in Psalm 122 can be seen as requesting four things for the church:
The first request in Psalm 122 is for blessings for all those who love the church (v 6). Who are those who love the church? They are the people who take an active interest in all that goes on there. They relish opportunities to be involved. And they value the community as a place for friendship, fellowship, hospitality, and festivity! Those who love the church also view themselves as contributing to the body of Christ and take pleasure in doing their part, no matter how small that role may be. They are people who have the ability to look beyond the faults of the church and see her potential. This is just as true today as it was at the time the pilgrim took his journey. Verses 3-5 suggest that Jerusalem is a city in which brethren are united together. Spiritually, it is a place where the tribes go up … to give thanks to the name of the Lord. Jerusalem, then, is a city where justice and unity prevail. I believe that the things that make for peace within the city are also the things that make for peace within the modern-day church
The second request in the Psalm is that the church will be a place of security and refuge (v 7). For the city of Jerusalem, this meant absence of war within the walls of the citadel. When applied to the modern-day church this means absence of dissention and strife. The church should be a sanctuary where people can go to find fellowship, support, and safety. It should transcend human imperfection and should stand for that which is beyond time and space. The church should be a place of grace and a place of hope, where God’s people encounter God’s glory. It should be a place that cherishes human dignity and rejoices in the fact that we are children of God, made in God’s image. Lastly, the church should be a place where people seek the heart of God and God is pleased to enter the hearts of the people.
The third request made in the Psalm is that the peace of the church may extend to the family and friends of members of the community (v 8). In order to embrace the community, the church should be an inviting place, a place fellowship. It should be a setting where cooperation and generosity are commonplace, an abode where people can come together in love and trust and honesty. Not only that, the church should be a place of charity and mercy, a place of forgiveness, refuge, healing, and restoration for all who enter the gates. The church should be a place where people love their neighbors as themselves and where everyone seeks to love God above all else.
The fourth request in the Psalm is that together the people will work for the well-being of the church community (v 9). The well-being of the church community comes about when stumbling blocks have no place and petty differences are put aside for the greater good. Well-being comes about when people reach out to others and all share a common vision of that which is righteous. Community well-being is brought about when the people embrace the newness of life they have found through their Baptism and the Eucharist and the promise of everlasting joy that is associated with these sacraments. The well-being of the church is brought about when the people of God seek the Divine One with their whole hearts and continually quest for God as a purpose for their existence. All is well in the church community when people live for God’s sake (v 9) and for the sake of their fellow human beings (v 8). Finally, the church thrives when it embodies justice and love – those things that God intended for all people.
Psalm 122 is about the pilgrimage of a Jewish devotee who traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate one of the important festivals of Israel’s faith tradition. These pilgrimages were always reverent and joyful occasions. At the gates of the city people often offered up prayers on behalf of others. In this particular psalm, the pilgrim is looking back on the experience that has just taken place. The festival is over and he is now ready to return home. After summing up his impressions of the city, the pilgrim offers up a prayer. In his petition he prays for the peace of the city and the prosperity of all who love her. Jerusalem was for the Israelites in ancient times, what the church is for us today. Therefore I believe that the church, as the body of Christ, needs to seek peace actively and pursue it diligently, for the peace of the people depends on the peace of the church.
Prayer
Merciful God, I pray that you bless the body of Christ. Make the church a place of security and refuge for people in need of sanctuary. I pray that the church will extend its love and support to family and friends of the community of faith. With thanksgiving, I pray. Amen.
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