April 18, 1999
It seems to me that our word, "hello," doesn’t mean very much. I looked it up in several dictionaries, dictionaries of both the bound and the Internet variety. The dictionaries say that "hello" is "an expression of greeting" and that greetings and salutations are "an acknowledgment or expression of good will" (http://www.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn?hello). But it appears that the word "hello" is "an acknowledgment or expression of good will" only because it is used as a greeting. The word, in and of itself, conveys little or nothing outside of a greeting context.
The word of greeting in the Greek world of the New Testament period was chaire or chairete. These greeting words had a meaning independent of their role as greeting words. Both of these words are imperative forms of the Greek verb chairo, which means "to rejoice." So when a per–son was greeted with one of these words, the sense was "rejoice." People greeted one another with a word that conveyed the joy of meeting.
I am not sure when the Hebrew word, shalom, became established as the Jews’ standard word of greeting; but I suspect that it started in the Old Testament period. I suspect that because shalom is used as a greeting in 1 Sam 25:6 and in Ezra 5:7. Like its Greek equivalents, shalom also has a meaning independent of its use as a greeting word. It means "peace," and it conveys a desire that the person being greeted would experience peace, wholeness, well-being.
The language of the New Testament is Greek, koine Greek or common Greek. And the koine greeting words, chaire and chairete, are both used in the New Testament several times as greeting words (e.g., Luke 1:28), and in one passage (2 Corinthians 13:11), chairete is used as a word of farewell.
But an interesting thing happens after the message of God’s grace begins to spread. A new way of greeting is created. Look inside your worship bulletin at the sermon note and you will see a scholarly reference to that change. Please follow along as I read:
Paul uses charis as the normal greeting with which he begins his letters (‘grace and peace to you’), and ‘grace be with you’ is his farewell greeting. Paul, indeed, may have been the originator of this use of charis as a Christian greeting. Certainly he used it regularly. In origin it was an adaptation for Christian purposes of the ordinary greetings of secular letters, familiar from the papyri: chaire or chairete (‘rejoice’). The similarity of the verbal form chairo to the noun charis made the change easy and understandable. Superficially it is a slight change; in significance it is an enormous one" (C. L. Mitton, "Grace," in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. George Arthur Buttrick [New York: Abingdon, 1962], 2:466.).
What this writer is describing is the creation of a new greeting word. The early Christians took the established greeting and replaced it with a word that sounded very similar, the word that meant "grace."
But that is not all. The early Christians also took the Hebrew word of greeting and incorporated its meaning by replacing it with its Greek equivalent. We noted earlier that the Hebrew word of greeting, shalom, meant "peace." The early Christians took the Greek word that meant "peace," eirene, and created a double greeting, charis and eirene––"grace and peace."
If you read Romans 1:7 you will see that Paul writes, "To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul uses that exact same greeting at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Titus, and Philemon. And do not think that Paul does something entirely different in 1 and 2 Timothy. In those books he adds to his normal greeting; he begins those books with "grace, mercy, and peace" or charis, eleos, and eirene.
And Paul is not the only New Testament writer who uses charis and eirene as words of greeting. Peter also uses them in 1 Peter 1:2 and in 2 Peter 1:2. John uses it in Revelation 1:4 where he writes,
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne.
It seems likely to me that these two words, grace and peace, became the standard Christian words of greeting.
But it seems that charis/grace was the chief greeting word in this pair. Why can I say that? Because "grace" is used with "peace" at the beginning of letters; but, at the end of letters, "grace" is used again, on its own, as a farewell. Paul near the end of everyone of his letters says something like, "Grace be with you." And the very last words of the book of Revelation are, "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen" (Revelation 22:21).
Let the significance sink in. Let the significance of this greeting and the significance of so many churches being greeted in this way, let that significance sink in. All of these New Testament writers were born into a world in which the grace of God in Jesus was unknown. They were born into a world on which the light of the gospel had not yet shown. They were born into a world in which knowledge of the wonderful God of the Israelites was possessed by only a fraction of the population. But these New Testament writers died in a world in which grace had spread so widely that these writers had greeted the world with charis, with grace. Letters sent all over the Roman world could be begun and concluded with grace.
Let me show you an example of the grace that was spread by these early Christians and the impact that it had in people’s lives. Please take your Bible and turn to Ephesians 2:8-13 and follow along as I read.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision"—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands––remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Hear the power. Paul, just after referring to God’s grace, speaks of the lostness of the Gentiles before they had been saved by that grace. He says that they had "no hope" and were "without God in the world." "But now in Christ Jesus," Paul says, "you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Paul is testifying to the power of the grace of God to give people a whole new life. He is testifying to the way the spread of that grace was changing people’s lives all over the world. It was that spread of God’s powerful grace that allowed Paul and other apostles to greet the world with grace.
They preached grace. They preached that God was saving people by the powerful gift of God’s Son. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast." They preached grace, and they preached it with so much joy and with so much power that before they died they could greet churches all over their world with grace.
I think people sometimes worry that if the church preaches too much grace we will not be motivated to spread the gospel. Some seem to think that people will be too assured of their salvation to feel that push to go and tell.
Listen and listen well. Grace is a powerful engine from God that motivates from within. It is no weak and lethargic thing. To surrender to God’s grace is to be transformed by God’s power. To be transformed by God’s power is to become a new person who lives the abundant life that Christ came to give. And to live the abundant life that Christ came to give is to be so full of God’s grace that it cannot be held quietly inside. There is no quieting the grace of God. It empowers. It enables. It is dynamite. And because it is dynamite the earliest church fulfilled its role and was able to greet the world with grace. The early church spread God’s grace all over their world.
On May the second Broadway will be taking up our annual mission special collection. The theme for this year’s mission special is "God’s Grace to the Nations," and that theme is written on the banner that hangs above me.
The early church was so full of God’s grace, was so energized by the power of God’s grace that they filled their world with that grace. Let’s ask God to fill us with His grace. Let’s ask God to fill us with so much joy due to the power of God’s grace that we can greet our world with grace.
The grace of God is the most wonderful gift imaginable. We are sons and daughters of God. We have access to the Father. We have the Holy Spirit of God living within us. Allow the joy of that to fill your heart.
I want now for us to spend sometime in reflection and prayer. Adam is going to lead us in some meditative, reflection songs. As he does that, please allow the power and the wonder of God’s grace to flood your heart. Allow the joy of participating in the spread of that grace to delight your soul.
While we are singing these next few songs, we will have several elders up at the front. If you want to be baptized, please come forward and tell one of these elders. If you have something you want one of these elders to pray with you about, please come forward and they will pray with you. If you have any need at all that you want "shepherd-care" for, please come as we sing the next three songs.
Let’s all focus now. Let’s allow God to imprint upon us the joy of the grace of Christ Jesus.
Adam, come lead us.
