No matter what the language, God's peace fills even the corners of our worship every Sunday.

Over the years, I have found a few single words that I treasure. Perhaps we all have those words. Some of my words summarize the spiritual truths and values that rest near my heart—words like grace, faith, and forgiveness. Another is peace, or shalom.

I encountered the word at the end of worship in the Benediction. Perhaps because I have done a little study in the Hebrew Scriptures, I remembered the Hebrew words of the benediction and especially its last word shalom—"the LORD . . . give you peace." That word is like God's period to the great sentence of our worship. Peace marks the end of our worship, and then we head out the door to a world that doesn't know much peace.

Not only does the world outside God's church know little peace, but it also doesn't understand the better peace the Lord gives us in worship. Most often everyone thinks of peace as a time of calm without bloodshed, conflict, and loss of life. It applies to the battlefield, the city streets, and homes where domestic violence flares up. Such peace is a goal toward which we all might well strain our effort and for which we might beg the Lord in prayer.

But Jesus suggested, "My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27). It's that better peace I think of at the end of worship—God's shalom. Certainly shalom means the end of conflict, but it is deeper. Shalom means a sense of deep fulfillment, harmony, and completeness. Such peace comes only through Christ. It is the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Philippians 4:7)—a peace which God has established for bruised, battered, wounded soldiers on life's journey.

So you can see, I think, why the word is so important to me. The blood of my substitute "soldier" achieved my peace. He fought a battle all of us could only lose and only he could win. Now the Lord looks toward me with love and forgiveness. No frowns or angry scowls. He is gracious to me because of what Jesus did. I'm at peace. Some weeks it's more than a period at the end of worship. It's an exclamation point!

I need reassurance of his peace often. When I come into the Lord's house, I hear of it, sing its praises, and recover the sense of harmony and completeness after a week of challenges and conflict. No matter what the language, God's peace fills even the corners of our worship every Sunday. God fills my heart with it and sends me out the door. Equipped with that peace in my heart, I leave God's house for another series of challenges.