Why Jubilee?
Maybe this word sounds weird to you. Maybe you've heard it when someone celebrates a 50th. Why would we choose this as the name for our church community?
The word jubilee comes from the Old Testament describing an incredible instruction. Every 50 years was a special year of God’s favor called a jubilee. Debts were cancelled. Slaves were set free. It’s about freedom and redemption and fresh starts.
Then there is a story in the New Testament where Jesus walks into a synagogue. He’s doing the reading and opens the scroll to read from the prophet Isaiah.
“ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ”
The passage Jesus is quoting is about the year of Jubilee. This is called the declaration of Jubilee. Jesus says this is what He’s about.
Funny thing about the Jewish calendar year (which is a bit different from ours) is that March 2016 is in the year of Jubilee. We launched our church in the year of Jubilee. And we feel this is also what we are about: Joining Jesus in Jubilee (the alliteration is mouth watering).
- To proclaim good news.
- To proclaim freedom and healing in the name of Jesus.
- To free the oppressed – this means physically, spiritually, and emotionally
- To proclaim God’s grace and favour experienced through Jesus.
We join Jesus on this mission, because it's happened to us. It is happening still to us. We experienced freedom when we encountered Jesus for the first time, but we’re also still experiencing Him on a journey of freedom. This comes back to our vision word: becoming. This happens as we walk together following Jesus in community.
Because we know this is true of God, it is our passion to create opportunities for others to experience it. We believe Jesus loves to do this redemption stuff, so we’re joining Him in something He loves to do. One way to say it is that we've been set free to set free.
“We believe in the redemptive power of Jesus to reconcile and make new any willing heart. ”