[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during June 2022]
It is perhaps appropriate in this season of Jubilee that we take another look at the original concept of jubilee and whether that is still relevant.
By its original definition, a jubilee is a 50-year occurrence, although there are now other variants such as those for 60, 75, and 100 years. Jubilees are events of national or international significance and are marked accordingly. In the UK, two previous monarchs have celebrated golden jubilees; George III in 1809 and Victoria in 1887.
The concept of jubilee was given to the Israelite nation as a festival to be celebrated once they were settled in the Promised Land. It was intended as an opportunity for the land and the people to rest and re-establish the balance between the social, environmental and economic aspects of national life.
The 25th chapter of the book of Leviticus sets out in some detail the instructions on how each jubilee year was to be celebrated. The principal expectations were:
- Debts are to be cancelled;
- Items held in lien for a debt are to be returned;
- Leased land and certain other property is to be returned to its owner;
- The land is to be left untended;
- Slaves are to be released.
It is said that the economic impact of observing the jubilee provisions in their entirety meant that it was never actually celebrated as intended.
Hidden amongst this list of instructions is a promise that God will provide for those who obey his commands[1].
For us, in socio-economic circumstances that are very different from those when the concept of jubilee was instigated, are there any aspects of this understanding of jubilee that can be carried forward in our Christian lives? Certainly, we cannot expect a friendly letter from the bank manager or to be offered a 12-month holiday but we can count on that same promise that God will provide for our needs.
In his sermon on sacrificial giving recently, Martin repeated an assertion that ‘if you give away … then you have less’. Arithmetically, and in the eyes of secular accountants, this is true, but God uses a different accounting system. He is not in debt to anyone but will always provide some form of compensation for our sacrifices. Christopher Wordsworth (1807 – 1885) put it this way:
We lose what on ourselves we spend,
We have as treasure without end.
Whatever, Lord, to Thee we lend,
Who givest all
We know about laying up treasure in heaven but have you ever thought of contentment with less as a blessing from God? Or smaller than expected bills? Or finding some forgotten tins at the back of the larder? God’s blessings can come in some unexpected ways but the most unexpected one is the offer to cancel our sin through the sacrifice of his son.
We may not be able to celebrate jubilee in its original sense but, by our actions as Christians, we can demonstrate the same concern for our society and our land.
[1] Leviticus 25 v21
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