Jubilee: Forming Free People

God rescued people from slavery in Egypt with signs, wonders, and miracles. God does the same thing today, and He encourages and equips us to go and do likewise: Get free. Stay free. Free others. And yet it’s easy for any of us to get trapped by constraints and to let others face the same fate of bondage. This is our reality.

God’s vision of Jubilee, a forerunner of God’s coming Kingdom, has something to say about this. The proclamation of Jubilee actually frees people, and it also forms free people. We need both - the release of people stuck in captivity and the formation of people who long for freedom, looking to God to secure it for themselves and others. This Sunday, Josh will share ancient words from Leviticus to teach us more about Jubilee and provide a timely opportunity for the Church to demonstrate Jubilee today.

- Series Description -
In the accounts of his life in the gospels, Jesus often says that the Kingdom of God - God’s rule and reign - is at hand. What is the history of this Kingdom though? Earlier in the narrative of Scripture, as God is forming His people, we learn about the concept of Jubilee. It’s a communal practice of release every fifty years--a societal reset meant to promote justice, forgiveness, and mercy. This communal loosening is all about not being our own masters, but letting the Kingdom, a Jubilee effort, master us. Does it seem like we need a reset societally? In our communities? In us? Let’s embrace the cry for Jubilee and let God’s good work reset, reorder, and reestablish our lives.