“10And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.”
- Leviticus 25:10-12
During the five years I have served you as
pastor, I have been immensely proud of all the tremendous work we have done
together for the sake of the gospel. The love of God in Jesus Christ has guided
Lutheran Church of the Savior to faithfully take risks on new endeavors, to
faithfully let go of things that no longer serve the gospel as they once did,
and to faithfully continue many of our successful ministries. The place of “the
church” in our world continues to evolve, and we, LCS, have met this challenge
with trust that God is leading us to participate in God’s work in Kalamazoo and
around the world.
Growth and change in recent years haven’t
always been easy. We have faced challenges and conflicts, lost beloved members
and sometimes hurt one another’s feelings even though that was not our intent. Helpfully,
scripture reminds us that following Jesus was never meant to be easy. From
disciples who left their boats and families when Jesus said “Follow me,” to the
apostles whose proclamation of Jesus Christ led to imprisonment and even death,
following Jesus has always been about trusting God to lead us through the
unknown.
And.
And while following Jesus is not meant to
be easy, it is meant to be joyful. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch who met Philip
on the road and heard the good news about Jesus? He said, “Look, here is water.
What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Philip did so and the man went on
his way rejoicing. Recall Paul’s words to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Remember Cleopas and his companion, who met
Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and knew him in the breaking of the bread, whose
hearts burned within them as Jesus opened the scriptures to them, and who ran
back to Jerusalem to share the good news.
And remember the great joy of the final vision
in Revelation:
“Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the
home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will
be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear
from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no
more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated
on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”
It is our joy to follow Jesus together,
Lutheran Church of the Savior. We rejoice in the water that washes our sins
away and frees us to new life in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in bread and wine
that are for us Christ’s embodied presence of forgiveness and love, Sunday
after Sunday. We rejoice in serving God and our neighbor, sharing with those in
need across the street or half a world away.
And this month, in order to focus us on the
joy of following Jesus together, we will dare to trust God in trying a new
thing. This month after our Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday January 18th,
we will begin a time of Jubilee. As the quotation from Leviticus above
suggests, a Jubilee is a time set aside to proclaim liberty and joy, to return
to one’s roots and experience the grace of God anew.
A church Jubilee is a time to set aside all
the meetings and committees and “work” it takes to keep a church running as a
business. It is a time to remember that church is a group of people who gather
to hear the story of God’s love for the world, and to experience in water,
bread and wine the joy of knowing God’s grace is for us. It is a time to pray
and study God’s Word together, so we can remember why the Holy Spirit drew us
together to be Christ’s body in this place.
And so, beginning after our annual Congregational
Meeting and ending just before Easter Sunday, we will take eleven weeks of
Jubilee to return to our roots as followers of Jesus. Committees may still
choose to meet, but instead of focusing on business we will focus on prayer and
study, conducting necessary business only after grounding ourselves in the joy
of God’s presence among us. We will limit some of our usual programming to
create space for experiencing God together and having fun together. We are
working on a retreat experience to enlighten and enhance the spiritual center
of our lives together.
From January 19th into April, we
proclaim a time of Jubilee. I hope you will join me in being excited for this
opportunity to try being church in a different way. You can think of Jubilee as
a time of Sabbath rest, or as an extension of Lenten spiritual discipline.
Jubilee is a time to rediscover the joy at the heart of following Jesus
together. Experience God’s grace anew, Lutheran Church of the Savior, in our
time of Jubilee.
Thanks,
Pastor Andrew
No comments:
Post a Comment