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May 16, 2010 is Jubilee Sunday.
Take the opportunity, as a faith community or school, to remember God's prophetic Jubilee law and to reflect on how we can bring the spirit of the Jubilee law to our world today.
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LEARN
Read: Leviticus 25: 8 - 55
The Law of Jubilee promoted the principle of release and restoration; redemption and personal freedom; and restructuring of social order and a foreshadowing of God’s salvation and coming reign.
The Law of Jubilee was prophetic - in its wholism and comprehensiveness, in its care for the environment and humanity, in its desire to restructure systems and relationships legally, so that everyone has the opportunity to start all over again. The rich will not gloat in their wealth, the poor do not grovel in their scarcity, and the land and other natural resources need not suffer leanness. It was prophetic of potential wrongs in the life of Israel.
The Law of Jubilee is an important study for Christians today. It is a bold, long-sighted piece of social/economic legislation that attempts to serve as a corrective measure to both the inequities and iniquities in society in its course of growth and development.
REFLECT
How do we apply the essence of the Law of Jubilee in today’s world of pluralism and democracy, where there is clear delineation between church and state? We need to seek for a more creative equivalence. Perhaps the proper question should be: how can ordinary Christians help in crafting laws and policies that intimate the reality, presence and will of God in our society?
In the spirit of the Law of Jubilee, it is pertinent for us to ask: what kinds of laws/policies (national and international) do we have? Do they espouse human freedom, or put people in bondage? Can you think of three laws/policies (national and international) that go against the spirit of Jubilee? How are these laws/policies put into effect? Are there opportunities for ordinary people like us to change some of these laws or make new ones? What role can we play?
Full materials, ready to print, can be downloaded here:
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