Thoughts from the Pastor on Jubilee
2009 is the year of Jubilee for St. Mark. If you look at the cornerstone of our building, it says “1959 A.D.” In 2009, we will celebrate fifty years of ministry at St. Mark Lutheran Church. It will be a year of great celebration. This is grounded in Scripture: “Sanctify the fiftieth year; make it a holy year. Proclaim freedom all over the land to everyone who lives in it – a Jubilee for you”. Leviticus 25:11 In Scripture, Jubilee means some specific things: land is returned to the original owners, and the land is to lie fallow. There is to be no planting, and no harvest. Slaves are set free. God’s people relinquish claims of ownership. Everything is returned to God. As I said, 2009 will be a year of celebration. Activities and events have been planned throughout the year. But it will be – it must be – more than a year of celebration. It must be a holy year – a sacred time for prayer which includes thanksgiving and discernment about who we are. As I noted above, in Scripture the Jubilee year is the time in which everything is returned to God. What might that mean for us? Obviously, in the world outside of the church, we are going through a very scary time. We do not know what the future holds. We do not know where the future will lead.When describing the biblical Sabbatical, you remember that I said there would be no harvest. If there is no harvest, how could people eat? The year before would have a harvest twice as large as usual – enough to get through the next year. God provided. I am again reminded of my interview with the call committee nearly fourteen years ago. The committee members were clear that money was tight. Indeed, they warned the church could only guarantee to pay me for one year. God provides. It is true. We have lived it. And now we have the opportunity to grow in this knowledge more fully, to grow to know God better: * God the provider+ Jesus, the one who incarnates God’s love, the new life God invites us to live.! The Spirit who renews. We do not know what the path will look like, but we know who leads us, who accompanies us, who renews us.
In Christ,
Pastor Julianne Smeck
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