The following was developed as a framework from which one can develop various types of presentations.

The Jubilee is a central biblical theme which is threaded throughout Old and New Testament scriptures. It has its roots in God's care for the people with Manna after the liberation from Egypt. It is detailed in the ancient texts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and it threads through the history related in Chronicles, Kings, and the prophets. The Jubilee is adopted by Jesus as a dominant theme in his life and teachings.

Leviticus and Deuteronomy are a prescription for the people of Israel as to how they would be able to experience good life in the land God had given them after their liberation from the slavery of Egypt. Central in this prescription for life are the Sabbath and Jubilee commandments.

Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15 introduce the Sabbath: every seventh year was to be a year of rest and forgiveness of debt. What grew on its own would be available for the poor and the wild animals. We often hear about the Sabbath as recorded in Leviticus 25 as a year of rest but usually forget the version in Deuteronomy 15: 1 - 11.

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord you God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. . . .

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for cancelling debt is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found to be guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord you God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in the land.

The Sabbath was about rest and forgiveness of debts. But it went much further than that. Every seventh Sabbath was to be a Year of Jubilee in which slaves and indentured servants were freed and there was to be a general redistribution of the land's assets, i.e. everyone would recover ownership of their ancestral lands. On the Day of Atonement liberty would be proclaimed and everyone could return to their ancestral lands. Leviticus 25:8-17

Count off seven sabbaths of years - seven times seven years - so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout the land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property.

If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, of not take advantage of each other. Your are to buy from you countryman on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he is to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what he is really selling to you is the number of crops. Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

Through the Sabbath and Jubilee commandments liberation and restoration to a new land would not be a one-time occurrence at the time of the liberation from Egypt, but would be a continuing experience of the people in the new land. If people lost their land (their access to a livelihood), the jubilee provisions ensured that they would got their land back. If they became enslaved or indentured the provisions ensured that they would be freed and regain their rightful place. Liberation and restoration would be the experience of all the people all the time.

For the people of Israel, life with God was not just a vertical relationship to God. It was to include an experience of new life in every day living - an experience which included access to the means to live a good life.

The onus on practising jubilee rested with the rich and powerful. It was they who had to recognize the claim of their more unfortunate neighbours. Because releasing from bondage and redistributing one's wealth is an act of Faith, the jubilee was announced on the Day of Atonement - integrated directly with religious experience.

Chronicles, Kings and the prophets are a sad commentary on how the leaders of Israel lived their life in the land. The jubilee and sabboth commands were seldom kept although the obligation was always there - for example Ruth, Naboth, Zedekiah, Nehemiah, prophets. Zedekiah knew that the Babylonian siege was happening because he and his court did not practice jubilee. They released all their slaves and indentured servants but when the Babylonian threat waned, they immediately re-enslaved the people. God's word from Jeremiah 34: 8 - 22

The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. Everyone one was to free his fellow Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage. So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed and set them free. But afterwards they change their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

Then the world of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, `Every seventh year each of you must free any Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.' Your fathers did not listen to me or pay attention to me. Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had freed to go where they wished. You have forced them to become slaves again.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim `freedom' for you says the Lord - `freedom ' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. . . .

"I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there."

The chronicler ended the history of Israel by describing the exile and concludes: "The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah."

Ancient Israel was not able to live the life envisaged in Deuteronomy. Jesus teaches us how to live such a life from the heart. Jesus situated his teachings directly in the Jubilee tradition at the start of his ministry and states that he and his teachings are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

Luke relates Jesus' introduction to his ministry: Luke 4: 18 & 21

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

The he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he said to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

The year of the Lord's favor is the ancient year of jubilee. This mission had already been alluded to in Mary's Magnificant. Luke 1:51-53

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich empty away.

What is this Jesus to be about? Who is this Good News for? John The Baptist, also quoting from Isaiah, announces: (Luke 3:4-6)

            Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.

            Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.

            The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.

            And all will see God's salvation.

What does this mean? "Produce fruit" said John. "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. John answered, "the person with two tunics should share with one who has none, and the one who has food the same." The mountains of the rich should be distributed among the poor so that there is some equalization, creating a smooth way for the Lord. Because of this equal opportunity for all, people will see God's salvation. This refers back to the purpose God had for Israel to show other nations how to live.

Jesus appropriated John's message by confirming the prophecy of Malachi, " I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you."

The kingdom is characterized by practical love of our fellow human beings - a love which ensures that everyone has enough. Good news is preached to the poor and the social order is reversed so that the rich and powerful come last. Discipleship means forsaking the seductions of wealth and personal security and living a life characterized by kingdom economics.

And what is kingdom economics? Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father in heaven

hallowed be your name

your kingdom come

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us our debts

as we also have forgiven our debtors

. . .

Forgive us our debts are we forgive our debtors? Does this sound too much like the earlier Sabbath text from Deuteronomy about forgiving debts? Give us this day our daily bread - not cake - but just like the Manna, give us enough. Why ? because Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory.

This is Jesus, the fulfillment of the Jubilee. Listen to the words from Luke 18: 18-25

A certain ruler ask him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why to you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good - except God alone. You know the commandments: `Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"

"All these I have kept since I was a boy." he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

If you have to practice Jubilee to enter the kingdom, who then can be saved? is the disciples response. Jesus replies, "What is impossible with humans is possible with God". Faith provides the foundation that exposes the foolishness and pretensions of privilege and wealth. Faith builds a house on a solid foundation where everyone has enough.

"The Sabbath was created for humanity" is Jesus' response to the Pharisees. Within the love commandment are no particular rules and years for practicing sabbath and jubilee. Sabbath and Jubilee are everyday and every year. The creation is there for everyone - no one hoards or owns it. Lives are lived so that everyone has enough and each person has access to what is needed to fulfill his/her calling to image God in the creation.

The new community describe in Acts practiced Jubilee in sharing all so that everyone had enough. And the community can do this, because as Peter wrote:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now your a God's people; once your had not received mercy but now your have received mercy.

We all know that our culture's pursuit of wealth is unsustainable and that it will lead to social and ecological disintegration. But the siren call of personal wealth and security is so strong!! The culture says its yours, you need it, you deserve it, and only wealth is going to look after you through your old age.

But Faith is betting our life on the truth of the Gospel.

It is true faith which led the abolitionists to risk all and proclaim liberty to the slaves - in the 30's it led priests and lay Christians throughout Canada to foster the development of credit unions and co-operatives to give economic ownership and hope to millions of victims of rampant capitalism. In the late 40's it led a priest in the Basque region of Spain after the carpet bombing of the civil war, to foster the creation of a new community owned co-operative economy which now employs 40,000 people and is the an economic engine for the Basque people. It led the 'social gospelers' to foster a political movement which gave us pensions, healthcare, unemployment insurance, and social security.

Today that same faith can dismantle the institutions which ensure that the wealthy continue to get wealthier while the poor get poorer - a faith that can bring Truth to the Spirits of Power and Privilege and expose their exploitation and pretensions.

In the traditions of our forebears, we, too, can envision a New Jerusalem - a place where God's purposes live in people so that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain or poor, for the old order of things has passed away for as God says `I am making all things new'.