Jubilee is beautiful because it is what Christ does. As Justin said, this process of Jubilee was fulfilled by Christ. As I thought about this, I was thinking about the chaos in our world and how it would be refreshing to see Jubilee happen in America today. At least in theory… It would practically be a nightmare and create so much more chaos. So I digress, and my mind goes to what does Jubilee look like in my life? What would it look like if in my heart, in my family, in my home - if there were a reset. A full reset. 

I think in some ways, this would be nerve-racking to me, unsure of what things would look like. But at the top of my head, I would probably start with ‘Marie Kondo-ing’ my closet, my kitchen, my garage. We have spent a lot of time during this pandemic working and laboring in the back yard. We have taken a lot of the landscaping to its bare bones so we can discuss what to do with it in the future. We have reset our back yard in many ways. And it is refreshing! It looks better and feels good - and it’s not even finished yet. I know many of you have done similar things with yards and house work throughout this forced time at home. We know the taste of reset and we know the shame of desiring reset and never following through. For me, I desire that simplifying in many areas of life. For work, I can gather all these tools to manage customers, calendars, email organization, etc… But every few months or so, I end up having to take time and clear out many of those tools from my phone or computer, because I use them for a moment or a week, and then it sits stagnant. A quickly passed over tool. But the simplified processes that allow me to be productive and profitable are desirable to me - and most likely to you as well. So we must be able to find the trumpet sound to help us reset and simplify. And to help each other do this as well because this can be a very cyclical process.

Like Justin had said; at Jubilee the people had the opportunity for changing their habits and practices, but many people would find themselves in the same spot due to lack of changing their habits. It’s like New Year’s resolutions, right? We take that time to reset into the new year and have so many ambitions, goals, dreams… I don’t hear too much about succeeded New Year’s resolutions in June.  But the hope and the change that we need comes from Jesus being that Jubilee. We do not need, and probably could not handle a national Jubilee - but we can handle a personal, familial, communal Jubilee. So who wants to volunteer to blow the trumpet for us? I will if no-one else wants to. But what if we were a community that could reset as individuals and as a body. For spiritual, physical, mental, familial health. We could be that light of forgiveness for each other and those around us. I know Justin said that he will be preaching on this for another couple of weeks. And I am glad. My prayer is that we as God’s Church would dig deep find our personal resets. Perhaps it is not yet time for one, but a perspective of preparation might be all we need right now. To slow down for a minute and evaluate. Jubilee does sound joyous and fun, and I realize that to reset well in the grace of Christ, it takes work and community as well. What a beautiful thing that God has for us in his Son. His mercies are new every morning, and we can experience his resetting power today - each day - when we fall to our knees at his cross. 

~Jeremy Warren