Every pastor knows what to expect when the service runs a little long. But what about the church in the Netherlands that had a service last for 96 days? In October of that year, a family of refugees from Armenia began hiding in a church in the Hague. The church had relied on an obscure Dutch law that forbad the government from entering a church during worship services. So the church decided that it would maintain a continuous liturgy to provide safety for the Tamrazyan family, which feared for their safety if they returned to Armenia. Over 1000 people from many congregations kept the service going, to keep the family safe. Eventually the church secured a commitment from the government that they would be allowed to stay in the Netherlands in freedom. This was a Jubilee moment.
In Luke 4, we read that Gospel’s account of Jesus’ first sermon, which he preached in his hometown of Nazareth. In this sermon, Jesus draws both a passage from Isaiah, as well as the Jubilee tradition, to frame his vision for the reign of God. The Book of Leviticus states that every 50th year was to be a Jubilee year. In that year, prisoners and slaves were to be freed, debts forgiven, and ownership of land surrendered in financial crisis would revert to the original land owners. Jesus says that this grand vision for a world set straight, for this great reversal to happen, is a fitting way to describe the reign of God he proclaims.
While initially received well, the crowd started to take offense at the sermon when Jesus said that the Isaiah passage was being fulfilled in their hearing. Apparently, it was fine to preach of a grand view of the reign of God, as long as it was in the distant future, keeping the current structures and ways of life intact. But Jesus’ great offense was to say that the Jubilee happens now, if we are open enough to see it, and faithful enough to help bring it about.
What are Jubilee moments? How can we note them? How can we participate? We’ll talk about this in worship on Sunday, as the sermon is titled, “It’s Going to be a Very Good Year: Jubilee in Christian faith.” The sermon arises from Luke 4: 14-20 which will be read by Dan Hughes. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Matthew Wachtman, will lead us in music. We’ll have a moment for children and prayers.
We will also shift our COVID protocols this week, with music to be sung only by the Sanctuary Singers and by urging parishioners to use N95 or KN95 masks, or to double mask. We also will not have children of youth Sunday School the next two weeks, or until we are past this latest spike in cases. We do encourage the use of Live Stream, especially for those who are not fully vaccinated, or who have underlying health concerns.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here in-person or joining on the live stream. Visit www.smumc.church and click on the Live Stream Banner at 10:30 AM on Sunday morning.