50 and counting…
If the fiftieth edition of Country Way is cause for pause and reflection on the issues and events which have taken place in the countryside during the period of its publication, then we should not forget that the number 50 had an importance in the Bible too.
The Jewish people lived by laws which linked their lives to God. Because God worked for six days and then rested from the work of creation, so the book of Leviticus tells us that the people of Israel should work the land but then after seven years leave it to lie fallow and rest from its work, just as animals and people do. When this process had run seven cycles, there would be a time for the whole community to take stock and to check that the things were working out in accordance with God’s wish.
So in the fiftieth year, there would be a Jubilee year (Leviticus 25). Jubilee was an extraordinary concept which looked at human life in the context of what God wants. There should be rest, relief, restitution and restoration. The idea was that the land was God’s, and the Israelites were not absolute owners of it, but stewards of it. So if you needed money, the land could be leased or sold, but not forever. At Jubilee, land which had been leased went back to its original stewards. Similarly, if people fell on hard times they could become servants and work off their debts, - but not for ever. At Jubilee, people who were still in that position would be released from their obligations and their debts cancelled.
The idea of the Jubilee then, was deeply significant. The health and wellbeing of the people would be looked into, inequalities in wealth and ownership of land would be addressed, the spiritual needs of the community would be met.
Just as God rested on the last day of creation and pronounced that it was ‘good’, so the people of Israel could make
adjustments, take stock and say that they were on course to be the holy people, the light to the nations that God wanted them to be. It is not then surprising that when Jesus announces what his ministry is about, he repeats the prophetic utterance that the reign of God is characterised by these Jubilee principles: healing, equality, freedom, and spiritual enrichment (Luke 4.18-21). To live in Christ we must stop, take stock and prepare for a new start, leading to peace and joyful interdependent living, faithful stewards of God’s creation.
But are we ready to live this way? Jesus’ urge to us to
create a Jubilee world should be enough for us to think seriously about our world today. Will we let the world rest from its intense labour? Stop draining resources without allowing them to rebuild? Will we free people from poverty and servitude and from the incessant demands we make on them for goods and services and pleasurable pursuits? Will we use our wealth to alleviate debt? And will we listen to the call to make spiritual provisions and seek to clarify the vision God puts before us? It might be a good time to pause, look back and think about where we go from here.
Anne Richards
Mission Theology Adviser for the Church of England
anne.richards@c-of-e.org.uk
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www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
50 issues of Country Way
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