YOURS FAITHFULLY
Parkes
IF you heard the word ‘Jubilee’, I suppose your thoughts, like mine, would be taken to memories of the Queen’s Silver or Golden Jubilee, or more recently the Diamond Jubilee.
A time of flags and bunting, celebration, street parties, Brian May playing the guitar on the roof of Buckingham Palace, a day off work even.
But did you know that the word ‘Jubilee’ has its roots in the Bible, and specifically in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus.
In Chapter 25, verse 10 we find these words, ‘Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan.’
So, Jubilee is an ancient idea. The Bible sets out how it originated as a way of ensuring a just society where nobody was trapped in poverty or bondage because of the debts or obligations they accrued.
According to Jubilee, on a regular basis land was to be returned to people, resources shared, slaves freed, land rested, debts forgiven.
The Jubilee year allowed relationships to be reset, communities to be rebalanced, and people’s dignity to be restored.
It was a way of enabling the injustices and fractures in society to be repaired, so that all of God’s people could flourish.
The word ‘Jubilee’ has appeared on my horizon in the last few days thanks to an organisation called JPIT. I am indebted to JPIT for their words above, which explains very well the principle of Jubilee.
JPIT is a Christian organisation and the acronym stands for ‘Joint Public Issues Team’. Its members include the national bodies of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church.
This week has seen the launch of a JPIT campaign called ‘Reset the Debt’ which calls on the Chancellor to create a Jubilee Fund.
Such a fund would provide grants to pay off and cancel unavoidable debt accrued by households during the lockdown period, giving them a more stable platform from which to face the future.
There’s no doubt that the pandemic has created and made worse people’s financial problems, and debt is a major cause of mental health problems. It affects personal relationships; it impacts on people’s physical health; it results in families going without food; it can lead to eviction and homelessness. Landlords even, are affected as tenants struggle to pay rent. A whole swathe of newly selfemployed people received scant support.
As Christians we are concerned for the wholeness of people in our communities. It is incumbent on us to follow the example of Jesus in feeding the poor, in clothing those in need, in offering shelter to those without a home. Churches up and down the country are involved in projects which address those needs whether its foodbanks, night shelter, debt and benefit advice, clothes and school uniform banks, assistance with refugees and asylum seekers, and much more.
Some of the activities
Who will speak up for the poor and those who are struggling? Who will be their voice?
taking place from a church base have been seriously affected by the restrictions caused by Covid-19, but Christians have responded to the demand for help by adapting how they work.
It is now time for the Christian community to say to the Government that more needs to be done for people struggling with debt or the consequences may be far reaching.
Governments have found the funds to bail out airline companies, banks and financial institutions, chemical companies and more, yet many of these companies continue to pay out dividends to their shareholders.
Many of the companies are powerful players in the business world and have loud voices. Who will speak up for the poor and those who are struggling? Who will be their voice?
I would urge you to download the JPIT report ‘Reset the Debt’ and add your voice to the thousands of Christian voices who are calling on the government to act to help our most vulnerable by request a Jubilee.