The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the people of Israel and say to them... you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family... When you make a sale to your neighbour or buy from your neighbour, you shall not cheat one another... If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold... [hired or bound labourers] shall be free from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property... For to me the people of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
--Leviticus 25
What are two liberal Christians doing quoting Leviticus? Isn't Leviticus used most often to justify conservative Christian statements? Why would they even go so far as to name their production company after chapter 25?
Good questions!
Yet this passage in the book of rules to end all rules is so profoundly liberating! The call to Jubilee is simply that every 50 years the whole world rights itself. If you have been greedy, you must give back. If you have been isolated, you return home. If you have been envious, you are humbled. If you have abused the earth with over production, you must let the land rest. In fact, all humankind rests, and gives thanks for our interconnectedness and our spirituality. Can you imagine if this occurred today? What would happen if Microsoft had to give up all its profits...ALL its profits... every 50 years? This way of living, the understanding that material wealth and secular power is only temporary, would have a profound effect on the business world. After all, what's the point of climbing the corporate ladder if you are going to have to make amends with all the people you stepped on to get to the top? Nor would it be worth while to engage in child labour, if you are going to have to be responsible for paying them full wages in back pay!
Yet, it's easy to pick on the business world, and corporate giants. What about us, the average person? What would our lives be like if we understood that at some point, we are just going to have to go home and deal with all the issues we have avoided? Would our relationships with the people we call 'partners', 'friends', 'children', or 'parents' be healthier? Would we take more time to share with someone else in their sorrow, or celebrate their joys? God's call to Jubilee is for all of us: asking us to embrace our own liberation.
So our name comes from an ancient hope. This hope is that God still beacons for our physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual freedom. Hope, also, that our churches can be renewed, our worship can be profound, and our world can indeed be affected by a small community of faith. We believe that God does indeed work in our world. We believe that ancient and obscure stories can enlighten. We believe that dichotomies can be reconciled. For this call comes to us from ancient lore found today in Leviticus of all places!
From this theological grounding, Karen Bridges and Shauna Gibbons co-founded Jubilee Productions.
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"Jubilee Productions is a professional yet totally approachable and creative team who bring the Spirit and the arts together. Their productions are moving and soul nourishing, modern, biblical and personal. For those of us who hope to find enriching religious resources for people of all ages that is at once ancient and contemporary, here it is!" |
