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This year, 2002, is the Year of Jubilee for Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church! The origin of the Christian Jubilee goes back to Biblical times. The Law of Moses prescribed a special year for the Jewish people: "You shall follow the fiftieth year and proclaim the liberty throughout the land, to all it inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the ungathered corn, you will not gather the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields." Leviticus 25: 10-14.

The trumpet with which this particular year was announced was a goat's horn called "Yobel" in Hebrew, and the origin of the word jubilee. The celebration of this year also included the restitution of land to the original owners, the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves, and the land was left fallow. In the New Testament, (Luke 4:18-19), Jesus presents himself as the One who brings the old Jubilee to completion because he has come to "preach the year of the Lord's favour" (Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus proclaimed the Year of Jubilee.

For Christians, then, the Jubilee of the Year should be a great prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of the incarnation of His Son and the Redemption He brings.

The Jubilee is called "Holy Year" because its purpose is to encourage holiness of life. It was actually convoked to strengthen faith, encourage works of charity and brotherly communion within the Church and in society and to call Christians to be more sincere and coherent in their faith in Christ, the only Savior.

On the night before He suffered and died, Jesus prayed "May all be one, Father, as you are in me and I am in you: may they be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21).

What a magnificent vision! What a powerful prayer, and yet what a stark reminder of how far short we fall of this unity Christ wants for the members of His flock.

Sorrow for the Past
In this Jubilee Year 2002, then, I would suggest that we in our church community humbly and sincerely express our sorrow for the tragic scandal of disunity. Our sorrow should include those fears and anxieties, both real and imagined, which continue to inhibit that unity which is so dear to the heart of Christ and which, as John's Gospel tells us, is the very condition the world needs to see for belief in Christ.

Repentance
I would also suggest that we acknowledge and repent of the sins we have committed in our efforts to the church of Jesus Christ. For these and many other failures over the past fifty years, we in the Shiloh community must cry out: "We are sorry; we apologize; we beg forgiveness."

Jubilee Call
In addition to acknowledging our failures, I hope that this Jubilee Year can be an occasion for us to recall the foundation of the Christian pursuit to which we are called.

Jesus at the Center
Therefore, while it is important that we seek to resolve differences, heal wounds, and foster mutual understanding, respect and tolerance, it is even more important that we spend time praying together and listening to one another. For unless we know who Jesus is for us and how we experience Jesus in our lives, we will not have that solid foundation necessary to achieve the unity which Christ so urgently wants for the members of his flock.

In other words, Jesus Christ must be the center and focal point of our endeavors. It is His mission we must be about, it is His message we must communicate to others, and it is His ministry we must extend to our world.

And if this is not the case, if Jesus is not the motivating, animating and sustaining influence in all our church activities, then our efforts, successful as they may be from a fiscal, social, ecclesial and humanitarian point of view, will be seen as the proverbial sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.

Working Together
However, when we keep the focus on Jesus, then I believe that we will continue to reap the spiritual fruits. Furthermore, when we keep our focus on Jesus, we can learn from one another. This awareness serves to underscore that, even in our divisions, we are together in our love for Jesus Christ.

So I hope that during this Jubilee Year, we will rejoice in the strides that have been made toward putting aside our crippling historical resentments, petty competitiveness, and theological differences, and that we will go forward with a renewed sense of commitment to responding to the urgent call for Christian unity, ever mindful of the fact: "Love requests this unity, the suffering of the world begs for it, and the truth of the Gospel demands it."

May this be our vision and mission in the days ahead. This is our special year!

Pastor Alonzo B. Patterson, May 2002

Rev. Dr. Alonzo B. Patterson, Pastor