Year of the Jubilee

Today I was reminded how absolutely incredible the Good News is!!!! That passage from Luke 4 / Isaiah 61 is once again my hope amid a world of darkness, of death, of evil... that even though we can't solve the world's problems, that even though on our own strength alone we can do absolutely nothing to ameliorate the world's injustices, that even though we can't conquer the darkness within ourselves or save ourselves... our God is a Savior who offers good news for the poor, freedom for captives, healing for the broken and the brokenhearted, not by our acts of righteousness but by what Jesus did on the cross for us. It isn't just a prosperity gospel but a gospel of hope, truth, and life for the poor--economical, spiritual, emotional. How incredible is that? So many times we hear the prosperity gospel preached, but our gospel is just as much for us as it is for Jane and all of the homeless around the world, for Haiti and Chile, for the poorest of the poor who live in the most dangerous slums of the world, for the young girls kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade. So many times I feel like we make the Good News so small. Yes, it's personal for each one of us, but our God is also a global God, the Creator and the Sovereign Lord of this entire world.

This is the year of the Jubilee, in which debts are canceled. This is the year that the axis is shifted back to where the axis should be. This is the year of God's favor. This is the year that God's kingdom comes.

PTL! I know I probably sound crazy because I just cannot put into words what I feel or what I'm thinking right now, but know, friends, that the Good News of the Gospel is CRAZY GOOD and that this beautiful gift of life God has for each of His beloved children... even the ones you never noticed, but He never forgot or overlooked.