The Year Acceptable to The Lord

Luke 4:16-20
   Jesus read from Isaiah 58 and 61 in His hometown Synagogue on the Sabbath.  He claimed His authority and shared what His mission was, according to the words of the Prophet.  He came to preach Good News to the Poor, proclaim release to Captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed and proclaim THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.  Some scholars speculate about His bringing that word on the 49th year of the 50 year cycle of Jubilee from Leviticus 25.  It was the year in which there was social justice - captives and slaves freed; economic justice - debts forgiven, people returned to the homes they owned and lost; and ecological justice - fields lay fallow to allow them to recover from our use.  It was Acceptable to the Lord because it was God's will that THIS PART of God's Kingdom should be in line with THAT PART of God's Kingdom - on Earth, as it was in Heaven.
   Some confuse this for "The day of the Lord", which refers to the eschatological vision of Messiah's return - when Jesus would judge the living and the dead.  This is NOT THAT.
   The Acceptable Year of the Lord was HERE, NOW.  It is supposed to be a PERMANENT reality - a Vision of God's Kingdom in both realms - Heaven and Earth - at the coming of Messiah, the fulfillment of God's will here and now.  It is the great TURNING AROUND.  It is meant to be.  Messiah has come!  Peace and Justice are to be lived here and now!  This is God's vision of this part of the Kingdom being in alignment with the other part of it.  It is not about "pie in the sky when we die", but Kingdom Values embraced and lived here and now.  The poor have justice is the vision - there is to be justice for the poor NOW.  The captives of unjust systems of correction, of any kind of servitude or slavery are to be set free NOW.  The Blind, both spiritually and intellectually as well as physically, are to have their sight restored NOW.  The oppressed by systems and collective bigotries are supposed to be relieved of the YOKES of oppression, and live in equity and equality with all others.  Messiah has come!  He declared God's Acceptable Year!  We are supposed to be living in Jubilee now and always!
   Read the Beatitudes in Luke 6:20-49.  It is the great TURN AROUND... TURNING UPSIDE DOWN the values of this world that we have adopted in enmity with God's Kingdom Values - the establishment of God's Kingdom Values in practice here and now - on Earth, as it is in Heaven.  THAT is what is acceptable to God - the alignment of our lived values with Kingdom Values here and now!  It is about us living God's Will here and now, and thus pleasing the Lord!
   Isaiah's Vision in 11:1-10 of the results of Messiah's coming give us a glimpse of what God's plan has been from the beginning - Peace and Justice, even among animals who are natural enemies - for ALL CREATION!  Jesus' Mission is God's Vision for us to live here and now!
   Jesus' teachings and examples - Imperative Statements, Parables and Teaching Statements all bear out this Vision for our living of God's Kingdom Values.  If we want to be people who follow Jesus, we must FOLLOW JESUS in His teachings and examples of how we live with one another in this world, here and now.  If we want to be acceptable to God, we must live these Kingdom Values as Jesus COMMANDS, TEACHINGS AND EXEMPLIFIES them, as recorded in the Gospels.
   Come, Lord Jesus.  And until you come, let us live YOUR KINGDOM VALUES on earth, as they are in heaven.  Amen.
Pastor Jamie