【双语灵修】禧年！ Jubilee!

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“‘第五十年，你们要当作圣年，在遍地给一切的居民宣告自由’。” - 利 25:10

昨天我们说过，神通过赐下日用饮食和安息日，邀请每一个人来信靠祂，祂倾倒丰盛的福气使我们与人分享，目的是要避免有人陷入贫穷。利未记25章对免除债务、奴隶得自由、产业归回昔日出售还债的原主的案例，有更详尽的解释。这些律例表明神关心人际关系和百姓的福利。

那些失去土地、或在负债的压力下劳碌度日的人，突然可以开始重新做人，试想他们会有怎样的感受？在今天，数以百万计的穷人都在渴望拥有这样的新开始。

在接近2000年时，世界各地的基督徒为那些几十年来负担沉重债务的低收入国家，提出一个类似现代禧年的建议。这些建议既大胆又抵制主流文化，然而，靠着神的恩典，他们取得一定程度的进展。世界上有些最贫穷的国家得免部份的债务，他们便能够运用这部份金钱来发展教育和医疗保健了。

在事工一开始，耶稣就宣告说祂受膏去“报告神悦纳人的禧年” － 不仅如此，祂更要使那个愿景成为现实（路加福音 4:18-19）。在耶稣里，我们每一个人都有重新开始的机会。

祷告

主神啊，你对我们的爱和看顾，帮助我们去盼望一个更加公正的世界，在那里，每个人可以有一个崭新的开始。求你引导我们。阿们。

利未记 25:8-13

8“你要计算七个安息年，就是七七年。这便为你成了七个安息年，共是四十九年。
9当年七月初十日，你要大发角声，这日就是赎罪日，要在遍地发出角声。
10第五十年，你们要当做圣年，在遍地给一切的居民宣告自由。这年必为你们的禧年，各人要归自己的产业，各归本家。
11第五十年要作为你们的禧年，这年不可耕种，地中自长的不可收割，没有修理的葡萄树也不可摘取葡萄。
12因为这是禧年，你们要当做圣年，吃地中自出的土产。13“这禧年，你们各人要归自己的地业。

Jubilee!

"Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants." - Leviticus 25:10

As we noted yesterday, God’s gifts of daily bread and Sabbath invited everyone to trust in him. And God poured out abundant blessings to be shared. All of this was designed to prevent poverty. Leviticus 25 explains more about debts being forgiven, freedom for slaves, and property being restored to owners who had sold it to pay off debts. These laws reveal God’s concern for social relationships and the well-­being of the community.

Imagine what it was like for people who had lost their land, or who had labored under a burden of debt, to suddenly be able to start again with a clean slate. Millions of people in ­poverty today long for a fresh beginning like that.

As the year 2000 approached, Christians around the world proposed a kind of modern Jubilee for low-income countries that had been burdened with crippling debt for decades. The proposals were bold and countercultural, but by God’s grace they had a measure of success. Some of the world’s poorest nations were forgiven parts of their debt. And money was freed up to build education and health-care programs.

Early in his ministry, Jesus explained that he was anointed “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” a Jubilee—and, more than that, to fulfill that vision (Luke 4:18-19). In Jesus, we all get a chance to start over.

Prayer

Lord God, your love and care for us make us long for a more just world, where new beginnings are possible. Guide us, we pray. Amen.