The Jubilee Centinel
A Holy Heritage - 50 - A Faithful Future
... On to the Future
The Future:
The Challenge, The Promise
by Dr. Ron Scates, Senior Pastor
50 years is a long time to be in one spot. 50 years. Central's Jubilee Year - marking the 50th year of the re-planting of Central from its downtown locations to where we now sit. And we praise God for some pretty amazing things He has done over the past 50 years on York Road.
The idea of the Jubilee Year comes from the Book of Leviticus - specifically the 25th chapter where God is preparing the Israelites to live faithfully and justly in the promised land of Israel. The idea of Jubilee is a scary thing. It meant that after 50 years of being in one spot some radical things needed to happen. It meant that after 50 years, the Israelites needed to screw up their trust in God and follow His lead into uncharted waters .... go out on the proverbial limb ... take some big risks spiritually and economically (you can never, in reality, separate these two) ... do something they've never done before. Specifically, God's three mandates of Jubilee were: 1) all slaves and servants were to be set free, 2) all land reverted back to its original owners, 3) the land was to lie fallow for a year. Talking about putting your money where your Bible is!!
And guess what? When that 50th year rolled around ... that Jubilee year ... there is no evidence that the Hebrews ever observed it. Good evidence that they never did! Instead of looking forward and stepping out in faith into uncharted risky waters ... they looked backward and decided to celebrate things as they were ... where it was safe and comfortable ... spiritually and economically.
1999 is the year we part company with those original Hebrews. Our Jubilee Year means looking primarily forward, not backward. I believe Central's greatest 50 years still lie ahead of us. God has poised us and pointed us to do and be something that Central has never done before: to be a Christ-centered, Biblical, evangelical mainline congregation in the uncharted waters of not just a new century and millennium - but to do so in a whole new, never-seen-before post-modern, post-Christian, post-denominational era.
God is calling us to the not-so-easy role of being a congregation that's Biblically wholistic: emphasizing both a personal relationship with Jesus Christ coupled with social justice activities. Our Children's Ministries, Youth Ministries, Adult and Senior Ministries, are flying high, but we've got a big hole yet to fill in College and Singles Ministries. We face the challenge of moving ahead in the area of racial reconciliation. Does God want a classical Christian school here at Central? We need to move to a third service if we are going to make room for moving people toward Christ through worship. What's it going to look like? A new Director of Music Ministries is due to come on board about halfway through the Jubilee Year and who knows what new musical areas we'll be moving into? We're pushing ahead with Phase II of our master building program so that we'll have space to grow. (Phase I brought us up to where we should have been a few years ago). We've got a crucial but difficult role to play in the Biblical renewal of both Baltimore Presbytery and the larger PCUSA. How do we winsomely and steadfastly stand for absolute Truth and the exclusivity of Jesus Christ for salvation amidst a culture that now bows down to the supreme idols of relativism and pluralism?
We will continue to move forward through and on past the Jubilee year celebrating God's faithfulness to us over the past five decades and trusting His leading until Christ returns. We know that the Lord is up to something wonderful here at Central - with challenges and surprises up His sleeve as we move in response to His Holy Spirit.
This is a challenging and exciting time to be a part of Central Church. Celebrate the Jubilee .... and hang on ... and enjoy the journey into a future more wonderful than our wildest dreams.
Hebrews 12:1&2 (KJV)
Following the Pioneer with you,
Ron
