Slovakia live - news from the heart of Europe

Last Friday I received a big envelope at our church P.O. Box. My eyes sparkled as I was opening it. You see, in an age where most of the communication goes on-line, we are not used to getting so much regular post anymore. Most of the letters and cards we find in our mail box are usually advertisements, bills or bank statements. Not much personal-heartfelt stuff.

That’s why, when traveling, I like to send postcards to my family and friends. It always pleases and cheers them up.

Last Friday I got 7 very fervent letters from people I know in the church in Champions (Houston). I was moved when I was reading my friends’ words of encouragement. They are not forgetting the work in Slovakia that they are partakers of through their prayers and encouragement. In every letter I felt not only the commitment to our common work, but also God’s love radiating through these caring people! Thank you, Champions!

Unexpected postcards and encouraging letters remind me of our God. He does that often. In the most needed times he sends something important our way. Something (or someone) special. Something surprising. Something heartfelt. Thank you, Father!

As far as any Bible student or historian can confirm, there is one of God’s commands that was most probably never kept on a national (Jewish) level before Jesus came to this earth. The command to keep the year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:10
‘You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

You can read Leviticus 25 and 26 in your free time, but just to tell you what the year of Jubilee basically meant. It meant:
an end to the oppression of the downtrodden
an end to the slavery of brothers
an end to a warlike spirit
a yes to forgiveness
a yes to the remission of debts
a yes to all kinds of peace in all the land

This thing (year) was never kept. Why? Maybe because it was so radical to the core. It required a total dedication and trust in God. Only Messiah himself (according to Isaiah’s prophecy) will come to declare it (Isaiah 61)!

When Jesus came and started his public ministry his first speech in his hometown went like this:

Luke 4:18-19
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

What Jesus was saying was this:
The year of Jubilee is here! The year of Jubilee has just begun.
Jesus proclaimed the beginning of something that was neglected for 1500 years, from the time they had the law. Something that was neglected even from the beginning of the world! Radical? Yes, radical to the core!

So what does it mean for us?
It means simply this:
If we want to be working with Jesus, we need to be doing and proclaiming what he was and is proclaiming! The goal for the church, the goal for the kingdom of God (as the church is so often called), the goal for you and me is not just getting saved! It is not simply about being saved, living safe in the church!

Our vocation is richer and more adventurous.

Jesus in his model prayer for us said that we should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Is he saying: Father take us into your kingdom up in the skies, where there will be no tears and no pain? No, he said: your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

No, we should pray for the kingdom to come. God’s rule should settle not only in our church buildings but in our hearts. God’s kingdom should rule in our hearts, so that His will will be finally done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus is inviting you and me into this adventurous mission. It is as if he were saying: “come and make my Father’s will finally done. Not later, when you die, but right here and right now. Be part of the year of Jubilee that I initiated! Don’t be satisfied with just being saved yourself, being clean from your sins and having this “righteous status” before my Father. Don’t be satisfied with just having this 20, 50 or 500 people in your Sunday assembly!

Let the gospel penetrate not only your mind but also your heart, your soul and all your strength. Let the will of God be done on earth as in heaven whether you are in your work, with your family, with your friends, with the church, or whether you are in the hospital, in a nursing home, or with the orphans, widows or the homeless.

Let the Spirit of God transform you through and through. Whether you are sharing the gospel, chatting with friend, listening to a disabled old lady or talking politics – do it with kindness, humility and gentleness.

Get your hands dirty with helping and serving others. Let the year of Jubilee start in your streets, among your neighbors, among all those that are despised, trodden down, desperate and hopeless. Bring them light, give them hope and be a peacemaker!”

That is what Jesus is calling us to do and to be, when He is announcing the year of Jubilee!

May God bless us with a never-quenching zeal in fulfilling this glorious task!

On the first day of July Andrej, Miriam, Rasťo, Rado and Roman visited one of the nursing homes for old people in Bratislava. We presented a small singing concert for two different groups of older ladies. We believe it was a good experience not only for us, but also for our attentive listeners! Here are a few pictures:

Rado and Andrej (on the right) listening to one of the ladies telling her story. Next to them stands a visitor with one of the ladies from the nursing home.

Some of the ladies we sang to.

Miriam, Rado, Roman, Andrej and Rasťo posing for a group photo after our concert was over.