Reflections from Bruce Yocum, former Presiding Elder of the Servants of the Word
In 2020 the Sword of the Spirit will celebrate 50 years of covenant community. The fiftieth year is of course the Jubilee year (Lev. 25:10-12), a time to acknowledge and to give thanks for the remarkable things God has done in our midst.
We are instructed in the Psalms to
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works! (Ps. 105:1-2)
Remember the wonderful works that he has done, (Ps. 105:5)
To proclaim the great deeds of God, to tell of his saving acts is to worship him. We can consider the upcoming jubilee year – as we remember and recount what God has done in this outpouring of his Holy Spirit – as one great act of worship.
As a part of our preparation for the celebration of fifty years, a few of us have been drafting a history of the Sword of the Spirit. It is genuinely a remarkable history of God’s sovereign intervention in our lives. It is very inspiring to see the many ways God acted in our individual lives, and to bring us together as a people.
The Sword of the Spirit and the Servants of the Word are twins, born together and from the same seed. In our covenant we say
We are servants in our community, the Sword of the Spirit, named after the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). We do not pursue a separate mission of our own, but we serve the mission of the community to which we belong.
We look forward then to a double celebration of the rich grace of God in our lives. Let’s prepare for it spiritually by recalling with gratitude God’s work in each of our lives.
