Sea of Tiberius
1994 (Year C), 17 April / Easter 3
St Peter de Beauvoir Town
‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the humble, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to those in prison; to proclaim a year of the Lord’s favour … to comfort all who mourn, to give them garlands instead of mourner’s tears, a garment of splendour for the heavy heart.’
And with those words the prophet Isaiah brought the gift of hope to all held captive in Babylon. The time will come, he told them, when God will liberate prisoners. It’s not here yet but He will lead the forsaken home to Zion and put a garment of splendour on those whose hearts are heavy. That’s what would happen when God came.
Momentous words and dazzling imagery from Isaiah. I have no idea what they sounded like in their original Hebrew form, but if they sounded anything like they do in English then it really can’t have been an accident that Jesus is recorded as borrowing them to announce the start of his ministry. And he did more than just borrow the words. ‘Today’, he said, ‘in your very hearing, these words have come true’. Those held captive are being released. Those who have never seen, see. And those who were consumed and held captive by grief, pain, history and lies have garlands laid upon them. Incredible words, especially this weekend.
And more than that those who have no food find that food is provided for them. It’s no longer a vision, a pious hope. Read the gospel story again. Those who had fished all night and caught nothing eventually caught a great deal but what they ate was not part of that catch; it was given them by Jesus. In short if the ministry of Jesus heralded the new kingdom, the resurrection confirmed it.
Now many people have problems with miracles and the kinds of story we’ve just heard. I can understand that. ‘Why’, they say should God act in some people’s lives and not in others?’ I have no answer. But when those who are hungry are fed by whatever means. When those who mourn and grieve eventually proclaim resurrection and when those held captive by whatever holds them in chains are released; I can see there the hand and the face of God.
The Gospel today, as all the gospel readings during Easter confirms that the Kingdom is here. Those who had no food are provided with it. The feast has begun. And the feast is a feast of freedom.
Everyone is invited to the feast in their own right. God wills it to be so. They come in their own place and with all their own energies and gifts, to serve the mission of Jesus and the feast the freedom that that brings. Everyone. Those who have lived dutiful lives of which they are proud and which sometimes feel like a burden; and in truth in which they are enslaved, are encouraged to lay their burden down. They are invited to discover the vitality of God’s feast. Those who have been trapped by the dark powers of jealousy and resentment; judgement, condemnation and prejudice are hard to reach because they are so closely wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous. Those who cannot enter into joy because a resentful heart holds them in its grasp. Their inner complaint paralyses them and darkness engulfs them. Those who have suffered at the hands of others and are entombed in their experience. All are invited.
Now if I look deeply into myself. If we look deeply into ourselves and those around us we can recognise all too clearly what we never hoped to see. We really do see a collection of prisoners. We are faced with our own poverty. We are unable to root out our resentments. They’re so deeply anchored in our inner selves that to pull them out seems like self-destruction.
It seems we will never be free. And that’s the ultimate awfulness. We’re invited to a feast – indeed we know the feast has already begun and we feel that we will never get there. Somehow we’ve been excluded. We are lost in resentment, caught in jealousy, imprisoned in obedience and duty is lived out as slavery.
On our own we will never taste freedom – on their own the disciples were not freed from hunger. They were fed by God. None of us will be liberated from the things which bind us until God reaches down and what is impossible for us is possible for God.
I believe with all my heart that it is the task of every Christian congregation to see to it that all are encouraged to join the feast of freedom. To become free from those particular things which hold them trapped and to join in the divine movement for liberation. Resurrection. When we will be able to give each other oil of gladness instead of mourners tears and a garment of splendour for a heavy heart. AMEN