Isaiah 61 begins with a tremendous declaration of hope, and even gives a reason for it: ‘I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing’. And yet, in God’s world this week, we can read about continuing racial prejudice in the USA, a Palestinian government minister dying in the attempt to prevent more of his people’s land being stolen by the occupying forces, pharmaceutical companies attempting to block the manufacture of affordable medicines in India, and torturers getting more protection than those who expose or suffer from their activities.
Psalm 126 celebrates the restoration of Zion, which calls for some subtle interpretation, but goes on to say that those who sow in tears might reap with shouts of joy. Let’s hope so. The next thing we hear is that God’s people should ‘rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances’.
All circumstances? Well, St. Paul knew a thing or two about all circumstances, having explored a number of them for himself, and became adept at rejoicing in them. He might, like John the Baptist, have thought of himself as a voice crying out in the wilderness—a lonely voice in an empty desert—except that, for him, the emptiness of the world had been filled with the presence of God (an echo of the act of creation), and the emptiness within had been filled with the love of Christ. So he really could rejoice, pray and give thanks.
