Sermon Ideas For Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Part 3
The hope of heaven, of a new earth and a new order, has been developed
imaginatively by generations of particular visions, some utopian and political,
some allegorical and spiritual. This passage in Isaiah, which offers a litany
of hope, seems to anticipate the ministry of St. John the Baptist as well as
of Jesus and since then of others who proclaim the good news. Artists have imagined
heaven and the "new earth" as paradise as long as this hope has been
alive. An interesting tension has been held in those images between pastoral
and urban versions of renewal. In the pastoral versions, such as that emphasized
in today's passage, imagery of fruitful trees, flowering plants, garlands, gardens
and peaceful animals predominate. In the urban versions, such as the vision of
St. John at the end of the book of Revelation, heaven is a city, and its dazzling
and luminous beauty is represented by an array of sparkling gemstones. Even there,
though, the natural order is represented in the pure river that flows through
the city. The promise of water for the thirsty symbolizes in its elemental character
the promise of all other kinds of fullness and satisfaction.
The human figures in artistic representations of that promise of heaven
and a new order also vary. In some paintings, such as Van Eyck's The Last
Judgment,1 all the faithful are gathered like a choir, arranged
in clear hierarchical order, turned toward the throne of God in praise. In Fra
Angelico's altar tryptich now housed in San Marco, the apostles are seated by
the throne watching a rather lively and various celebration among the faithful.
Angels, monks, nuns, scholars, laborers, and ordinary folk mingle in a circle
dance. In one corner a monk and an angel exchange an embrace. Two others stroll
near the dancers deep in conversation. The pleasures depicted suggest that the
riches of human community, enjoyed under the loving gaze of the Father who delights
in our happiness, lie at the heart of this heavenly vision. Like children who
play in an environment of complete security, who are happy because they feel
safe and loved, this depiction of the faithful at play articulates the hope and
the promise of Isaiah in a way that also recalls Jesus' teaching that only those
who become as little children shall enter the kingdom.
A different focus that comes to mind in reading today's passage is the
figure of the prophet himself, the one who delivers the message of good news
for the oppressed. Most stories of prophets are stories of messengers whose message
is misunderstood, rejected, received doubtfully, or soon forgotten, though a
faithful few hear and heed and repent. What does it look like when the spirit
of the Lord God is upon one? How do we discern authenticity when such a claim
is made? Michelangelo's portraits of prophets on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel
emphasize maturity, seriousness, concentration and interiority as characteristics
of the prophet.2 Jeremiah leans into his thought like Rodin's thinker,
listening deeply to some inner voice while his body is bent to the task as though
the effort of such listening exacts physical energy. His brow is furrowed. Isaiah,
younger, turns as though surprised in the midst of reverie, toward a cherub at
his shoulder who points excitedly outward as though bringing him an urgent commission.
Joel reads a scroll with an intent gaze, as though scanning it for some cryptic
message while two angels stand sentinel over his solitude, one pointing toward
his ear, as though to signify that to read scripture rightly is to hear the voice
of God. Zechariah likewise reads, but he appears to be riffling through the pages
of a weighty book, looking for some particular word. Two angels look companionably
over his shoulder as well, one with his arm about the other, as though there
is all the time in eternity to wait for him to find what he is looking for. Daniel,
in another panel, rests his large book on the back of an atlas-like young angel
who holds it up and open while the prophet turns to write on a tablet at his
side. In all of these figures it is the attentiveness to interior process—reading,
listening, interpreting, pondering, composing words of response—that seems
to define their calling, rather than the public acts of warning and admonishing
one so often associates with the prophetic task.
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
NOTES
1. Janson, plate 108, p. 73.
2. Maruizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, ed., The Art of the Popes From the Vatican
Collection (NY: Greenwich House, 1982), pp. 120-124.
