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1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" (Isaiah 6:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Bible)
In the year that planes hit the twin towers, or In the year that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, or the year the Space Shuttle Challener exploded... And we can begin to understand the opening verse of this chapter. The death of a popular king was a monumental event that send Israel reeling with shock and disbelief. If you're old enough to remember that Sunday after the 9/11 attacks saw our churches filled with people who wondered what was next? There was a sense of unity in our sadness and grieving; and our Armed Forces saw an increase in enlistments of those young women and men who said, "Send me!" And off they went to war. And looking back, it could have even served as a prelude to the pandamic.
Israel is mourning the death of a popular king, though it shows a side of the Jewish people in loving a king known for both bringing material prosperity to the nation as well as inward corruption signifying moral decay and a straying away from God. His most famous act was to arrogantly enter the temple and burn incense there, knowing that was not a part of his office,and the high priest and other priests drove him out. The latter years of Uzziah were of being afflcited with leoprosy. There were no perfect people or priests or kings in the pages of the Bible; the purity and power of God still shine through. While Isaiah is mourning personally for the nation having lost a king, he experiences the awesome reality of seeing God seated on the throne, "high and lofty; and his hem of his robe filled the temple." He saw angels of all sorts, including seraphs who attend to God and shout praises to Him. The entire scene shakes with the power and majesty present there. Isaiah can only think to cry out a woe; "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips." Isaiah mourns his status as a human in the presence of God and declares that those among him at the time are also unclean, but his declaration is one of repentance for himself and for the people of his nation.
Isaiah fears that his presence will be seen and possibly condemned by God, but it wasn't. As happens many times, when all seems lost, God seeks out those who can help the nation find its way. One of the seraphs flying close to him instead of striking him down, touches Isaiah's lips with a live coal from the altar of God, and performs a ritual of purification; declaring Isaiah's uncleanness departed from him, and his sins blotted out. It was then that God spoke, asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isn't it just like God to speak forth even in the midst of grief, and the sounds of mourners and other things that speak of death, to speak life and the need for a fuller life, asking who could go in to do such a task? The reality of ministry is that it usually takes place among the hurting, the imperfect, and the crying of the lost. Normal minds and hearts would not cry what Isaiah cried, but he himself had seen the power of God to make him clean and to anoint him with the power to respond in a mighty way: "Here am I; send me!"
Imagine those called by God to say to themselves, "I won't go until everything is perfect out there..." which usually means, "I want all the heavy lifting to be done before I get involved." God doesn't work like that. God calls when He knows the time is right and when the person is right. I thank God for the Sunday school teachers who said yes to God before knowing that I would be in their class; I fear they might have changed their minds about having had said yes to Him. And their surprise when I was ordained as a pastor, with one even telling me so; "Of all the kids who might become pastors, you were the last one I would have imagined would become a pastor." Amen.
Dear friend, don't put off what God has put up for you. Take it with faith and go boldly and confidentially, knowing that God goes will you, equipping you and blessing you to be the person He called to do the job for which He called you. God will not let us down.
PRAYER: Awesome God, grant to us the courage we need to rise above obvious turmoil and challenges to see and hear You calling. Grant us favor to go, do, and be whom you called us to be; in Christ Jesus' strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Rise above the rest to do what it is that God called you to do and be!
I love you and thank God for you,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
