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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 NRSV)
Happy and wondrous Wednesday to you all, ConCafe Family! Blessings abound in the strangest of places! Usually where one or more is trying to help others; could that be said of you, dear Friend? I pray so! Let us pray for one another; pray for your needs, and pray for those in need of a blessing. There could be someone at the point of losing her faith; and another at the point of losing their mind! Help them by praying! I also ask prayers for Mr. Daniel Soliz, a seminary student from Dallas, and longtime friend of mine is in the hospital for a collapsed lung and battling cancer. Please pray the Lord guide him through whatever is next for him. Daniel is married to Kim and the two have three small children.
I have long shared how my Old Testament professor lamented the fact that we as citizens of the USA do not truly understand any monarchy protocols and the feelings and thoughts of most subjects. In this passage, a beloved king, Uzziah, had died, and the entire nation plunged into mourning. My professor said that the closest we have ever, in the modern era, and yes my seminary years were in the 1970s, so close enough; was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Yes, I was alive then and I still remember where I was and what I was doing, such was the impact of this death. I could, because of that, begin to understand the death of a beloved king in a tiny way. In the midst of that national grief, comes a vision to this prophet. Lifted up from the funeral trappings of the king, Isaiah is lifted up to the realms of Heaven where he sees the Lord sitting on a throne, and describes the glory and majesty of such a sight. The prophet sees angels called Seraphs who fill the halls of this Heavenly palace with their cries of "Holy, holy, holly is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Such were the voices that the foundational struictures of the palace shook with those voices, and this frightened the prophet, who declares, "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!" His belief that his lips are unclean were corrected by an act by one of the seraphs who with a live coal with a tong touched the prophet's mouth and declared him clean. Then the question from the Lord Himself, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And the prophet said, "Here am I; send me!"
Does this passage remind you of another man who said something similar to what Isaiah said? If you answered Peter, you are correct. Mortals when confronted with the purity and sacredness of God, tend to get fearful to the point of auto-examination that almost immediately reveals one's impurity and need for all those impuries to be removed from us. Peter saw the power of Jesus and declared his need to flee from the Lord, but then accepted the invitation to fish for persons. Here, Isaiah declares the same, and he also affirmatively answers that he would go on behalf of God to whatever it was God needed done.
If you're old enough to remember the events of 9/11, the attack on New York City and the Pentagon, you will remember the first Sunday immediately following that tragic day. Most churches were full with people who were scared, some scarred, about knowing what evil was possible even in our front yard. People realized their need for God and many responded with significant changes in their personal lives. The military saw large numbers of gung ho recruits who were ready to fight "The enemy," at that point yet unknown. And, some even made deeper commitments to God that Sunday and in the days following.
We pray, of course, that we be safe from any future incidents on the national scale, but the message from this passage is that when times such as these, whether large scale or not, our immediate refuge is in God and many times that sheltering may mean our being called and equipped to being the shelter for others through acts such as preaching, teaching, reaching and helping others. The holiness of God when it touches us can also cleanse us and make us ready to be better in our service to others.
One of my favorite hymns is a relatively new song called, Whom Shall I Send? The last stanza is powerful and speaks to what needs to, and can happen, to the lives of those who dare say Yes to God:
I, the Lord of wind and flame I will tend the poor and lame I will set a feast for them My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide 'Til their hearts be satisfied I will give my life to them Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night I will go, Lord, if you lead me I will hold your people in my heart
May it be a song you sing, dear reader, as you come to realize the power of God present in your life, and as God leads you to see the needs around you, may you see what Peter, Paul, and Isaiah saw; a world in need, and their Yes, like yours, blessed many lives for the good of God's Kingdom.
PRAYER: Loving God on high, bless this dear reader as they hear Your voice. If it be a Yes, You're waiting to hear, dear Lord, grant to them all they need to say Yes to follow and serve You; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Bless the Lord today with a Yes!
Receive my blessings of hope and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
