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1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 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)

Dear Friend, welcome to Wednesday! Make it wonderful and wild by being your best self as washing the Blood of Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit! Be the sermon someone has been waiting to hear! Be the hymn that makes a person burst out in song and praise! Be the Doxology for which thanks are lifted to God! Continued prayers for Mr. Ronnie Menking, as he is still in the hosptial in San Marcos. Prayers for his wife, Christina as well.

I remember sitting in youth choir in my home church of El Buen Pastor UMC in Houston. God was speaking softly to my heart with a loving and kind invitation to be one of His pastors. I remember looking at the guys sitting near me and thinking/saying to God, "Why not him? He's better looking? Or her? She's kind to all people." But that's all I remember because it was as if God was not having any excuse from me as to me entering the professional ministry. I felt bad and knew I had nowhere to hide. What God was asking of me was a lot. I had just gotten used to Houston! God, if I could blame Him, had uprooted our family from what I perceived to be my paradise; and this call I knew would mean leaving the "shallow" from Monday's gospel lesson into some very deep waters. And it was from that point on that I paid closer attention to sermons, to prayers from my pastor, to listening more to my friends, to eavesdropping on my parents and their discussions about church. "God, You are asking a lot of me, and look at me! I ... and I listed a lot of superficial reasons for my not standing in front of any groups; shyness was a big one. And being boring, according to some female MYFers* didn't help either!

In the time of great national grief and need, a young man finds himself caught up in a vision where he finds himself in the presence of God. He writes, "I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple." This is what he saw: Holiness, pure and in full display; the majesty and power of God - God's Throne! Who gets to see that? The seat of all power! And God's presence was "high and exalted!" His words of the indescribable being shared in the best way he can; and seeing God's robe and train filling the temple! And with God? Angels and their superiors in this mortal's presence and they were praising God with songs of "Holy, holy, holy." And their singing was so powerful they were shaking the foundations of the temple and those structures that held up the temple. All served to move this man to repentance; he knew, realized and confessed that he was imperfect and lived among those who were imperfect; all while seeing the Lord!

His response led the seraphim to come at him with a live coal which he had taken from tongs and touches Isaiah's mouth and proclaim, "Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Bam! With that burning coal, sin and doubt and everything negative, is gone! And then Isaiah hears God ask, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" You probably would have said what I said to God, "Uh, not me! I can't!" And your list would be shared with God as I shared with Him when in the eleventh grade. But our hero, Isaiah said, with trembling faith, "Here am I. Send me!" (Note the exclamation mark!)

Isaiah heard in God's question a call to action. No more pondering or wondering; it was clear what needed to be done and the who needed to do it! The same holds true for all who see the holiness of God when in worship, prayer, or on retreat; and the mission is to trust God and to let Him guide you to the fields of opportunity; where hurting and hungry people await the good news of God from our lips. This is epiphany; God's light in our lives bursting forth into the darkness around us and showing us what could be in their lives. After such a moment like this, if you look at your list of excuses again, you will notice that it has been shortened or made to disappear altogether; God will equip us and lead us to be a part of His glory at work in the fields around us.

PRAYER: Loving God, You are holy, high and lifted up, and yet You draw near to us in our weakness. Like Isaiah, we stand before You in awe, recognizing our shortcomings and the brokenness of the world around us. We confess our sin and our need for Your grace, knowing that You are faithful to forgive and restore. Purify our hearts, Lord, and send us out as vessels of Your mercy. May we hear Your call clearly and answer, "Here am I, send me!" Empower us to go where You lead, to serve with love, and to share Your light with those in darkness. In Jesus’ strong name, Amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Will we, like Isaiah, be overwhelmed by the awareness of our sin, yet trust in God’s grace to cleanse us? Will we then, with a heart transformed, answer God's call to go and serve in His name?

I love you and thank God for you!

Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.

*Methodist Youth Fellowship-ers