Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 19

March 2nd, 2023

Isaiah 6:1-7
6 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

quoted it often, and for some reason, I didn't have it on my list for the writing this week. However, as I was trying to write something on the book of Leviticus, I found myself at a standstill; super frustrated on having to try and exegete that whole book in a day or two for this series guide.

Then I remembered this text, and I was drawn to write about it for you today. This text is such a great story of the calling of Isaiah. It shows someone who understands their place in the universe, and who is clearly concerned about being in the presence of such holiness. Not to mention that the Seraphim who were there, the angels, are crazy looking!

You see, Isaiah knew that being in the presence of such holiness dooms those who are not holy to death. We simply cannot be so close to such great holiness.

But there is something that we must understand about these texts. Isaiah knows he is not worthy, that he doesn’t have the skills or the holiness to do this work. He is not prepared, doesn’t know enough, isn’t good enough, and yet still we see something amazing happen. When he confesses that he is not the right person for this, the angel goes and takes a burning coal. The reason for this is so that he can make his lips clean and prepared to speak for God.

There was no other training, no other requirements, and no other outcome that could have happened. When he confessed that he was unworthy, then he was made worthy, not by any effort of his own, but by the holiness of God working on his behalf.

In the same way, we are called into the work of God not because we are ready, prepared, or worthy, but because we have been made holy and we have been asked. Our job is to follow through on the yes that we give to God in our lives. The very next verse asks the question “Who shall we send?” and Isaiah simply says, “here I am, send me!”

This availability changes everything. It means that we are willing to go where God sends us, not because we are so prepared, ready, or holy, but because God has called us to go.

Question:

1. Have you ever found yourself somewhere you didn’t think you would go because God called you to go and you said yes? Where and when?
2. Are you available to be made holy by God and then to go and do what God asks?
3. How can you know you are being called?