In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8, ESV)
We have all heard this passage if scripture if we have been to worship for a while. This is the passage I always think of when I hear the hymn I the Lord of Sea and Sky. And usually when we worship this this set of verses we will hear that song. It is a wonderful hymn, but it misses the concept this passage is getting at…
The chorus of the hymn is:
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
Who among us would not say this? I have heard the Lord calling and I want to follow where He is leading me, and of course He will lead me, so I will go and hold His people in my heart. It all sounds so quaint. Like a Norman Rockwell painting! But is that what it is here in Isaiah 6?
First off Isaiah finds himself in the temple with God and he knows he is in trouble because he is sinful and can not be in God’s presence. So to handle this little situation, the angels are there and they take a hot coal from the altar and set it on Isaiah’s lips to purge the sin from him… Uhhh No thank you! I do not want a burning coal touching my lips. But Isaiah does not complain about this. He is told his sin is removed, and the Lord asks for a volunteer and Isaiah willingly says, “Here I am!”
That is where our story today ends, and is fitting for the hymn… But there in lies the problem!
You see we all think “once I say yes to God everything will be sun shine and roses, and life will be easy. He would never ask me to do anything hard.” Ummm have you read the New Testament and seen what He made His son do? Do you think you are going to get it easy?
The Lord then sends Isaiah to the people to tell them to keep hearing but not understand, and to keep seeing but not perceive. Isaiah will tell the people their hearts will be dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes blind. Now does that sound like a fun mission? No it is not all sunshine and roses. God sends Isaiah to tell the people they will not understand perceive, and their hearts will be hardened. It is not a good mission to be on, but he has already volunteered…
So next time you say Here I am, remember God will lead you, and He may just take you some place you would rather not go…
aSacredRebel 