There are certain events in life where time seems to stand still. They often leave a particular image ingrained in our minds for all time. These are moments that divide time: what was before is changed and is no more. On the national level, Americans experience September 11, 2001, like that. As we watched images flash across the screen in the hours and days that followed the attack, we knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that things might never be the same again. And we were right on many levels; so much of today’s news connects back, either directly or indirectly, to the events of that one day. We live differently, we travel differently, we view the world differently. And it doesn’t happen only on a national or international level; sometimes there are such events in our personal lives. A change occurs and we know things will never be the same; something happens and our lives are set on a different course.
Isaiah had one of those moments. It defined the rest of his life. It was almost as if he was born anew on that day in the temple when he saw God in such immensity that just the hem, merely the edge, of God’s garment filled the entire temple. To imagine just the hem filling the entire temple, it leaves us wondering how much more there must have been. As we read this story of Isaiah’s encounter with God in the temple, there can be no question of God’s greatness; so vast we cannot even begin to picture it.
But God wasn’t there in the temple that day just so Isaiah and others could marvel at his immensity. That awesome presence defined consecration and dedication, and it was the moment of call; one of those events that changes your life forever. Not only did Isaiah witness the glory of God and feel engulfed in the song of holiness praising God from that mysterious swirl of bird-like creatures called seraphim, but his lips were touched with a burning coal. Indeed, it was a life-changing moment. He could no longer simply talk about the weather or the latest gossip on the streets. This wasn’t just a jaunt into the realm of the holy; there are lasting consequences to this call. The whole action inside the temple for Isaiah is decisive and life-changing.
I think it’s easy for us to sit here today and wonder if Isaiah’s encounter with God was really as significant as the Bible would have us think. I mean, we’ve encountered God, right? God has changed our lives in some way or another, otherwise we wouldn’t be here today. So, we think, we’ve all been there, what’s the big deal? Well, it is a big deal, it was hugely significant for Isaiah, and so it should be for us as well. So let’s start with Isaiah. In order to understand why this was such a life-changing encounter for him, I think we need to understand what was going on around him at the time. It happened “in the year that King Uzziah died.” King Uzziah was a real king of Judah, and he died 742 years before the birth of Christ. He had reigned for 52 years when he died, and under his leadership, the nation of Judah experienced a time of great prosperity; the greatest since the time of King Solomon. History tells us that, in the beginning of his reign, Uzziah was a faithful man. Under the influence of the prophet Zechariah, Uzziah was faithful and “did what was right in the sight of God.” But as his kingdom prospered, so did his pride. And as that old saying goes, “Pride comes before the fall.” Uzziah began to act outside of God’s will, and so God caused a great earthquake, and then he struck Uzziah with leprosy.
Like their king, the Israelites had fallen into prideful ways. “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips,” Isaiah said. I think it’s fair to say these people who claimed to follow God were living pretty far off the mark. And they probably didn’t even really realize it. So we’re God’s chosen people, we’ve been God’s chosen people for generations, what’s the big deal? They had forgotten who they were. They had forgotten what that meant. They had lost sight of God’s power for their lives. So now, God steps into this particular moment in history. God happens in space and time, in the corridors of power, in the impact of governments. God inserts his word into real life. And though God is inexpressibly huge, with the mere hem of his garment filling the temple, the beginning of God’s revelation is humble conversation. God does not simply thunder from above, but God asks, invites, listens, urges, waits, pushes a bit harder.
God has come to remind the people who he is and who they are, and God has decided that Isaiah is the man to do it. Isaiah’s protests are futile; he seems racked by a sense of guilt that makes him unworthy for the task. Isaiah confesses that he is “lost,” his lips are “unclean,” but it’s not merely personal. He is completely immersed in a culture that is lost and unclean. All the more reason for Isaiah to go forth with a fresh message from God. So God cleanses him, touching a burning coal to Isaiah’s “unclean lips,” before asking again, “who will go?”
Then Isaiah says, “Here am I; send me!”
These are the words that set Isaiah’s life on a new course. It’s one of the most beautiful passages in all of the Hebrew Bible, I think; a moment of complete surrender, a step of total faith. He now carries the burden of all God-followers. It is a life that many of us know. You walk in the way of the Lord, and others seem to walk in a different direction. We live among people who want to hate their enemy, and yet we hang on to a message about loving not just your neighbor, but your enemy as well. We live in a world of wars and rumors of wars, and yet we have a Lord who suggests that when we are weak, we are strong. We live in a world that measures success by the size of our possessions, and yet we are a people who share a common meal, just a small piece of bread and a tiny sip from a cup, as if that were sufficient for a meal.
Dare we ever speak up in this world? Or are we too invested in a culture lost and unclean? Because the truth of the matter is, we are lost, too. However nice or pleasant we make think ourselves to be, we are unclean. The world around us is unclean. And it is just as important for us to be God’s mouthpiece in the world today as it was for Isaiah 3,000 years ago. As Christians, God has called us to live different lives, to follow different paths, and part of that means boldly and faithfully speaking out against the wrongs of this world. Wrongs which, let’s face it; we are often a part of! And now, just as he did with Isaiah, God is changing our lives. Not only is he calling us to step out of the cultural status quo, but God’s telling us to speak against it as well!
I ran across an article this week written by a friend of mine who is a youth director down in Ringgold. The title of this article is “Just Another Lazy Methodist.” It seems that Methodists have achieved an unhealthy stereotype; we are lazy. “It’s easy to be a Methodist. You don’t have to do anything.” My friend says, “I run into it all of the time—people that are glad to know Methodists because we’re so laid back, not trying to cram anything down people’s throats.” He goes on to entertain the possibility that perhaps people are right about Methodists, but this stereotype isn’t the way real Methodists should be. “Real Methodists live in community,” he says. We don’t just show up in church on Sunday mornings, we actually engage with people and walk alongside one another through all of life’s ups and downs. “Real Methodists live lives dedicated to mission,” a work that is never done. “Real Methodists know and love scripture.” He goes on to say that Methodism is great, but “joining the not-pushy faith doesn’t relieve you of the obligation to know and share your own journey…a life of discipleship really isn’t for everybody. Grace is free…but you have to want to be in the relationship. And relationships take work. Rich, rewarding, holy work, but work just the same.”
This is the work that God calls Isaiah to do. This is the work of all Christians, not least of which is we United Methodists sitting here in this church today. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be just another lazy Methodist. God in Christ Jesus has transformed my life, and I want that to mean something. I want to know that because of God’s claim on me, my life follows a different trajectory. I want others to experience what I have experienced through Jesus Christ.
But that means I have to be willing to work, even when I’d rather just be lazy. It means I might have to go places and do things that might make me uncomfortable. It means that I have to be willing to say things that might challenge the status quo, and to listen when others challenge me. And above all, it means I have to have faith that I, even I—unworthy as I may seem, can be used by God to change the world!
So challenged and convicted, I say with Isaiah this morning, “I’m here; send me."
