Who Calls?

Do you ever screen your calls? By that I mean do you look to see who’s calling before you answer? I answer most of my calls right when they happen unless it’s tagged “scam likely” or I’m driving (I haven’t hooked up my Bluetooth yet) or if the phone is in the other room or if I accidentally left it on vibrate – well, I have voice mail, anyway. If it was important, they’ll call back, and if it wasn’t, I’ve just been spared another nuisance.

How you respond to a call really depends on how important it is, doesn’t it? If you pick up the phone ready to snap at the umpteenth telemarketer and it turns out to be your mother or your husband or your best friend your attitude changes in a hurry.

And that is why two of the most famous “call” passages in Scripture begin with a description of the caller. It’s not that Isaiah didn’t know who God was, or that after the resurrection the disciples were in any more doubt about who Jesus was. Isaiah was a professional religious figure, a court official, possibly even related to the royal family. By the time he received his first vision he would have been around thirty, the time when Jewish men took up their public responsibilities, well educated in Jewish law and tradition. He would have had a profound respect for YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the giver of the covenant and the law, and no doubt believed himself to be a conscientious and observant Jew.

But apparently that’s not enough. For the job God is calling him to do, Isaiah needs something more than head knowledge. He needs to meet with God in a more profound and personal way. He needs to be touched, and he needs to be changed.

And so do we. That is one of the reasons we gather to worship, to meet with God, to be touched and changed and equipped to hear and then carry out God’s call upon our lives.

Each Sunday millions of people around the country gather together to worship God. They come to all kinds of churches—big churches, small churches, city churches, country churches. Some meet in multimillion dollar sanctuaries, some meet in inner city storefronts. Some worship services are exuberant and energetic, others are contemplative and prayerful. Some churches sing only traditional hymns; others sing contemporary worship choruses. Some light candles and incense, some clap hands and dance. Some preachers wear robes; some don’t.

But in spite of the many differences there is one common denominator: millions of people have gathered today to worship Christ. And all of these millions fall into only two categories: those who truly expect - or at least hope - to encounter God, and those who simply go through the motions.

I expect that most those in category two would really rather be in category one - why else would they come to church? But, for some reason, there are obstacles in their way. Maybe they don’t even know how much more profound and meaningful worship can be. Maybe it's a temporary condition, doubt, or confusion, or fear, or unconfessed sin. Whatever the reason, there are many people who go to church getting nothing out of it but meeting their friends and repeating a familiar and comforting pattern. Others come hoping to get something more out of it, but leave disappointed, wondering why week after week they go home feeling just as empty as when they came. “Maybe it’s the preacher,” they’ll say to themselves, or “I wonder if it’s the music.” But in the very same services there will be many who go home exhilarated, knowing that they have been in the very presence of God.

You see, the single most important element in any worship service is the heart of the person attending the service. If your heart is open toward God when you walk in the door, it will much more likely to be full of God when you walk out. Jesus said, “those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.” [Jn 4:3] Meeting with God takes more than just showing up; there’s also a small matter of preparing yourself. Isaiah 6 is a lesson on how to meet with God. From this passage we see that we need four things, and they come in two pairs. The first pair is about having the right attitude.

First, we need to have the right attitude about God.

Coming into God’s presence begins with an attitude of reverence or respect. Some people think of God impersonally, as a distant, abstract “higher power.” Too many others refer to him casually as “the big guy” or “the man upstairs.” That’s better than disbelief, of course, but what does it say about our relationship? God is neither impersonal nor chummy. God is God: great, powerful, good. It is true that he has made himself known to us. In fact, God has invited us into his household and given us his name. But that doesn’t mean that this joyful intimacy should turn into disrespect.