Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13] (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13] on biblegateway.com
Chapter 6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Verse 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. Verse 3And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Verse 4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
Verse 5And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Verse 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. Verse 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Verse 8Then 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!"[
Verse 9And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' Verse 10Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed." Verse 11Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; Verse 12until the Lord sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Verse 13Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.]
Devotion
Isaiah got a sneak preview of God on his throne, with seraphim shouting back and forth, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." But wait—Isaiah senses a disconnect. This is not the earth he knows! He cries, “I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips . . .” His world is not full of God’s glory.
Anna stopped going to church when things got really difficult in her life. She couldn’t bear to be in that special place where people praise God. It only reminded her of how far she had fallen from the life she had hoped to lead.
A burning coal from God’s holy temple comes down to Isaiah and brands his lips with forgiveness. Jesus Christ also comes down to earth and touches us with God’s forgiveness.
Anna, you are forgiven and re-claimed by God, just like all who believe.
Prayer
Gracious God, touch each of us in the lost and hurting places of our lives and restore to us the joy of your salvation. Amen.