Hey, Church! 

When Isaiah receives his vision and call from God in Isaiah 6, it feels like everything in Judah is falling apart into chaos. King Uzziah has died after reigning for 52 years, during which he brought peace and prosperity. A massive earthquake that brought destruction years earlier is still being felt. The wicked and violent nation of Assyria is making its way towards them and conquering everything in its path. A target is on their back from a nation they cannot defeat. Judah’s major problem, though, is that they are spiritually corrupt despite the outward success of their nation. They worship without genuine repentance (Is. 1:11-17). Their leaders are corrupt, and injustice rules (Is. 1:21-23). They trust in their wealth, and they are in widespread idolatry (Is. 2:7-8). They exploit the poor (Is. 3:14-15). They call evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). God gives Isaiah this vision in Isaiah 6:

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.”

In this moment of the nation, God is still on the throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe fills the temple. The seraphim, the burning ones, still ceaselessly praise the Lord who is Holy, and the earth is filled with his glory. This vision of God brings Isaiah to his knees in repentance. The bloody altar still takes away guilt and atones for sin. The Lord is looking for someone to go, and Isaiah says, “Here I am! Send me.”

The scene hasn’t changed today. God is on the throne, fully in control and worthy of all honor and praise. When we see him for who he is, is our only response that of a desperate need for repentance? Do we trust Jesus’ bloody sacrifice to take away our guilt and atone for our sin? When the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Is our only response, “Here I am! Send me.” The Lord’s invitation is a daring adventure into an uncertain future in this world, but a certain future alongside a God who loves us and knows how all of this ends, for our good and his glory. The only place I can think of being tomorrow is next to you guys in the worship of a Holy God who holds it all in his hands.