Isaiah 6:5-8
Sometimes it’s fun to dig out old photographs and see what my family and I looked like so many years ago. It can be fun to let our children get a good laugh at the old clothing styles or the picture of their conservative Dad with hair to his shoulders (Yep. I was “groovy.”). Times like that can be fun, but they are also a reminder that I am not who I was. I have changed.
This passage is a classic Scripture reading that describes the call of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah has a vision of God seated on His throne. About the Lord are billows of smoke as angels fly around and heaven shakes with thunder.
What is the prophet’s initial response? What does the seraph (angel) do? What does God ask? How does Isaiah respond?
“I am a man of unclean lips!” Isaiah realizes that he is not worthy to be in the presence of God. He is not good enough to serve the Lord.
But God remedies that. An angel purifies Isaiah and makes him worthy because God wants someone to be his messenger. And that is where we have the stirring response from Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me.”
Am I worthy to be a pastor? No. I’m the dorky guy in the weird clothes with the long hair. I have a past that I’m not completely proud of. And so many other people in churches use the same excuse – “I’m not good enough.”
No, we aren’t good enough; but fortunately God has set his coal on our lips and purified us. Like Isaiah we are made worthy by God to be in the service of God. So the excuses just don’t cut it any more.
We can take our old selves and our past and toss them out along with the old photos. And while we’re at it, let’s pitch those tired old excuses too. It is time to stop saying “I don’t think we can,” “I don’t think we should,” and “We’ve never done it that way before.” Let’s remember that our unclean lips have been made clean and our response to ministry opportunities should be “Here am I. Send me.”
DAILY CHALLENGE: How will you help?
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