In 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. Seraphs 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.
And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
And 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!" Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.
The 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."
Then 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!
I have been told by some that I have a vivid imagination. Some have gone so far as to call it overactive. Be that as it may...it is a gift that makes it "easy" for me to relate to the mystical images of Isaiah (above) There are rare, gifted moments during some worship services when I feel (more than see) the presence of God in profound ways.... awe...the sense of being in the presence of something expansive, deep, overpowering (yet also enfolding in protection).
Larry Klinker, pastor at Zion ELCA, in New Middleton, reminds us that God accompanies us as we become aware (often awe-filled) of God's awe-full presence.
"The only way Isaiah or even us for that matter come into the awesome presence of God and feel comfortable is by an act of God. God will have to act to make it possible for us to come into God’s presence and not be so haunted by our inner sense of unworthiness. It is a natural reaction that when we are in the presence of such holy presence of God that our basic unworthiness is felt and even magnified. Isaiah experienced this." Larry Klinker, sermon for June 7, 2009
Clearly we have nothing to fear when we are present to God's presence, even though it is a moment so huge that we might wonder if we can survive the experience. That is the mystery of God's love, though. It may seem to be overwhelming and overpowering...but the reality is that it is precisely where we are given the perspective of ourselves (and all that God can "make" of our humanness) that will enable us to "go and do" wonder-filled things in His Holy Name!
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