Date: 6/9/2003
Time: 9:04:10 AM
This first reading narrates the prophet's vision of the Lord surrounded by the angelic company. They sing "Holy, holy, holy," a song the church echoes at the beginning of the great thanksgiving. In the liturgy, this text invites the church and all creation to sing in praise of God's glory. This glory is God's mercy toward sinners.
Date: 6/9/2003
Time: 11:55:00 AM
I'm thinking I'll preach on this reading on Sunday. The outline will be: 1) Isaiah gets to see God's Vision, 2) Isaiah admits he's not good enough to be a part of God's Vision, 3) God transforms "not good enough" into "good enough" 4) Isaiah is prepared, with God's help, to live into God's Vision. I'll relate this to our own tendancy to think we're not good enough or don't have all the gifts/skills we need, when often we're *exactly* what God needs (otherwise God wouldn't be calling us!) I may also bring in God's view of us (exclaiming at creation "It is Good!") vs. comercial's views of us (NEVER good enough--must smell better, drive nicer car, look better, etc).
Momma Helen
Date: 6/9/2003
Time: 5:12:10 PM
"In the year that King Uzziah died." Things were going well. Uzziah's reign had been a long and prosperous one. People were content, happy. Now Uzziah was dead.
The marriage isn't great, but things seemed ok. Now, all of a sudden, it's over (Of course, marriages don't usually end "all of a sudden." They usually die by degrees through years of neglect and taking things for granted. But it's not unusual for one of the marriage partners to be unaware of the slow death of their marriage and to them it seems like "all of a sudden.")
Things on the job seemed good. Then one day, the pink slip showed up, and now I don't have a job.
Your life's companion, your soul/sole mate of many years is beside you one minute and in the grave the next.
The examples of from good to bad are endless. Use your imagination. Or simply look at your life. You can add to the list.
What/whom do you see when you look around? What/whom you see can depend on where you are. Isaiah was in the temple bringing sacrifices to God. What/whom you see can also depend on where you're looking. You can be in the temple in the very presence of God and be so self absorbed that all you can see are your troubles and griefs.
Isaiah was fortunate. The king was dead. That was a defining reality of his life (where were you when FDR or JFK died? when the Challenger exploded? when the Columbia came crashing to earth?). But he saw the Lord. How can we help people lift their eyes from troubled lives to see the Lord of hosts and sing with the seraphim, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory"?
Phil in Maryland
Date: 6/10/2003
Time: 7:08:40 AM
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."
Don't we usually say "HEAVEN AND earth are full of your glory?" Isaiah seems to be having a vision of heaven, but actually he is right here on earth. All of this takes place in the Temple.
I do not have access to my Hebrew Bible and Septuagint until Thursday. Could someone lookup the word "earth" in vs 3? Is the word here eretz or something else? Does the meaning change when translated in the Greek?
Jack Sun 10 E C
Date: 6/10/2003
Time: 11:27:44 AM
I'm enjoying the imagery of the cleansing and empowering nature of fire from last Sunday and this reading. Last week after the coming of the flames of the Spirit the disciples are empowered to do God's work by preaching in many languages and then here again, Isaiah is empowered to do God's work through the cleansing nature of the fire (which seems like a foreshadowing of Christ).
Phil wrote "How can we help people lift their eyes from troubled lives to see the Lord of hosts and sing with the seraphim, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory"?"
I like this challenge aspect, might be a good thing to bring to my congregation.
Anyway, some random thoughts (now how to connect all this to Father's day, ugh)
Amittai Dominic
Date: 6/10/2003
Time: 2:59:23 PM
As many of you may be able to tell, I have recently been reading and studying the theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and find him full of rich material. Here is what he says in Theo-Drama: Theolgical Dramatic Theory, Vol II: Dramatis Personae: Man in God, Ingatius Press, 1990:
"On Election:
When a person is struck by something truly significant, he is not simply placed in a universal perspective from which he can survey the totality: an arrow pierces his heart, at his most personal level. The issue is one that concerns him: “You must change your life,” you must henceforth livein response to this unique and genuine revelation. The man to whom this has happened is marked for life. He has trodden holy ground that is in the world but not of it; he cannot return to the purely worldly world. He bears the brand-mark of his encounter with beauty. An evening at the opera or a concert can be simply relaxation, but the encounter with beauty at a deep level is something else. The myths and fairy tales tell of it. Being touched in this way is election (... the interplay of beholding and being enraptured). This was sufficient while the standpoint ... was theocentric: we only “see” God by being “rapt” “transported” toward him, by being transformed and drawn into his sphere. .... no one is enraptured without returning, from this encounter, with a personal mission. ..... God only shows himself to someone, only enraptures him, in order to commission him. .... what is ultimate here is not my decision but that I hand myself over to the deciding reality and thus am resolved, decided, to let myself be marked by the unique encounter offered me."
tom in ga
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 3:11:41 AM
Seeing God is just the beginning--necessary, but just the beginning. What happens after we see the Lord?
Like Isaiah, we we see God, we see ourselves more clearly. This can be unsettling. "All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." (Romans 2:23; CEV) But God doesn't leave us stuck in our sin. "But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away." (1 John 1:9; CEV)
If we listen to God after we see God we will hear his call to us to serve him--again, like Isaiah. "Jesus said to them, 'Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.'" (Mark 1:17)
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 3:15:01 AM
Oops. Corrections and additions to the previous listing.
Seeing God is just the beginning--necessary, but just the beginning. What happens after we see the Lord?
Like Isaiah, when we see God, we see ourselves more clearly. This can be unsettling. "All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." (Romans 2:23; CEV) But God doesn't leave us stuck in our sin. "But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away." (1 John 1:9; CEV)
If we listen to God after we see God we will hear his call to serve him--again, like Isaiah. "Jesus said to them, 'Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.'" (Mark 1:17)
Phil in Maryland
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 3:55:03 AM
1. We must see God.
2. When we see God, we see ourselves in a new way: as sinners who are forgiven by God.
3. When we see ourselves in a new way, we are prepared to hear God's call.
4. It all begins with seeing God. Where can we see God. Some suggestions for Trinity Sunday from the Apostles Creed:
a. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. 1 The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. 2 Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. 3 They don't speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. 4 Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun. 5 It rises like a bridegroom and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race. 6 It travels all the way across the sky. Nothing hides from its heat. Psalm 19.1-6 (CEV)
b. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. We see God in his vulnerability to us in a manger. We see God in the temple at 12 pursuing his purpose (Luke 19.10). We see him performing miracles and teaching and preaching. We see him before Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead and buried. We see him in his resurrected glory. We see him ascended to heaven seated at the right hand of God (cf. Stephen's vision in Acts). We will see him coming again.
c. I believe in the Holy Spirit. We experience the Spirit of God in the holy catholic church, in the communion of Saints, and in the forgiveness of sins. We will experience the power of the Spirit with the resurrection of ourselves and in the life everlasting.
Phil in Maryland
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 4:56:59 AM
Momma Helen and Phil in Md, as you have broken teh passage into parts or steps, you have shoen that this passage is a pattern for worship. When worship flows according to the flow of this scripture, we do open ourselves to God adn we are best able to respond. We start by approaching the mystery and awesomeness of God as does Isaiah (Holy,Holy, Holy..) then we move to confession ( I am a person of unclean lips) and forgiveness ( Ahh, the burning coal!) and we are then ready to hear God's WORD - "Who will go for me?" Finally, we can respond and commit and follow (Here I am, send me). It is also very Trinitarian - begins with God the Creator/Father, then to God the Son or WORD or Redeemer, then to God the Holy Spirit or advocate or Sustainer. Fashion worship into this 3 -part rehearsal or drama and it mirrors our self understanding as people of faith. I don't know if that is a sermon , but there's much in there form this passage to choose from. And it is Trinity Sunday- maybe a fair "teaching" opportunity to folks for whom the Trinity is a big ? . Thanks all for your thoughts. Jim in CT.
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 6:02:49 AM
Jack Sun 10 E C
Yes, it is eretz.
Michelle
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 7:06:37 AM
My Old Testament Prof told us one time that here Isaiah's call is not his first, or if it is it is later in his life. For the first six chapter's Isaiah has been a prophet, but now God is calling him again to a new prophetic ministry. Most prophets seem to be called as a child, except here for Isaiah.
Can we be called again to a new task?
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 9:42:53 AM
During my residency, I was in the chaplain's office one day when I saw a man and woman, crying, walk into the chapel that was at the end of the hall. I followed them and comforted them on the loss of their brother from AIDS. Although only halfway through my CPE year, I'd seen so many die from AIDS (the hospital has an AIDS clinic) I could only wonder "Oh, Lord, how many more?"
During this time, a woman came in to worship with her small following. Since they came in every WEdnesday, I'd thought they had the chapel reserved, or something, and so I took the man out to a more private place. The woman stayed to worship. (turned out I wasn't supposed to do that - the chapel isn't to be reserved except for memorial services, and other special services)
To give background music to our conversation in an adjacent room, we overheard from inside the chapel a melodic chant, "It's gonna be all right. It's gonna be all right. It's gonna be all right." And people were clapping and praising.
In the year King Uzziah died, the Lord came on his own throne and said "It's gonna be all right. Now I'm issuing a call - anyone care to respond?" And will we say "Here am I. Send me?"
I notice that this time God is not calling by name. Isaiah responds, because we see that he fearfully observes that he's seen the Lord and is of unclean lips (which, we all know, would cause him to die) and is made clean by the seraph with the hot coal. Nonetheless, it is a general call, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
will we, too, sing "It's gonna be all right" with the confidence of the children of God who call God Abba/Dad (Romans)?
BTW: is the "us" the royal we? I'm presuming so...
Reflections from Sally in GA
Date: 6/11/2003
Time: 10:18:30 PM
Thank you all, especially Momma Helen! I am filling a pulpit as a lay minister in a small congregation in SW WA, and your insight has given me the wings of the Holy Spirit for this week! These people need to know they are part of God's onging vision in the community they have formed - the 'not good enough' by the world's standards, into the *exactly* what God needs. Blessings to you for showing me a way to focus my words. KF in WA
Date: 6/12/2003
Time: 6:11:45 AM
To Sally in GA -- the "us" in "Who will go for us?" could be a royal "we." Or it could mean the royal court, i.e., Yahweh and the angels surrounding him. But early Christians also saw this as an Old Testament foreshadowing of the Trinity, that God has a plurality inside, but is also One -- which may be why this lesson was chosen for Trinity Sunday. -- Mike in Maryland
Date: 6/13/2003
Time: 6:48:43 AM
Phil and Momma, great posts, I am using a bit from both to preface the reading of Isaiah. Corrie Ten Bloom has a lot to say about being "enough" for God and having enough. Nancy-Wi
Date: 6/13/2003
Time: 8:34:52 AM
I realize that I am probably writing this too late for a response, but here goes anyway. What can be easily lost in this story is the condition of the kingdom at the time of Uzziah's death. Although Isaiah seems to respond to his death with grief, many interpreted that death as being nothing short of God's judgement upon Uzziah for his allowing Hebrew religion to become blended with other religions of that day. I have chosen as a title, "The Pitfall of Homogenized Religion." I believe that we are witnessing a similar phenomenon in the United States today. Take a little Christianity, add some patriotic fervor, a little neareastern, and far eastern mysticism, and thoroughly blend until smooth so that it is easily swallowed: homogenized religion. Isaiah encountered the monotheistic God of Israel and of Jesus Christ that refuses to be blended with other gods. TN Mack
Date: 6/14/2003
Time: 1:46:35 PM
How many of us, especially we "late-accepters", hear our own calls in this scripture. I know that when I told God that I wasn't good enough, I could almost hear Him laugh because at that point, He had me just like He had Isaiah. I don't claim to have a ministry on the level of Isaiah's but I also pray that I won't face his congregation either - one that will listen but never hear, look but never see. Now there was a pastoral assignment without hope except that he was doing what he had been sent to do. Mike from Soddy Daisy