Greetings,
Many of you are using the blue prayer book (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers & Other Servants), and recently read the scripture Isaiah 6:1-8, the call of Isaiah in the Temple.
“Woe is me! I am lost…”
Isaiah has seen the glory of the LORD fill the temple, the seraphs attending him, and the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and [here comes my favorite part, as a child who loved Lionel trains and real trains] the LORD’s train filling the temple. Isaiah has heard the seraph proclaim the holiness of the LORD. Confronted with all of this overwhelming Glory, Isaiah can but say, “Woe is me! 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!”
We are, all of us, like Isaiah. It matters not how “good” we are, how important we are, how “religious” we are, in the face of the glory of the LORD, lost. For our lips are unclean—we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In and of ourselves we are not able to speak the truth, the full and whole truth which is the Christ of the LORD. It is not just that we at times lie, it is that we so often do not speak the good news, we do not speak love, we do not speak justice, we do not speak peace. Thus, our lips are unclean. And we live among a people of unclean lips. The daily news proves uncleanness of our society’s collective lips. Lying is accepted as normal behavior which should not be held against a person. We tell fully and completely, over and over again, every particle of bad news, even inventing it if there is not enough to go around at the moment, yet find it almost impossible to talk about the good news of God—to do so is certainly politically incorrect if not outlawed. We speak of animosity and hatreds, we continually promote divisions between people even as we say we want unity. We look for strife and create it where it does not exist, instead of promoting love and understanding that heals rather than hurts. We proclaim a justice which has a price tag. Those who can afford the expensive lawyers rarely are convicted of crimes, while those who cannot afford such counsel are frequently—30 - 50 times more so—convicted. Justice for those in high places might, maybe, perhaps be censure for their wrong doing, while others are put in prison for the same crimes. We proclaim justice by rounding up the homeless and moving them out of sight of the tourists and good “respectable” people. We speak for peace by creating smart bombs, which destroy all the people, but leave the buildings and infrastructure intact. We speak for peace by sending “peacekeepers” to troubled areas who do nothing to stop the violence, or who their own violent measures take control of the people. We speak for peace by installing surveillance cameras and microphones in our offices, stores and street corners, and eventually even our homes, so that our every word and action can be monitored to insure “our safety,” and cooperation with the peace of those in charge. We speak for peace by allowing friends, family, co-workers to gossip, slander, and ridicule others as we “keep the peace” by not stopping them.
In the midst of our war on terror to bring about justice and peace we must ask ourselves whose justice and whose peace are we seeking to make. Just how do we, in these circumstances “do justice” and be “peacemakers” - What Would Jesus Do? And the answers may not be easy or comfortable.
Certainly, the question for today is not even “What Would Jesus Do?” The question needs to be “What Is Jesus Doing?” Jesus, and his saints, are out in front of us, leading us to the True Peace, the Peace of Calvary, the Peace of Sacrifice and Resurrection, the Peace of Hope and Renewal and Eternal Life. Jesus and the saints are leading us to the Peach which Jesus alone can give, the Peace which comes from being one with Jesus even as Jesus is one with the Father. We need to follow Jesus, indeed, we need to be yoked with Jesus that we might always go where he goes and do what he is doing. We need to be climbing to Calvary, to the Altar of God where the incense of the prayers of God’s people burns continually, and is cast by God to the earth to bring the Reality and Light and Justice and Peace and Love of Jesus to the world.
We all need the fire from the altar to cleanse our lips, to purify us. We all need to be renewed daily by our contact with the Holy Spirit touching and sanctifying our lives. Isaiah says, “Here am I; send me!” in response to God’s call. Most of us have given that same response at some time in our life. Yet it is a continual call and needs a continual response. It is part of the process of sanctification by which we are made perfect, even in the here and now, for life with God forever. We need to be cleansed and heed the call everyday.
Here am I; send me, today!
Yours & His,
DED
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