An order of Service
 |
| "And God created Man" by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1566) |
Call to Worship
Inspire us by a vision of your glory, dear God. Cleanse us by
the forgiveness of your grace. Empower us to speak the words of benediction
that a hurting world needs to hear. We pray these things in the name of Jesus,
your Good Word who lived among us, Amen.
Prayer of Confession
O God,
we confess to you that we are a people of unclean lips:
we have
complained aloud;
we have
spoken harshly to others;
we have
used sarcasm.
*
Forgive
us, Merciful God.
We know
that our lips reflect our hearts.
*
O God,
we ask that you create us to be people of grateful hearts:
let us
rejoice aloud;
let us
speak kindly to others;
let us
use patience.
*
Thank
You Merciful God
for
your patience;
for
your kindness;
for
your joy.
Amen.
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. 2 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. 3 And one called
to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 The pivots[a] on the thresholds shook at the
voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 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!” 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had
been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph[b] touched my mouth with it and
said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your
sin is blotted out.” 8 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!”
The Character of God (vs.1-4)
a. Presence
The precise historical
reference in the opening sentence of this chapter sets the context for the
remainder of chapter 6: “In the year that King Uzziah died” (v.1). We know that
this is when Isaiah saw his vision of God in the temple. But why is the
reference to a dead monarch relevant to what follows? In the ancient world, a
monarch is the visible representative of the nation. To have a king on the
throne means stability for that nation. It also signifies security, because in the
ancient world the king was the one who led the nation into battle. Conversely,
not to have a king meant instability, and the possibility of lawlessness. There
was no security of the nation without their visible representative. Therefore,
the death of a king would have caused panic and chaos. Such a situation would
have instilled fear and dread in the hearts of the subject. Who would lead
them? Who would ensure their security, peace and stability they had enjoyed? Everything
that was familiar would have fallen apart before their eyes.
So for Isaiah the prophet,
in the year when the king died and the nation was leaderless and the throne was
empty, he says: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty…” (v.1b). So, was the
throne empty? No it wasn’t! The king’s throne had been occupied by the Lord! The
Lord is King! (Ps 93:1). And this assures us that we are never leaderless –
even when we think we are. The Lord is in charge of our nation, our
communities, our church, our families, our lives. God is on the throne. Isaiah goes
on to describe what he saw: “and the hem of his robe filled the temple” (v.1c). This signifies
the majesty and the glory of God that fills everything. When we feel a void,
when we feel an emptiness, remember, “the hem of his robe filled the
temple.” Our God is an all powerful God, supremely exalted, confidently in control. His presence
fills every aspect of our lives and our empty places.
bb. Holiness
As Isaiah continues to describe his vision, having started with the Sovereignty
or Kingship of God, he goes on to talk about worship in the heavenly court: “Seraphs were in attendance above him” (v.2). We assume that
these ‘seraphs’ were angels. Literally, the word “Seraph” means ‘burning ones
or fiery ones.” In the letter to the Hebrews, the author says of
the angels: “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire” (Heb
1:6-7). The angels are described as “flames of fire” – hence “Seraphs” or Burning
Ones. Isaiah’s vision therefore serves as the background for the angelic
worship described in the letter to the Hebrews. These burning ones are fearsome
to behold: “each had six wings: with two they
covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they
flew” (v.2a). They covered their faces out of reverence;
they covered their feet because feet were seen to be unclean; the last pair of
wings was for flight or movement.And while the description of the angels
might be strange, their song of praise is all too familiar: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory” (v.3). The threefold repetition of the word “Holy” is
popularly understood as worship directed to the Trinue God. However, the ancient
Hebrew way of emphasizing a concept was to repeat it; so, in other words they
are emphasizing the holiness of God, stressing that God is incomparably holy.
2. Our Response
to God (vs.5-7)
a. Called
And then
there is a shift in emphasis: if the first four verses were about God, the next
section focuses on Isaiah and his reaction. Let’s begin by looking at second
part of Isaiah’s response, what has often been described as the ‘call and
commissioning’ of Isaiah (v.8), before we return to the first part of his
response (vs.5-7). V.8 is often used in commissioning services because it reflects
our response to God’s call, a call to obey and serve God. What needs to be
noticed here are two things: (a) God’s invitation: “Whom shall I send, and
who will go for us?”” (v.8a) and (b), Isaiah’s response: “And I said,
“Here am I; send me!” (v.8b). Isaiah is enthusiastic and ready to be
of service. But this attitude did not immediately flow out of his vision of the
glory and majesty of God. In fact, when he first encountered that glory, he was
filled with terror and dread: “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…!” (v.5a).
He was filled with a sense of his own insignificance and smallness and sinfulness.
Have you ever noticed that the brighter the sun, the more pronounced are the
shadows? Isaiah experienced a sense of worthlessness when confronted by the
glory of God.
b. Equipped
Between his initial reaction of dread stemming from an acute recognition
of his sinfulness and then his enthusiastic willingness to ‘go out’ for God,
something significant happened to bring about this radical change in attitude, something
that completely transformed him. It is therefore very important to note that Isaiah
is not left wallowing in his worthlessness and sinfulness. That situation is transformed
by the action of the Seraph: Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a
live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The
seraph[b] touched my mouth with it and
said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your
sin is blotted out” (vs.6-7). This act
of cleansing, forgiveness and restoration was completely initiated by God.
Isaiah had nothing to do with it. God transforms us out of the abundance of his
grace and out of his immeasurable love for us and makes us worthy, makes us
ready.
And the crucial point for us to note is that when God calls us,
he always equips us. He just doesn’t expect us to do things for him and
leave us to work out whether we are capable or not. He gives us a glimpse of
his glory so that we know that our power and strength comes from God because he
has equips us: As we are reminded by God: “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness…. for
whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9a, 10b).
Amen
Prayers of
Intercession
In this time across our county and country we pray for
the following, for the:
Leaders of our government at national and local level.
Agricultural community, for farmers and farm workers and all who
produce our food.
National Health Service and all who work in it and all other key
workers.
Care Homes, their staff and residents.
Airlines, and all who work in travel, hospitality and deliveries.
Schools, colleges and universities, pupils, teachers and students.
Homes of our loved ones we cannot be with at the moment
Isolated and the lonely and the unwell.
Remembering of those we have lost.
Encouragement as we emerge from this in a better shape to be
servants of the gospel.
Gracious God, we offer these and
all our prayers in the name of Jesus. Amen.
(by
Rev. Paul Davis, Chair of Lancashire Methodist District)
Blessings
May the Holy God be present in our lives
May the God who is worshipped by angels
cleanse our lives and make us worthy
May the God who equips us and calls us to
his service
Send us forth in his power:
And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit
Be with us, always.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.