Isaiah 6:1-8 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 6:1-8 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 6In 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. Verse 2Seraphs 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. Verse 3And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Verse 4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
Verse 5And 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!" Verse 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. Verse 7The 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." Verse 8Then 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!"
Devotion
Remember Peter, futilely fishing a lake that seems empty (Luke 5:1-11)? At Jesus’ direction, he grudgingly casts his nets in deeper water, only to have them filled to bursting. Peter looks at the nets, then at Jesus with sudden recognition. Before him is the Holy One of God! His reaction is exactly like Isaiah’s: his own unholiness appalls him. Yet for both, a second glance overrides their unworthiness. Riveted by the divine, they are each compelled to follow. Isaiah responds eagerly: “Here am I, send me!” And of Peter, we are told that he “left everything and followed him.”
Prayer
Gracious God, you are the one who lures us out of the mire of our own sin and unworthiness. Help us see beyond ourselves to your invitation, and quicken our desire to follow and to love you. Amen.