Epiphany- Day 42
Isaiah 6:1-8 The Message
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,
Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.
The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,
“Doom! It’s Doomsday!
I’m as good as dead!
Every word I’ve ever spoken is tainted—
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I’ve looked God in the face!
The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!”
Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
“Look. This coal has touched your lips.
Gone your guilt,
your sins wiped out.”
And then I heard the voice of the Master:
“Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?”
I spoke up,
“I’ll go.
Send me!”
CONSIDER THIS. . .
The epiphany pattern plays itself out brilliantly in this text. In this case Isaiah’s sudden epiphany comes about in the wake of a great loss in his life. It took the death of the King Uzziah, the one he looked to for leadership and direction, to open his eyes to the King of the Universe. This scene described in the text is not something that just came about. It was always there. This is precisely the nature of epiphanies: to finally see what has been there all along. It gets better. After seeing this vision, the prophet hears the word of the Lord. Again, this is not a new word. This is the voice of God speaking over all people at all times, “Whom shall I send and who will go for me?” Those who “see” begin to “hear.”
Do you have eyes to see? Do you have ears to hear? Ask Him to grant you these gifts today. They may well be the most important capacities a person can possess.
-jd walt