"Watching and Listening for God's Call" III

Today we look at what are two of my favorite call stories, the ones to Isaiah and Jeremiah. Jeremiah fits into the already familiar role of the reluctant prophet and he will be that way throughout his life. Isaiah, while overwhelmed at times, seems to enjoy his role more and the book of Isaiah (which covers nearly 200 years) has evidence that he passed his prophetic role along. Isaiah is a prophet to both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel, while Jeremiah is only a prophet to the south.

Isaiah 6:1-9

The context of Isaiah's call is important in that it sets the date and circumstances of his prophetic ministry. Verse 1 of chapter 6 reads, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord..." King Uzziah, a prominent southern king,took over over in 792 BCE at the age of 16 and ruled for 52 years. He was a godly king who did great things for Israel. II Chronicles 26:16ff tells the occasion of his death beginning as follows: "But after Uzziah beame powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and enterd the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Isaiah lived until at least 680 BCE, so we can assume that at the time of this vision he was a very young man, possibly in his late teens or early 20s. Uzziah is the only king he or his parents have known and the times were perilous. The Assyrian army (with its legendary chariots and iron weapons)was bearing down on the northern kingdom and making threats on the south. In his 18th year of ministry the Assyrians would sack Samaria in the north and take her brightest and best off to Nineveh (remind you of another prophet and a certain large fish?). It was in a time of great political and military stress and possibly great admiration on the part of Isaiah for the king that Isaiah had his vision.

Last week, Matt Wolfington and I were talking about this vision in Isaiah. He said, "I wonder if this event was something that everybody else in the temple experienced that day or if it was just something that happened in the heart and mind of Isaiah?" Are our visions or even our experiences of God's call actual events visible to everyone else or are they times of heightened awareness in which God helps us see what others cannot? Of course, that brings up the question of whether Isaiah's experience or even Ezekiel's more outlandish visions of wheels within wheels and eating sweet scrolls that turn bitter are creations of an overactive imagination. The answer to that question has to be in the fruits of a person's life following such a vision. I have known some people to have visions and then nothing happens after that. I mistrust those kind. In the case of the biblical prophets, their lives continued in conversation with God and their lives had a huge impact for good around them.

Isaiah's vision and call is a wonderful description of authentic worship. While our experiences may not be as dramatic, the general benefits can be the same. Isaiah went to the temple regularly. In his grief, he did not expect God to do anything. But God did meet him in his grief and his fears for his country. His vision of the LORD is "high and lifted up, with the train of his robe filling the temple." Quite often in scripture people have visions of the greatness that show him above the fray and greater than the surrounding challenges. But then the animated picture begins with six winged seraphs singing the song Isaiah had sung in worship before. It's a song we sing, too, whether its the tradition hymnal "Holy, Holy, Holy" (which combines this passage and the Revelation of John) or the contemporary chorus, "Holy Is the LORD" (a direct quote of this). The incense, always a part of the worship of God's people now takes over the room and the place is shaken. Isaiah is having a powerful experience of the presence of God in a regular worship service. Do I believe that could happen to any of us? You bet.

Overwhelmed by the heaviness and brilliance of God's glory, he feels inadequate in the moment. He sees his own sinfulness and failures and confesses his sin and the sin of the people. One of the six-winged seraps then touches his "unclean lips" and gives him the gift of forgiveness. We so easily pray our prayers of confession at communion, but do we really do business with God about our actions, words and attitudes? The sacrifice is not just for the sins of Israel in general or for other people, it is for him.

So Isaiah, who came to worship in grief and concern, experiences the powerful presence of God and receives forgiveness, and now hears a question from God, "Whom shall I send?" Later Jesus makes a similar call upon his disciples after his resurrection, "As the father has sent me, so send I you...Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Both Isaiah and the disciples are to pass on what they have experienced (powerful presence and forgiveness) to the world around them.

Take a moment now to consider who God has touched your life. It's your ongoing story, some of which has yet to be written. How might God be calling you to share that story with a hurting and broken world?

Jeremiah 1:4-19

It was Paul who wrote to his young protege "Let no one despise your youth." We see the same theme in the call of Jeremiah, known as "the weeping prophet" for all his melancholy "downer" prophecies. Like the call of Samuel the call comes upon him at a very young age. Jeremiah's reluctance to follow his call because of his young age is quickly rebuffed by the LORD - Do not say 'I am JUST a child!' I have heard a similar thing from people in the church - "I am not a preacher. I am JUST a lay person." I remember Bishop Norris chastizing a layman for saying such a thing and I was glad.

Verse 5 speaks to Jeremiah's chosenness, with a theme remarkably similar to that of David in Psalm 139:13-16.

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

While few if any of us are called to be "a prophet to the nations," we do have a purpose for our lives. For me, it has been a lifelong journey to discover that purpose. Throughout my life, while the call to ministry has been the same, the way it has been carried out has shifted in both method (preaching instead of singing, pastoring instead of directing choirs)and emphasis (performer of ministry to equipping teacher and local pastor to a mentor pastor of other pastors). No doubt, my calling will shift again. But through it all, there is a sense that I am carrying out the purpose for which I was created. Why not take a moment to ask God about yourself, "Why am I on planet earth? What message do you want be to both speak and demonstrate by your power?" One source for the answer to those questions is to look back at the past years of your Christian life and see where God has already been using you. Your experiences, your talents and your walk with God come together to shape how you carry out God's call. What often happens through busyness and distraction is that we get "off track" from our purpose and end up doing and saying things that either don't matter or are even destructive.

The role of prophet is a very difficult one. When someone comes to me and says God calls them to be a prophet (one who speaks for God and confronts people about the lives they lead), I warn them how the people of the Bible (and contemporary society) treat prophets (reject and ridicule them, set them up for the fall, stone them, kill them, etc). Prophets stand for substantive change and even a baby doesn't like to be changed until its absolutely necessary! His will be a life of controversy, but someone must tell people the truth they don't want to hear.

The closing scene of chapter 1 is comical to me. I picture a scrawny melancholy late teen or young adult standing before God (picture yourself at that age) and receiving these words, "Prepare yourself. Stand up to whoever I tell you and speak whatever I tell you. Don't fear those who will hate you. Be more afraid of me. Stand tall, Jerry. You are a fortified city (chest out!), a pillar of iron (stomach in!), a wall of bronze (square those shoulders!). They are going to insult you and fight you, but you will win for only one reason, 'I am with you and I will be your rescue.'" Anybody watching would say, "He'll never make it. That's no prophet." But that's the way all of us start out as we hear God's call. As a preacher friend of mine says, "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called." Jeremiah is a prophet in the making and so he was throughout his entire life. As we respond to God's call, we, too, are whatever we are "in the making." As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, "He who began a good work in you will continue it until completion in the day of Christ Jesus." So ministers-in-the-making, let the work of God begin in you as well as through you. Enjoy your Sabbath tomorrow.