May the mumbling commence!
What makes us worthy to serve the Lord? Read about Isaiah’s call in chapter six:
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was
sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Hovering around him were mighty seraphim,
each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they
covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his
glory!" The glorious
singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.
Then I said, "My destruction
is sealed, for I am a sinful man
and a member of a sinful race.
Yet I have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty!"
Then one of the
seraphim flew over to the altar, and he
picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He
touched my lips with it and said, "See, this coal has touched your lips.
Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven."
Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to my
people? Who will go for us?"
And I said, "Lord, I'll go! Send me."
And he said, "Yes, go. But tell my people this: 'You will hear my
words, but you will not understand.
You will see what I do, but you will not
perceive its meaning.' Harden
the hearts of these people. Close their ears, and shut their eyes. That
way, they will not see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn to me for healing."
Then I said,
"Lord, how long must I do this?"
And he replied, "Until their cities are destroyed, with no one left in them. Until their houses
are deserted and the whole country is an utter wasteland. Do not stop until the Lord has sent everyone
away to distant lands and the entire land of Israel lies deserted. Even
if only a tenth – a remnant – survive, it will be invaded again and burned.
Israel will remain a stump, like a tree that is cut down, but the stump will be a holy seed that will grow
again."
Worthiness to serve the Lord comes from the power of the
Lord alone. It’s the burning coal from
the altar that cleanses Isaiah. It’s a
healing heat.
Then we are ready to serve the Lord even in missions
that seem utterly without hope. No one
will see or hear and understand. It’s a
setup for failure. But it’s not our
failure. It’s the failure of the people
to understand the Lord’s call. We must
be faithful to proclaiming the message of God to the bitter end… until no one
is left to hear and see.
And where does the power of the Lord lie? Read from Revelation chapter five:
Then I wept because no one could be found who was worthy
to open the scroll and read it. But one
of the twenty-four elders said to me, "Stop weeping! Look,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has
conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals."
I looked and I saw a Lamb
that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four
living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of
the earth. (Verses 4-6)
Then I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands
and millions of angels around the throne and the living beings and the
elders. And they sang in a mighty
chorus:
"The Lamb is worthy—
the Lamb who was killed.
He is worthy to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing." (Verses 11-12)
The power of God does not lie in
the brute force of a lion. The power of
God lies in the sacrifice of love that is symbolized by the Lamb. And the Lamb is Jesus. There is awesome power in the Way of
Jesus.
Let’s tap into that power and
seek to live as Jesus does. Then we will
become worthy in stages to do God’s work here on earth.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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