Describing what took place before God, Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. He was so overawed by the majestic presence of God as he watched the seraphim, probably too large a number to be counted, flying around the throne of God crying holy, holy, holy. Each seraph had six wings and with two it covered its face for it was hard to stare into the holiness of a perfect God. Then with two others, it covered its feet, a sign of humility, and with the other two, it flew around swiftly and eagerly to do God’s bidding. The seraphim remind us to serve God willingly with great awe and swift-winged zeal. This Holy God deserves the best we can bring to serve Him.
As the voice of the Holy One on the throne sounded out, the whole foundation of the threshold of the temple shook and the temple was engulfed by smoke. What an astounding sight it must have been for Isaiah. No one can encounter such awesome holiness without realizing one’s wretchedness and sin. That was precisely what happened to the prophet. He saw his own wretchedness before God. So at that moment, he admitted and cried out, saying:
“Woe
is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Unlike the seraphim, Isaiah realized that he had unclean lips. And
that he was exactly like everyone else around him. Though a prophet, he was no different from everyone else. All were sinful
people with unclean lips. This is what one transforming moment in God’s presence
will do for us. It makes us realize that we are no better than everyone else. How
easy it is for us to look at ourselves and see someone else’s life as less
worthy than ours. But no one who has caught a glimpse of the holy God can continue
to live life in a self-serving, self-justifying way. Humility always results when
one catches sight of the lofty holy God.
Naturally, we humans are self-centred. We do not readily take time
to scrutinize ourselves. Whenever we are pointed to something that we have done
wrong, we immediately pivot to compare ourselves with others. We have the tendency
to persuade ourselves that we are not as bad as someone else around us. Remember
the Pharisee who stood in the temple and said, “God I thank You that I am not
like others.” Beloved, until and unless we realize that we are sinners in need
of grace we will not realize how we appear before God. May our personal prayer to
God be, “Lord, let Your presence meet me at every turn of my life and make me realize
that without Your transforming touch, I am no different from everyone else, in
need of Your forgiveness. Help me to see myself as You see me and liberate me
to become the person You expect me to be.” Amen!
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