We just had a civic election. The newspaper headline this morning says a national election is possible. The debates and speeches start all over again, and I want to groan.
Of course, leaders come and go. When new people take office, John Q. Public looks eagerly for change, a better lifestyle because of these new leaders, but within weeks, excitement becomes disappointment becomes grumbling. Even those who voted for change are again wanting change.
Isaiah, a prophet in Israel, lived on the edge of change. He writes, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I (Isaiah) saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.”
The king was dead, but Isaiah was not looking for a new king. Instead he went to the temple of the Lord to seek His face. The revelation he saw might have been far more than he expected. God gave him a glimpse of His glory, a revelation of His holiness.
Isaiah’s response is recorded in the next verses, “So I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’”
The Old Testament says that no one can see God and live. Isaiah didn’t fall down dead, but something in him died. After seeing the holiness and majesty of God, he saw his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of the people around him. He was devastated.
Then the Lord sent one of the seraphim (most likely an angel) to touch his mouth with a hot coal, signifying that “Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged.”
After that, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord discussing the need for someone to send. He offered himself, “Here am I! Send me.” And God did.
All around me, people are putting their hope in new leaders. Isaiah didn’t do that. His hope was in God, but in seeking Him and perhaps his will for new leadership, he first saw his own sin and inadequacy, then fell on his face before God.
What would happen if the citizens of my country did that? What would happen if each one of us recognized that apart from the cleansing fire of God, we are unclean? Isn’t that uncleanness demonstrated in our never-ending desire for more, bigger, better for our lives and for the people who lead us? Our discontent runs deeper than taxes and legislature. It is a cancer that robs our peace of mind, and replaces what could be great hope with continual dissatisfaction and whining.
But seeing God has a cost. It hurts to know that in the blinding light of His holiness, I am a sinful being. It hurts to be purged from my sin. Then, when I persist in seeking Him and listen to His plans, I am motivated to ask for a role to play, a job to do. I do not realize (at least at first) that this will cost me my plans, my time and energy, maybe even my life.
As I compare Isaiah with the pundits and grumblers who banter back and forth about our current “king” and who will be the next one, my heart says I’d rather be like the prophet—even though something in me also resists that role. I shrink from the sacrifice of not being my own boss. I shrink from the realization that God told Isaiah to speak out against sin, but warned him that no one would listen or cooperate with what he said. I shrink from the loneliness of total allegiance to God.
But I also shrink from the ease of blame-shifting and the popularity of grumbling and complaining about the current government. I know that all that is wrong in the world is not the fault of a few politicians. Some of them no doubt are doing their best, but they are fighting the same problem that God and Isaiah fought—no one is listening or cooperating.
Through his prophets God called the people to choose whom they would follow. Would it be ‘go with the flow’ or take the higher road? Today, He is still asking the same question.
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