The Second Sunday after Epiphany (OT)

Isaiah 6:1-13

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

       “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

       the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

       “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

       keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

¹⁰    Make the heart of this people dull,

and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes;

       lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

       and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

¹¹    Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

       And he said:

       “Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

       and houses without people,

and the land is a desolate waste,

¹²    and the Lord removes people far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

¹³    And though a tenth remain in it,

it will be burned again,

       like a terebinth or an oak,

whose stump remains

when it is felled.”

       The holy seed is its stump.

When I looked at this text this morning I thought to myself, why is the Sanctus placed here? Then I thought why is there so much of Isaiah chapter 6? But now I understand completely. This text is about Isaiah becoming a fisher of men, even though the men around him will not listen. The people of Israel are lost sheep, but they are also blind and deaf sheep.

I guess even a blind squirrel can get a nut! Isaiah sees the Seraphim. He hears their proclamation of the Holiness and glory of God. When God ask who will he send, Isaiah speaks right up. I am not so sure Simon, Andrew, James, and John would have spoke up this way. But they did leave their boats and follow Jesus. Isaiah was not going to follow Jesus, he was going to proclaim the Jesus to come to people secure in their sinful lives. Isaiah was supposed to catch fish that didn't want to get caught.

We do not want to get caught! We avoid police patrols. We may even avoid the light, our parents, teachers, or church, because we do not want to get caught doing something wrong. We are more than happy to do something we know is wrong, as long as we can be sure we won't get caught.

There is no hiding from God. God is everywhere! He knows everything you have done. He has caught you every time. But he sends his servants like Isaiah, Simon, Andrew, James, John, and your Pastor, to  proclaim that even though you were/are caught God still loves you. He still desires to forgive you in the blood of Christ. I hope your heart is not too hard to hear it.