Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Isaiah 6:1-8 (NIV)
Isaiah’s Commission
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted,seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King,the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
When Mary went “all in” for Jesus, it was a reaction to experiencing Jesus’ holiness. To be holy means “totally separate.” We might say, “he’s from out of this world!” When we meet someone who is so pure, so powerful, so loving, so different, it draws us out of our petty concerns, and are hearts are captivated by them. Something similar happened to young Isaiah, when he was called to be a prophet. He was in the temple praying, and lo, God gave him a vision of heaven. (Notice how the angels are singing the same song we read about on Tuesday in Revelation 4:8). In the presence of such beauty and perfection, Isaiah is embarrassed and ashamed, for he recognizes how sinful and spiritually filthy he is by comparison. But God sends an angel to “clean him up,” by touching his unclean lips with a hot coal. This is a picture of how the Holy Spirit burns up our sin and uncleanness, so we can be in Gods presence. Now that he has experienced this wonderful grace, his heart is changed. God’s asks for a volunteer, and he says “Here I am! Send me!” Once again, grace and forgiveness lead to lasting heart change and a new life.