A VISION OF HOLINESS
Uzziah was King of Judah from 783 BC until 742 BC. Under him the country had prospered, and had reached prominence in the whole region in terms of her economic and military power. Uzziah symbolized for the people the strength and stability of their country. But then things started to go wrong. The king was smitten with leprosy. The mighty Assyrian army had already defeated Israel to the north, after which most of Judea fell to them and only Jerusalem remained. And then catastrophe struck. Uzziah died. The people were filled with uncertainty, fear and a deep sense of foreboding. But not only were they under threat from outside. Within all was not well either. The system of government was corrupt. The rich oppressed the poor. Injustice was rampant, and those in power were filled with pride and self- righteousness, trusting in their own strength.
It was in the midst of all of this that one day a young man called Isaiah was worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem. As he worshipped, something remarkable happened. He had a vision of God himself. The vision is described for us in the first few verses of Chapter 6. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” In other words, “In the year when everything seemed to be falling apart, when there seemed to be no future for us as a people, I saw a vision of the holiness, the awesomeness, the power, the authority of Almighty God.” In response to this, all that Isaiah could be aware of was his own unworthiness and sinfulness and that of his people. In utter despair he cried out, “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.” Thankfully the vision doesn’t end there. Isaiah is cleansed, forgiven and called into service, commissioned for a difficult task. In response to God’s question, “Whom shall I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?” Isaiah, knowing full well the hardness of the call and how the people, by and large, will not listen to him, can only reply, “Lord, I’ll go. Send me.” There is a sense in which, after such an experience, he has no option!
In this last year that has already seen so many terrorist attacks, so much disease and natural disasters, so many wars, so much inhumanity and injustice, it is as if the whole world is caught in uncertainty, fear and a sense of foreboding. Those oppressed and poverty stricken are caught in the worst trap of hopelessness. For us in the western world especially, is our destruction sealed, for, in comparison with so many other places, we have had it very easy and have also been the instigators of anguish for others? We are sinful people and are members of a sinful race.
It seems to me that the first sign of hope is to recognise that fact, and to do so in the presence of God. Without him we are in a no win situation. With him, as we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by his holiness, his awesomeness, his power and as he exercises his authority to cleanse and heal, then in our humbled, renewed and forgiven state, we are ready to hear his call to us, tailor made for us, even although we may not think so. And there will be a sense in which we will have no option but to respond, “Lord, I’ll do that, I’ll go there. Send me.”