Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
It seems hard to feel steady
Rooted
Settled
Some days
Maybe, we feel
The ambiguity
The upheaval
The topsy turvy
Dislocation of this world
As powers
And principalities
And self-absorbed people
Seek more
Control
More wealth
Willing to tear down
Anything and everything
In their quest
To rule the world

But the world has always been so
Even if today’s
Ways and means
Differ
So we turn our hearts to you
We turn our daily living
To you
Our hope
Our Rock
Our steady loving presence
Knowing all others
Who expect allegiance
Are ephemeral
All others are illusions
All others are mistaken

So Lord
Your kingdom come
Here
Among us
Through us
In this moment
In this day
Your kingdom come
That is our hope
Our desire
Our prayer
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

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. 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. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
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.” Isaiah 6:1-8

Intro: The last two weeks I’ve been encouraging you to listen for God’s voice

Now, today, using this spectacular episode of Isaiah’s life is neither practical nor fair
– he was chosen by God to be a prophet,
• and the prophet’s calling is in most instances very dramatic
◦ e.g., Moses and the mysterious flames; Ezekiel’s fantastic vision, impossible to imagine
• so if there’s a legitimate reason for us to consider Isaiah’s experience,
◦ it’s because in his vision he saw and heard God speak to him
◦ that is what defines the prophet
– even if we never have a dramatic or spectacular encounter like Isaiah,
• we can draw lessons from what he describes, because we want to hear God’s voice
◦ and Isaiah’s experience may help us navigate our own less dramatic experiences
• let’s see what we can find in this story that will be useful to us

We do not control the when or where God speaks to us
“In the year that King Uzziah died”

This would be more significant for Isaiah’s readers than for us
– we can learn about King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles – a unique and interesting royal history
• although many of Isaiah’s messages were political and delivered to kings,
◦ in this instance, in this instance God is not addressing politics
◦ the reason Isaiah mentions Uzziah is to locate his story in a specific time
▫ this is when he received his calling to be a prophet – and how it happened
• the “word of the LORD” this time concerned Israel’s broken spiritual condition
◦ Isaiah receives a commission to bring people to awareness of God and return to his ways
◦ specific time recurs as a theme once Isaiah receives his orders
“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,
and the LORD removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land’” (vv. 11-12)
– right away, Isaiah is requesting more insight
• God trained his prophets to discern the visions and revelations he gave them
◦ this was part of Jeremiah’s preparation or qualification for prophetic ministry when starting out:
“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see an almond branch.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it’” (Jer. 1:11-12)
◦ God also tested Ezekiel’s sight and discernment
after showing him dried bones strewed across a valley, he asked,
“‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, you know.’” (Eze. 37:3)

One way that God speaks to his children is visually
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne” (v. 1)

What Isaiah describes next is a vivid scene of God’s court and heavenly attendants
– there are a couple of verses in the Book of Acts that I find intriguing
“. . . Peter went up on the housetop about [noon] to pray. . . . he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened . . . .” (Acts 10:9-10)
Paul, in the temple, “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him [Jesus] saying to me, ‘Make haste and get our of Jerusalem quickly . . . .’” (Acts 22:17-18)
• there are multiple instances in Acts of people seeing and being guided by visions,
◦ but these are the only two instances where the word “trance” is used
◦ it has specific reference to something that unfolds within their minds
• an “altered state of consciousness,” uniquely the work of God’s hand
– they did not put themselves into this state
• wasn’t intentional or something they tried to do – nor did it involve any manipulation
◦ Peter had been praying and Paul was in the middle of a prayer
• few Christians have discovered the depths to which God’s Spirit can take us in prayer
◦ and what he is willing to show us

Isaiah experiences a typically human response to his vision
“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’” (v. 5)

The first time Peter observed Jesus work a miracle, his immediate reaction was to say,
“‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished . . . .” (Lk. 5:8)
– sometimes we do not trust our experience – and it is always okay to test it
• some people are frightened by God’s nearness and speech
(Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai) “. . . the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die’” (Ex. 20:18-19)
• like Isaiah, Peter, and all the rest, we are not worthy of hearing from God
◦ but God qualifies us for whatever he wants to give us
– our fear serves a purpose – it humbles us by bringing our weaknesses and hidden sins to the surface
• like Isaiah and Peter, our tendency is to start backing away
• but what God’s speech does this serves another purpose that carries us forward

God intervenes in order to qualify us to receive what he has to tell us
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’” (v. 6)

Whenever Paul looked back over his life, he drew the same conclusion:
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:15-16)
– in the same place he confesses,
“. . . formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [of Jesus]” (1 Tim. 1:13)
• also, he informed the Corinthians,
“For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am . . . .” (1 Cor. 15:9-10)
– we can give God lots of reasons why he should not speak to us
• but his answer to every one of them is, “I can fix that”
• like Isaiah, God may use the refiner’s fire to purify us,
◦ in whatever way we need the Lord to do it, he will qualify us to receive what he has to give

We saw that God’s message is sometimes visual, other times it is audible
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’” (v. 8)

I believe this is the most common way that people hear from God
– and I would add, that many times it happens when reading the Bible
• this may be a good time to remind ourselves,
◦ whenever and however we get the impression God has spoken to us,
◦ we need to exercise discernment to make as certain as possible it is God’s voice we hear
• I can think of three ways simple ways to exercise discernment:
◦ rationally: we can use logic and, if it involves the Scriptures, study aids
◦ spiritually: we may have a strong impression one way or the other
◦ wise counsel: a gifted Bible teacher, or spiritual director, or mentor

However and whenever God speaks to us, we need to respond as best we can
“Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me’” (v. 8)

I think the one person in all the Scriptures who fumbled his response the most was Moses
– he kept trying to convince the Lord that he had the wrong guy
• of course, God doesn’t speak to us only to send us on a mission
◦ sometimes his intention is to affirm his love for us
◦ frequently, he comforts us, encourages us, relieves our stress and anxiety
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Ro. 8:16)

There are two parts to Isaiah’s response:
– “Here I am” – with this statement, Isaiah presented himself to God
• okay, I say this over and over, but this is a key to becoming aware of God’s presence
We focus close attention to our environment–here
We focus close attention on the present moment–now
– “Send me” – the second part
• if God has a specific task for us to do, we make ourselves available
• I can be lazy when it comes to certain “chores,”
◦ but when I sense God wants me to reach out to someone, I do it
◦ and many of those times, the person I contact expresses gratitude or acknowledges God’s perfect timing

I’ve been trying to share what I’ve learned about hearing the voice of God’s Spirit

But the actual experience is more mystery than a program or accomplishment
– if you sometimes feel like you’re right on the threshold,
• then what I would encourage you to do is let go of trying
◦ do not try to think your way to the next step
◦ surrender yourself to God in the moment
• the actual experience of the Spirit is something that is “caught” rather than “taught”

Conclusion: I’m going to ask you to consider taking time to listen to God this week

To find a quiet time and place
Relax your body
Turn you attention to the invisible presence of God’s Spirit
Don’t expect anything specific
Don’t try to make something happen
Simply breathe and experience your breath
— inhale “here”
— exhale “now”
Know that God is near – and he takes you as you are

The Spirit of God knows how speak to us
What we must do, is learn how to listen