January 19, 2011

1-19-11 Wednesday, 6:30 a.m. Springfield, 23 degrees.

We are having a good, cold winter, with 3-5 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow. The Honduras VIM team, led by Audrey, leaves Wesley tonight at 6:00 and leaves Kansas City tomorrow at 6:00 am. They will be doing great work, and I will miss them! This morning we have our nifty nine staff leadership team, and tonight I meet with our Sunday school teachers and the new member class.

Isaiah 6

Having chosen to read a chapter of Isaiah each day for my devotion, and using Oswalt’s commentary, I have been looking forward with great anticipation to reading this 6th chapter. Oswalt summarizes the theories of why Isaiah’s call to ministry comes after 5 chapters of ministry. He proposes that the first 5 chapters are an introduction to the book, chapter 6 is the key to the question of how can the imperfect people of God be the agent of God’s message of hope and healing to the world (by experiencing the powerful presence of God and transformed in holiness), and that the latter part of Isaiah (40-66) illustrates the presentation of the Gospel in an imperfect world.

Oswalt is convinced that the overarching theme of Isaiah is servanthood. “God has called all people, but particularly his own people, to lay down their self-exaltation and be dependent upon him , to become evidence of his character and deliverance in order that the whole world might know him as he is and thus be delivered from their own destruction.” (p. 54)

Reading chapter 6, and contemplating our upcoming series “Life Hurts, God Heals” I see great application for the book of Isaiah. The first five chapters demonstrate how Israel (and each of us) tends to trust only ourselves, arrogantly behaving as though we have all the answers and can figure out what is needed. The remedy for this haughtiness is a direct encounter with the holiness and the presence of God. In this context, the “uncleanness” of our lips (and our lives) becomes evident, we experience God’s gracious touch, and the rest of our lives are devoted to service.

Guide me Holy Lord, as today I serve you in the power of your Holy Spirit, a man of unclean lips, touched by your grace, answering your call to communicate your love and your light in this generation.