Living in the Spirit
May 25, 2015

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’—Isaiah 6:1-5

What is our vision of God? Artist throughout history have tried to capture a portrayal of God. I like Michelangelo’s portrait of The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel where God’s finger and the finger of the first human reach to touch each other. It seems to capture strength and dependency, assertiveness and response, and the choice to love or not love.

Isaiah’s vision builds on God as larger than life in a full, formal worship service where every participant is fully engaged. Isaiah, like all of us made in the image of God, on seeing this vision understands that he is not even close to reflecting back to God the same image he has received nor have the other people of God with whom Isaiah lives and works.

Before we hear God’s call, we must accept the full measure of God’s love and amazing as it may seem that is not easy to do. It wasn’t for Isaiah. God chose to love us when God created us—no matter what, no strings attached. If we are to experience the full fruition of who we are, we must recognize that we are a part of our creator and our Creator is a part of us.  It is a paradox, but it is true: the closer we relate to God the more we realize our own wholeness.

We do not relate to God without God’s nurturing the way through the gift of God’s Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to guide us along the way.

Prayer: Lord grant me the wisdom to open myself fully to you. Amen.

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.