Jumping Back In...Weekly Scripture Posts

Alright...after a loooooong time off, let's see if there's still anybody out there?

My plan is to return to the habit of making daily scripture reflections on this blog each day. Thanks to everybody from SOTH, and to my partner in blog crime, Mike Adkins for all of the posts that have passed this way over the last several months. My sincere hope is that this will continue to be a group venture, and the most important part of that group, of course, is you who read along.

Every week, we'll work through the lectionary readings for the upcoming Sunday. Though I rarely preach from these texts, the lectionary is a great tool for walking through scripture in a systematic way. Over a 3 year cycle, the lectionary would take you through much of the entire Bible.

So, for now, and the time being, I think it will be one of our tools on the SOTHblog. You can find the entire Revised Common Lectionary as used in the United Methodist Church, here.

And, here's where we're heading this week:

Today: Isaiah 6:1-13

Tuesday: Psalm 138 (UMH 853)
Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Thursday: Luke 5:1-5

Friday: Luke 5:6-11

Isaiah 6:1-13 (NIV)

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 seraphs 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!"

What reaction is most common when someone in scripture comes face-to-face with a heavenly being?

Pure, unadulterated, FEAR.

Standing next to the divine reminds us just how earthly we really are.

When the temple filled with smoke and Isaiah encountered the "burning things" known as seraphim, he was overcome with terror.

In fact, such Biblical encounters actually tend to follow a pattern.

Fear

Objection

Reassurance

Commitment

When Isaiah said that he was of "unclean lips," the seraphs fly to pile of burning coals, pick one up and burn him right in the mouth. Painfully, Isaiah was scalded clean.

When God asked who would go, Isaiah was ready to volunteer.

So...what about us? What excuses do we make? How might God (painfully) show us that we are worthy if we are chosen by Him?

What might we be called to do? What would it take for us to say, "Here I am?"

Grace & Peace, and meet you here tomorrow --

Adam