Have you ever burned yourself? I know I have. Nothing glamorous like getting toasted while rescuing a small child from a flaming inferno. I’ve just caught my arm on the iron, or failed to realise that a dish taken straight from the oven is still hot. Still, they hurt like heck. (Run it under the cold tap and apply Germolene.)
So I imagine that Isaiah in today’s reading, faced with a six-winged seraph brandishing a lump of flaming coal, probably backed off a tad. I would have done.
And isn’t that a picture of how we so often react to God? He brings his gentle correction, his healing, his divine sandpaper that smooths off our rough corners (and the occasional application of an angle grinder for the more stubborn parts), and we back off.
You see, I like my faults. Or I’m used to them, anyway. They’re comfortable and familiar. And they’re no soooo bad, are they?
That’s totally not for me to say. That’s between you and God. I’m just grateful that God is kind and does not point out all our faults at once. He is like the primary school teacher who puts a big tick and a smiley face next to a child’s picture of a clown and caption, ‘the sirkoos’. “Good try. Well done. :-)” But that doesn’t mean we should still be spelling circus like that at sixty.
Eventually, our rough edges need sanding smooth. I can think back to when I first became a Christian and cringe in horror at how priggish I was. I’m sure that in twenty years I’ll look back on today and cringe again. We’re all works in progress, but the progress can, like Isaiah with his coal, be daunting.
So when God decides to shine his spotlight on one of those things that we used to think were OK, we sigh, admit he’s right and reach for the Germolene.
Liturgy Resources for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 6:1-8, Ps 138
Confession and Absolution
We see you, O Lord God, high and lofty;
the hem of your robe fills the temple.
In your presence we are aware of our failure,
and we cry,
Woe to me. I am ruined.
We hear the angels calling, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
the whole earth is full of his glory,”
and we cry,
Woe to me. I am ruined.
We think of our acts and our speech;
that we are people of unclean lips,
and we cry,
Woe to me. I am ruined.
But with your purifying fire
you touch our lips,
you touch our minds,
you touch our hearts.
You blot out our sin and cast our guilt away.
and we sing,
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart,
for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
For on the day that I called, you answered me.
Amen.
Blessing and Dismissal
May God preserve you in the midst of trouble,
may he stretch out his hand and deliver you.
May the Lord fulfil his purpose for you,
may you walk always in his steadfast love.
And the blessing …
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!”
Therefore, go.
Amen.
The Reflectionary 