Rector’s Reflections
Wednesday 27th November 2024
Keeping Advent with the Prophet Isaiah
In yesterday’s reflections, I introduced Isaiah of Jerusalem, one of the most famous of the Old Testament prophets, and the book which is associated with his name. Isaiah of Jerusalem lived and ministered back in the 8th Century BC, but subsequent generations have felt that his message has retained its relevance down the centuries.
So what might Isaiah have to say to us as we start this season of Advent?
He might well begin by asking us to remember our calling. Sometimes the Church uses the word “vocation” instead of the word “calling”, but the words are interchangeable. The idea here is that God calls each one of us to serve Him in a unique way. Our task is to hear this call, and to be obedient to it. We might well be called to serve God in several different ways at the same time. I think many people, perhaps most people, have multiple callings at any one time, although one particular calling might well be the dominant one.
Callings come in so many different shapes and sizes, and we may have different callings at different stages in our lives. I should also add that “callings” do not necessarily involve work in or for the Church: they may do so, but the scope of a “calling” is so much wider and deeper. For example, a secular job may well be a “calling”. There are also “callings” in the context of family life.
Perhaps this Advent, God might be asking us to think about the possibility of a new calling in our own lives. Or it might be that God is asking us to live out an existing calling but in a new way.
I should also add that sometimes it can take us quite a while to discern our calling. Sometimes it is a matter of trying to discern what is our true calling from a range of possibilities. For some individuals, there is a moment in time when everything suddenly becomes clear. For others, the process of discernment can take months or years. Sometimes our calling only becomes apparent in retrospect.
Isaiah seems to have been one of those individuals for whom there has been a definite moment in time when their calling becomes clear. There is a record of what happened in chapter 6 of the book which is associated with his name. It is one of the most famous passages in the Old Testament, and it is a classic text for exploring the way God calls us to particular ministries. The experience which changed Isaiah’s life happened “in the year that King Uzziah died” [c.742 BCE].
This is the account as it appears in first 8 verses of chapter 6:
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and holy; 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 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 was filed 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!”
Then one of the seraphs flew to the me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a air of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 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!”
I wonder what God might be saying to us at this time? How are we allowing ourselves the time and space we need to listen to God?
Advent is a wonderful opportunity to find the space we need to spend some quality time with God.