WATCHWORD:
1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” 4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:1-8
Meditation:
Whom Shall I Send?
Conversation with your Holy Spirit: “Are you willing to be broken bread? How about poured-out wine? You say you would rather consume it then pour it out? If that is your answer, then you don’t know what poured-out wine or broken bread means. Let me put it in a different way. Would you be willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for God?”
“Well, sure. If your question is metaphorical and you mean it in a spiritual way, I guess I wouldn’t object. I would want God to use His hands to break the bread and his fingers to crush our little grapes into wine.”
“So, you have a conditional response to God’s request, is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it was conditional. I’m willing to be His broken bread and wine, I just think it would be more spiritual.”
“So, if the Creator of the Universe would do that, you would do this. Sounds like a simple transaction. Is that what you are saying?”
“Ah…can I change my answer?”
In the course of our typical day, how often, do you suppose, we are called upon to be poured out wine and broken bread? How often, do you suppose, in that typical day are we presented with circumstances that call us to go and do likewise? To get into the gutter and lift someone who has fallen? To leave our comfort zone and do the right thing, the Christ-like thing?
The sacraments — Broken bread and poured-out wine, the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior. We, who believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah, as our Lord and Savior, as God incarnate, have a calling to be His hands, His voice, His presence. To get in the gutter, to go and do, to leave our recliners and be Him to others. How readily are we to say, with Isaiah, “Here I am. Send me”?
The truth of the matter is, we are not fit to be broken bread and poured-out wine in service to others until we stand before the very presence of God and are brought into agreement with Him. Then, and only then, can we be broken bread in His hands. Can you hear God? He is speaking to you and to me: “Whom shall I send…?” Can you say, “Send, me, Lord?” Amen.
Wounded Sparrow by Murray Bodo:
Alone again with only the wind and one lone sparrow singing into the cold.
I reach into the night and you are there to take me back.
You are faithful, and you even hear the cry of the wounded sparrow.
— From Sing Pilgrimage and Exile by Murray Bodo
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we are so grateful to have a loving God who we can approach! Thank You for receiving our prayers and for reconciling our relationship with You through Jesus Christ. Give me the spiritual strength, Lord, to respond with “Here I am. Send me” when the call comes. Our only hope rests on You Jesus, and we praise Your holy and worthy name! Holy spirit, engage us and bring to our minds the promises of God that we may be comforted in hard times and lift it up… always remembering our Father in Heaven who is for us! in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
