Often, when God calls, human beings say "no". They come up with excuses or try and talk their way out of it. Even people we have met in the Bible-those we think of as great Biblical heroes, the models of our faith-even they sometimes respond negatively when God calls.
In the opening chapters of Exodus, we find God in dialogue with Moses. Moses is making every possible excuse: Who am I that I should be the one? Maybe the people won't believe me or even listen to me. I am not an eloquent speaker. I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. He tries everything he can think of to stop the Lord's calling. But, no matter what he says, Moses is not able to quiet the call that he hears. We all know that Moses' efforts were in vain. Moses finally relented, accepting God's call. He became the leader that led God's people out of slavery, sustained them in the wilderness and delivered them to the Promised Land. Moses was a man of great faith-who said "no" to God three times!
We also have the great prophet Jeremiah among those who say "no" to God. Upon being called, Jeremiah says, "I cannot go-I am only a boy. But God persists and Jeremiah is convinced.
Jonah doesn't even refuse verbally when he hears the Lord call. He simply goes in a different direction! To avoid the evils, dangers and unpleasantness of Ninevah, Jonah heads in the opposite direction and flees to Tarshish. But as we all know, Jonah is eventually convinced to go to Ninevah and live out his calling-however unwillingly.
And, we can't forget Samuel, the young boy who heard God calling three times before he finally realized that it was God who was speaking and not his teacher, Eli. Neither Eli nor Samuel recognized the voice of their God, much less the call that the voice contained.
The Bible is full of these stories. God wants to use humanity for divine purposes-to include us in divine work-and we say "no", or try to avoid it, or simply do not hear.
The call of Isaiah is a call like that. Isaiah says "no" to God when called, but his reason is very different. Isaiah is not afraid or unwilling. Isaiah recognizes God's voice when he hears it. But Isaiah has another reaction-another problem with being called.
Isaiah feels unworthy.
"Woe is me!" Isaiah exclaims, not because he doesn't want God to call him, but because he "is lost...a man of unclean lips...who lives among a people of unclean lips." Isaiah does not feel good enough to be called by God. Isaiah knows that he is a sinner.
When God calls, many of us feel just the way Isaiah feels. We can't believe that God-our God-great and glorious and powerful and good-could be calling us. How can it be? Our souls cry out, "Woe is me-I'm not good enough to do God's work. I am only a frail and imperfect human being. I am a sinner."
And I won't argue with that. When God calls, it is hard to believe. Hard to believe that we can do anything for God, hard to believe that God can use us, hard to believe that God's plan needs us. And so, often (but not always), we try to say "no" to God. We make excuses, we go in the opposite direction, we close our ears, we grovel and say, "You can't possibly mean me!"
But God does mean it when we are called. Large or small, all calls from our God are extended with intentionality and purpose. God wants us to work for divine purposes-to have a part in it all-to share the gift of our faith, to speak the truth in love and to reflect the glory of God.
Let's take a closer look at Isaiah's call for a moment. We may find some answers there about God and God's call.
Isaiah's call story is a unique one. Most noticeably, it is not found at the beginning of his story. Instead, we have five chapters of Isaiah's prophetic prose first. We hare the prophet speaking the word of God. Before we know anything else, we know that Isaiah said "yes" to the call of God. Otherwise, he wouldn't be speaking.
Also, we are given in chapter six the setting for Isaiah's call. It is a tumultuous time for God's people. After King Uzziah's death, there is great political strife. Uzziah was the stability of the region and now he is gone. Assyria tries to expand its influence and there is great resistance. Isaiah is called to be a prophet tin a time of great political uncertainty.
When Isaiah is called by God, he sees a great vision. This vision is a picture of God's greatness. God's glory is emphasized with the repetition, "Holy, holy, holy" and with the presence of Seraphs-this is their only mention in the Bible. Seraphs symbolized angelic bodies-alive with the fire of burning devotion to God. They surround the Lord on the throne and mesmerize Isaiah with their presence. They make sure that Isaiah knows it is God that he is seeing.
After Isaiah's emotional outburst, God utilizes the Seraphs as those who bring God's forgiveness. Isaiah needs assurance in order to accept the call. He needs to feel worthy to do God's work. And so God gives Isaiah what he needs. God is compassionate and God's purposes will not be thwarted. As with all the others who said "no" to the call of God, God is persistent and patient. God sticks with them; speaking over and over until the voice is recognized, meeting their needs so they will feel secure, promising to walk with them every step of the way, extending the cleansing empowerment of forgiveness.
What God says to Isaiah and to us in this beautiful call story is this; "My greatness is bigger than your weakness. Look at all of my glory," the Lord says to Isaiah, "can the weakness of your sin compare?"
You see, it doesn't matter whether we feel we can fulfill the call of God or not. God knows that we can. And God is committed to making it happen. God will give us what we need to eventually say "yes". That is the greatness of our God-calling imperfect human beings into the glory of divine purposes. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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This page was last updated on June 18, 2003.