Overwhelmed by God: Isaiah 6:1-8 - Holy Trinity Sunday

Four summers ago, when I was up at Lutherlyn for confirmation camp, the pastors and counselors were meeting in an unused cabin when I noticed some movement inside an empty fish tank on the floor in the next room. After the meeting, I went over and found a baby crested gecko inside, like the one our daughter had been raising. I could tell that it was starving, and since was no food or water inside the tank. I immediately told the camp director about what I’d found, and by the end of the week, its owner asked us to foster her for the summer. I happily agreed, and Rebecca quickly nursed the baby gecko to health. By the end of the summer, however, my calls to the counselor were not returned—and the gecko is with us to this day.

People thought I was crazy for raising a fuss about a tiny gecko that was no bigger than your thumb. But it wasn’t crazy to me. I wanted our daughter to be able to rescue this tiny creature, whom she named Seraph. I still get chills inside of me when I think back to how she became part of our family, and how much joy and laughter she’s brought us.

It dawned on me how easy it would’ve been for me to have skipped going to camp that year, given how busy June is for me. A week spent at camp is a week away from church and from my family. But it is a week spent with God. God can do some amazing things with our time, if only we are willing to give it to him.

Isaiah was one of the few in his society who remained devoted to the Lord. Most people were not. And the this was a bad time for people to turn away from God. King Uzziah, who ruled the Southern Kingdom of divided Israel, had just died. The mighty Assyrian Empire had been enlarging its territory through war and conquest, and in less than twenty years, the Northern Kingdom would be wiped out. Yet in this time of crisis, the people did not turn to the Lord.

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I’m sure there were times when Isaiah grew frustrated in his faith, and questioned whether it was all worth it. But he remained devoted to God. And today, he was in for the surprise of his lifetime. He is worshiping in the temple when sees the Lord sitting on a throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. Angelic beings called seraphs (from where our gecko gets its name) were in attendance above him and singing praises to God.

Isaiah is so overwhelmed by God’s glory that he believed he was going to die. “I’m a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips,” he cries, “and I have seen the Lord of hosts!”

One of the seraphs takes a hot coal, and holding it in a pair of tongs, touches the coal to Isaiah’s lips and declares him clean.

Then the Lord said, “whom shall I send?” Isaiah replied, “Here I am, send me.”

Have you ever been that overwhelmed by the power and presence of God? Have you ever felt God’s love so strongly? Have you ever felt that God himself is calling your name?

You might think that such powerful spiritual experiences are only for the super-faithful; not for people like you.

But if Scripture has taught us anything at all, it’s that God routinely calls people who would not seem suited for the task at hand. Abraham and Sarah were old. Moses had a speech impediment. David was short and boyish. Mary the Mother of Jesus was too young and unmarried. The Apostle Paul was a killer. Yet God’s plan for the salvation of the world was carried forward on the backs of these ordinary people.

Even more important than that, though, is that God wants to be known. God wants to be in relationship with you and use you to carry out his mission in the world. God’s not looking for ability. God’s looking for availability.

So how available are you to God? Are you thanking God for his blessings? Are you seeing and hearing the people around you encounter each day? Are you giving God the first fruits of your time and resources, or only what you have left over? What would need to happen for you to slow down your pace, be still, and listen for God?

God wants to overwhelm you as he overwhelms Isaiah. Consider all the ways God has overwhelmed us as congregation:

God’s call to begin our clothing ministry began when God overwhelmed us with an awareness of a need—and God overwhelmed us with the gifts to meet it. We were overwhelmed last weekend with the number of you who came to help and support the Chicken and Biscuit Fundraiser. We were overwhelmed by the number of people giving offerings to make the bells ring again. We are overwhelmed by the faith we witness in our children, and the joy of seeing them grow up in the Lord.

What overwhelms me most is the genuineness of love and the boundlessness of your generosity. God’s love is filling this place just when Isaiah was worshiping in the temple.

God wants you to overwhelm you as you witness by faith all the amazing things God is doing. God wants you to overwhelm your affliction with comfort. God wants you overwhelm your pain with healing. God wants to overwhelm your fear with strength and hope.

I believe the Holy Trinity is God’s way of overwhelming us with mystery at God’s magnificence, that the God who is beyond the galaxy is also present right here today.

If God hasn’t overwhelmed you lately, ask yourself if you’ve really been paying attention. If you’re overwhelmed by worry or stress or busyness, make today the day you pray for God’s grace to overwhelm you.

Remember: God isn’t looking for ability. God’s looking for availability. God has a plan that’s not for you to be overwhelmed or overcome by the hassles and worries of life, but to be sent into the world and make a difference. The sweetest words to God’s ears are these: “here I am, Lord. Send me.”

 

IMG_8223 by Fr James Bradley on flickr. CC BY 2.0