Glossa Water Year In Review: "Excuse Me, You're Blocking My View"

(originally posted October 7, 2008)

This past Sunday's sermon text was Isaiah 6:1-8. It is a challenge to consider this text. I find it a challenge because I cannot approach it abstractly; it forces me to confront and renounce my weaknesses and propensities. I hope the passage does the same for you.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne..." (6:1). Who is your King Uzziah? Perhaps your mom, your pastor, your favorite singer? Sometimes we meet people whose personas are so overwhelming that we find ourselves watching them instead of watching the Lord. Our gaze rests on them, our thoughts linger on them, our first response in crisis is to call on them... and we leave our true Sovreign in the background. Jesus' words still speak: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me..." (Matthew 10:37). Sometimes God mercifully shifts King Uzziah out of the way, so that the ultimate King might be seen.

"...and the train of his robe filled the temple" (6:1). As Pastor Art noted on Sunday, when the train of the Lord fills the temple there is no room for anything else. Competing voices and competing agendas cannot stand in the presence of God. King Uzziah was good, but the Lord of hosts (6:3) is great. As we examine ourselves, are there good things that we are embracing at the expense of great things? Are we ready to renounce the good for the sake of the great?

My Lord, God of the armies of earth and heaven, I will not blame my "King Uzziah" for blocking my view of You. I'm the one who chose to keep staring at him instead of gazing into Your beautiful face. Forgive me. Jesus, help me to drop my agendas and just allow You to consume me. Holy Spirit, fill me and keep filling me until there is no room for any other. Thank You, God, for reminding me that You do not entertain competitors. Help me to be authentic in my "yes": yes, I'm here. Send me.