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A reflection from David Littrell:

I was assigned to be the lector on May 26, and I did my usual preparation by reading from Blakley’s guide to the lectionary. I had a profoundly moving spiritual experience as I prepared. The reading was Isaiah 6:1-8, where Isaiah sees the Lord on his throne surrounded by seraphim.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Isaiah responds, “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 me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair 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 was overwhelmed once again by the majesty of God and my unworthiness in his presence without the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It behooves everyone to have a rock bottom experience where one understands without a doubt that “No one is righteous. No, not one,” the passage in Romans 3 where Paul alludes to Psalm 14. Sin separates us from God, which is why it is so terrible. We all know that we will continue to sin while in this mortal body, but we don’t have to continue purposely sinning, which is rebellion against God and the Scriptures that he gave us. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57) Forgiven of our sins, we can then continue each day of our life in service to God and others and say, “Here I am; send me!”