This chapter is awesome, but you might feel a little puzzled asking, “Shouldn’t this have been the first chapter?” Most scholars agree that the first five chapters of Isaiah are out of place chronologically but are put there to describe: one, the condition of the people of God in Judah and Jerusalem, in that their hearts are hard against the life of holiness to which the Lord calls them, but two, there is the promise for the future as people return to the Lord.
So, the first five chapters set up chapter six. Chapter six records the calling of Isaiah to be the Lord’s prophet, and it’s awesome and frightening at the same time. The narrative describes the majesty and grandeur and the sheer otherness of the Lord, which really can’t be described, but we get a hint of it here.
The narrative is also frightening because of the message that Isaiah is to give to the people. It’s a message that will verify and amplify the hardness of heart of the people. They already don’t want to hear what God is calling them to; in fact, this is what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel, which refused to respond to the Lord’s calls to repent and return, and they were subsequently wiped out by the Assyrians.
Right now, the Babylonians are the dominant world power, and the Lord is going to use them to discipline the southern kingdom of Judah for their continued unfaithfulness. Again, it’s not that God wants to punish the people; the reality is that they are the ones persisting in their sinful state, refusing to heed the Lord’s pleas for them to repent and return. They have remained stubbornly steadfast in their refusal to hear the Lord.
However, what makes this message even more frightening is the duration of the message that Isaiah is to proclaim. Look at verses 11-13 again. Wow. Basically, God says keep preaching this word until it is done.
Ok, so what? That was then. What about us now? What challenges are here for us as we consider Isaiah’s call to ministry?
There are a couple of things that we could consider, but I would like us to focus on the challenge of what I shall call “burning coal moments.” We need to allow burning coal moments to happen in our relationship with the Lord.
In his book, The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis talks of a busload of people who are traveling from Hell to the outskirts of Heaven. These people appear thin and almost ghostlike in the robust atmosphere of Heaven, and most of them immediately flee back to the comfort of their bus because they prefer the bus to the reality of Heaven.
One ghost, who is plagued by a talkative red lizard that sits on his shoulder and represents the power of sin, ventures out into the plains of Heaven and encounters an angel. Lewis describes their meeting, which is a parable of God's invitation to break the power of sin in our lives.
As the Ghost is walking, a mighty angel approached the man and asked, "Would you like me to make the lizard quiet?"
"Of course I would," said the Ghost.
"Then I will kill him," said the Angel, taking a step forward.
"Oh—ah—look out! You're burning me. Keep away," said the Ghost, retreating.
"Don't you want him killed?"
"You didn't say anything about killing him at first. I hardly meant to bother you with anything so drastic as that."
"It's the only way," said the Angel …. "Shall I kill it?"
"Look! It's gone to sleep of its own accord. I'm sure it'll be all right now. Thanks ever so much."
"May I kill it?"
"Honestly, I don't think there's the slightest necessity for that. I'm sure I shall be able to keep it in order now. Some other day, perhaps."
"There is no other day …." The angel says and takes a step forward.
"Get back! You're burning me. How can I tell you to kill it? You'd kill me if you did."
"It is not so."
"Why, you're hurting me now."
"I never said I wouldn't hurt you. I said it wouldn't kill you."
[Suddenly] the Lizard began chattering loudly: "Be careful," it said. "He can do what he says. He can kill me. One fatal word from you and he will! Then you'll be without me for ever and ever. I'll be so good. I admit I've sometimes gone too far in the past, but I promise I won't do it again …."
"Have I your permission?" said the Angel to the Ghost.
"You're right. It would be better to be dead than to live with this creature."
"Then I may?"
"Blast you! Go on can't you? Get it over," bellowed the Ghost: but ended, whimpering, "God help me. God help me."
In the next moment the Ghost gave a scream of agony such as I never heard. The Burning One closed his crimson grip on the reptile: twisted it, while it bit and writhed, and then flung it, broken backed, on the turf.
Then I saw, unmistakably solid but growing every moment solider, the Ghost materialize into a man, not much smaller than the Angel.
You know, if we’re honest with ourselves, all of us from time to time have that little red lizard showing up on our shoulders. It might be an attitude about someone that we work with, a guilty pleasure that we are letting creep into our lives in what we watch on TV or the music that we listen to, or it might be turning a blind eye toward something that we know is wrong, and a whole host of other “little” things.
All of those “little” things become that little red lizard whispering in our ears, which then infects our hearts and, if unchecked, will ultimately give us a heart and mouth that doesn’t honor and glorify the Lord.
The solution to our “little red lizard” is those burning coal moments where we confess our sin before the Lord.
You see, God doesn’t want anything to separate us from Him. God wants us to draw into a deeper relationship with Him and have life to its fullest through the gift of His Son, Jesus.
God is constantly calling us away from our old, sinful past and into a richer and fuller life than we could ever ask for or imagine through Jesus.
If we don’t have those burning coal moments in our lives, our faith will become stagnant, and we run the real risk of falling short in our relationship with Christ. We need to welcome those burning coal moments where we let Christ refine our hearts.
So what matters to you? The red lizard or Jesus?
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott