“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)
Can you remember a time when you were routinely having your devotions, or were sitting in a worship service, or perhaps contemplating the word of God in prayer, and suddenly you were made aware that you were in God’s presence? You knew that you were actually in conversation with God himself, and after momentary embarrassment at being caught so off guard, you were quickly transformed into a true time of Epiphany.
A grieving Isaiah, going about his routine priestly duties in the temple, was overcome by an unexpected revelation of God’s presence. He was transfixed by a vision of heavenly worship. He knew he was in the presence of a holy God. He could only stand there, out of place and unworthy, until, in answer to his dilemma, God reached out, cleansed him, and included him. That day he knew with Habakkuk that “the Lord was in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him.” A lonely John, exiled to the island of Patmos, “alone” on the Lord’s Day, was overcome by a booming voice coming from behind him like the sound of a trumpet. He turned to look and fell at the feet of the risen Lord, because he felt strangely out of place. Encouraging him not to be afraid, the Lord laid his hand upon him and raised him up, and then called him into the heavenlies where he entered into the great worship scene before the throne of God. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Now and again we need to have our eyes lifted from the routines of our life and to look again at things from the perspective of eternity, to be reminded that we worship and serve a holy God before whom we can only confess our unworthiness – who loves us so much that he overwhelms us with his gracious presence. Thank God for his gift of Epiphany moments!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the crystal sea. Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, Who wert and art, and evermore shalt be. – Reginald Heber
In His Peace,
Pastor Schultz