Dear family and friends of WCPC:

I’ve always loved the call of Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 6.  He’s in the temple, grieving the death of King Uzziah.  King Uzziah had been a godly and good king for Israel, reigning for over fifty years, but now he is gone, and the future was uncertain, both for Isaiah and for Israel.

Isaiah is in the temple grieving and maybe a bit confused.  And then he has a vision of God’s presence in the temple and “the train of his robe filled the temple.”  (Verse 1b)  As he is confronted by this holy and awesome God Isaiah is filled with despair and confesses his sins, “Woe to me!  I cried.  “I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”  (Verse 5)

It is at that point, at the moment of his confession, not only of his sins, but also of the sins of Israel, that he receives grace.  The seraph (an angel serving God in his vision) touched his mouth with live coal and God declares, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  (Verse 7b

Then Isaiah is ready for a new call, for a new assignment, for a new commission.  

“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!’”  (Verse 8)

The pattern here is significant.  Isaiah is in the temple, worshipping God, full of grieve.  As he is confronted by the holiness and majesty of God, he is also confronted by his sin.  He confesses.  He receives forgiveness, grace.  And then God sends him out of the temple into the world to declare God’s justice and mercy.

I see our worship on Sundays resembling Isaiah’s experience.  First we gather to worship God.  Some come to worship full of energy and enthusiasm.  Some of us come to worship heavy with the burdens of life.  Issues at home or at work that threatened to rob us of any joy or peace.    Some come with grief or questions, fears, uncertainties.  And then of course, some come, out of habit, out of routine.  Maybe because a parent, even a spouse made them. 

But once we are in God’s presence we never know what can happen.  First, at least for me, when I’m in God’s presence I immediately become aware of my sin.  I consider this awesome God, His holiness and righteousness, and then I examine myself, not so holy or righteous.  Yet it is in the act of confession that grace, mercy is found.  And once that has occurred, I, you, are ready for what God has in store for us in the coming days, weeks, months, years of our lives. 

I need this in my life weekly, regularly.  That’s one of the reason every Sunday our first act of worship is praise, followed by confession and the assurance of pardon.  Then we are ready for whatever else God has in store for us.  But before we can move there, we have to acknowledge who God is and also who we are.

The story is told of a worshipper who in the middle of a worship service cried out, “Fill me Lord with your Spirit.”  Another member of the congregation cried out, “Don’t do it Lord.  He leaks.” 

We all leak.  We all need to be reminded again and again of God’s holiness and of our need for God.  Our complete and utter dependency upon God as we confess our sins, receive grace, and then, through the power of the Spirit at work in worship are empowered for our calling in the world.  The truth is this doesn’t happen every Sunday.  But it does happen.  And if we fail to worship, fail to allow ourselves to be in God’s presence with God’s people, we risk missing the next time it will happen in our lives.  And of course, perhaps even more importantly the cumulative impact of Sunday worship followed by Sunday worship does shape us.   Worship is at the heart of what we do as Presbyterians.  I would argue it’s at the heart of what we do as disciples, followers of Jesus.  Without it, there isn’t much power in our lives.  But with it, along with the strength of community, you never know what might happen. 

 See you on Sunday!

 Your pastor,

 David Jones