Make the Mind of This People Dull

This meditation is based on a passage for December 8, 2010 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Isaiah 6:1-13

Reflection and Question: This passage is best known for the song of the seraphim and Isaiah’s giving of himself to God with the plea, “Here am I, send me!” These verses are familiar today in hymns and praise songs. Since seminary, what has captured me most here is the paradox of Isaiah’s commission to preach to people whose ears have been stopped and whose eyes will be blind. This is God’s own doing. Yet, Isaiah is to prophesy to those whom God has made incapable of understanding him until only a stump is left. Isaiah’s dutiful response is “How long?” How do you make sense of God’s will here?

Prayer: God of all times and places, we are humbled by Isaiah’s faithful acceptance of Your call and dutiful service. When You call us may we also say, “Here am I, send me!” When the work is hard, may we ask, as well, “How long?” Amen.