Isaiah begins his account by noting the time - “in the year that King Uzziah died” - which alerts us to a notion of political instability: who would the new king be? And which policies would he enact?
Interestingly, Isaiah did not choose to begin his narrative with “in the year that King Ahaz took the throne.”
Judah faced political instability - much like a modern nation-state in an election year! - but Isaiah’s text pointedly then refers to God as ‘King.’ Isaiah is telling us that although it might be worth noting who the next king is, and what that king’s policies will be, it’s far more important to remember that God is King is a more profound and permanent sense.
The vision of Isaiah pictures God on a throne and having a garment with an excessively long train - both symbols of royal power.
The attending seraphim introduce a military image: seraphim are warrior-angels, perhaps pictured as flying flamethrowers. (‘Flamethrowers’ were terrifying weapons used primarily in the Pacific in WW2.)
The seraphim were ‘calling’ to one another, not singing - perhaps reminiscent of the marching cadences of soldiers. They identify God not simply as the ‘Lord,’ but rather as the ‘Lord of armies.’
In the face of this vision, Isaiah can only see himself as condemned and doomed. Isaiah is scared and terrified in the presence of an omnipotent and holy God.
An approaching angel, carrying a glowing coal, can only have increased Isaiah’s terror. He must have assumed that he would die within a few seconds.
How it must have amazed him to find that, not only did he not die, but rather that God had sent the angel to save him!
Note that Isaiah is utterly passive in this salvation event: God sends an angel, who touches the coal to Isaiah’s lips. Isaiah is merely present, motionless.
Isaiah moves from passivity to activity only after the salvation event: grateful for redemption, Isaiah says, “Here I am! Send me!”
2,500 years later, how does God sanctify us? Most 21st followers of Jesus, we may assume, have not been approached by a seraphim carrying glowing coals. But we have been made just as holy as Isaiah.
God’s purifying work is done through baptism, through the bread and wine and body and blood, through His written Word, and perhaps in other ways. God is at work saving and sanctifying us.
Like Isaiah, we should be somewhat scared when we contemplate the holiness of God.
And like Isaiah, we should be moved to action by our gratitude when we experience God’s saving love.
For this reason, we “fear, love, and trust” God.
