Recap
Title: Coming Close To God in A Time Of Royal Loss
Key Text: Isaiah 6:1-9
People all over the world have been shaken by the death last week of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For many there is both sadness and a strong sense of disorientation.
All through her long life of service she spoke of God’s faithfulness which was her rock when big storms hit her. She was ‘an unshakeable Christian’ to use the title of my message last week ‘
Isaiah chapter 6:1 which declares how the great Hebrew prophet Isaiah had a life changing spiritual encounter in a season of Royal loss. Isaiah 6:1 says: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.
Yet it was in this very season, actually specifically in the year that King Uzziah died, that Isaiah had a close encounter with God when he said, ‘I saw the Lord.’ It was in a season of great darkness that Isaiah came into great light. And that so often that is what happens to individuals and to nations. When things seem at their worst the light of God shines through and people come close to God in the time of shaking.
He had a new vision of God (Isaiah 6:2-4)
He had a new vision of himself before God (Isaiah 6:4-8)
He had a new vision of people needing to hear about God (Isaiah 6:8-9)
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Journalist Melanie Phillips described the Queen’s death as ‘a seismic event for the United Kingdom and a profound emotional shock that will be felt by millions.’
She added: She was the constant still centre of the nation, always reassuring, always a beacon of optimism. She was the symbol of consistency, the link between the generations, the rock to whom we were tethered as the storms of the world raged around us. She was always there. Now she isn’t. And we feel devastated.’
So what now when the rock on which so many depended has been removed? Well the Queen herself, a believer of deep Christian faith, has the answer for us.
She said in 2014: For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and bad. I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.’
All through her long life of service she spoke of God’s faithfulness which was her rock when big storms hit her. She was ‘an unshakeable Christian’ to use the title of my message last week ‘
At this time of so much uncertainty about the future, we have a window of opportunity to discover or to rediscover, that individual lives, families, communities and nations, can all be built of the sure foundation of Christian faith, just as the Queen’s long life and enduring service was.
For sure this is a significant moment for spiritual reflection and hopefully it can prove to be tipping point for a rediscovery of the Christian roots of our nation.
Uzziah, also known as Azariah, was one of Judah’s greatest kings. He came to the throne when he was just 16 and reigned for about 52 years, not as long as the Queen but still long enough to make him a well-established and key figure in his nation.
In the earlier part of his reign, under the influence of a prophet named Zechariah, he was faithful to God and ‘did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord” says 2 Kings 15:3. He became very successful, famous and powerful. But then tragedy struck. For it says in 2 Chronicles 26:16 ‘after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God.’
Position, power and possessions turn his head and his heart. He lost the plot and acted as if he was God. But then suddenly and dramatically, he was afflicted with leprosy and excluded from society until the day he died. For the watching nation who had seen their king start so well but end so badly-unlike our Queen who started and finished well- it was a time of disbelief, disorientation and dislocation.
Yet it was in this very season, actually specifically in the year that King Uzziah died, that Isaiah had a close encounter with God when he said, ‘I saw the Lord.’ What he experienced in those moments, gave him a whole new perception of the condition of his own life, about the future direction of his life and not least a revelation of the one life who would change the world forever, the coming Messiah.
He had a new vision of God
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple
He had a vision of God who is high above everything
I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
He had a vision of a Holy God
Isaiah 6:2-4 “Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “
He had a new vision of himself before God
He had a vision of the unclean state of his own heart
Isaiah 6:5-8 “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.”
He had a vision of being forgiven. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
He had a new vision of people needing to hear about God
He had a vision of God calling for people to represent Him
Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
He made a decision to answer the vision
Isaiah 6:9 And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”9 He said, “Go and tell this people:“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”
