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Isaiah 6: The Call—The Pedagogy of God IV
https://fidesetratio.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Isaiah-VI-The-Call-IV.m4a
Isaiah 6 (ESV)
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
Isaiah’s initial response to his vision of the Lord is not confidence but collapse: “Woe is me! For I am lost” (Isa. 6:5). Confronted with divine holiness, Isaiah becomes intensely aware of his own impurity particularly his “unclean lips,” an acknowledgment not only of personal sin but of his solidarity with a sinful people. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible notes that Isaiah, like Moses and Jeremiah before him, recoils at the gravity of being drawn into the presence of the divine.[11] But the remedy is neither abstract nor symbolic. A seraph flies to the altar, retrieves a burning coal with tongs, and places it directly on Isaiah’s lips. This is no poetic flourish it is a painful purification. Holiness wounds before it heals.[12] The divine fire does not merely cleanse; it marks Isaiah as one now consecrated for sacred speech.
This moment of fiery purification reveals the logic of divine vocation: grace precedes mission. Isaiah’s shame is not dismissed it is burned away. Only then does the Lord speak: “Whom shall I send?” and Isaiah responds without hesitation, “Here I am! Send me” (Isa. 6:8). The prophet’s readiness is not self-confidence but surrender. Bergsma and Pitre underscore that Isaiah’s commission flows not from innate qualification but from divine initiative and sacramental transformation.[13] He is now a vessel, sanctified by suffering and empowered to speak a word not his own. As the New Testament affirms, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Isaiah’s lips, once unclean, are now set apart for the glory of God.
The enduring impact of this scene has been noted by both Catholic and Protestant commentators. R. C. Sproul reflects, “Only after Isaiah was cleansed could he be commissioned. Grace preceded service.”[14] Isaiah’s trembling response is not weakness but the foundation of true mission rooted in an encounter with holiness and sustained by divine mercy. This is the pedagogy of God: He sanctifies before He sends. The altar coal that sears Isaiah’s mouth also ignites his calling. His words now carry fire, not his own, but God’s.
Seems paradoxical, get good, then be of service. Isaiah’s trembling response is not weakness but the foundation of true mission rooted in an encounter with holiness and sustained by divine mercy. This is the pedagogy of God: He sanctifies before He sends.
Not about what we do, but surrender to God for His will. The quote from Mother Teresa is: “God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful.”
Humility, he is the vine, strength comes from being grafted to Him.
Citations
The post Isaiah 6: The Call—The Pedagogy of God IV appeared first on Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective.
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By Karen Early
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https://fidesetratio.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Isaiah-VI-The-Call-IV.m4a
Isaiah 6 (ESV)
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
Isaiah’s initial response to his vision of the Lord is not confidence but collapse: “Woe is me! For I am lost” (Isa. 6:5). Confronted with divine holiness, Isaiah becomes intensely aware of his own impurity particularly his “unclean lips,” an acknowledgment not only of personal sin but of his solidarity with a sinful people. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible notes that Isaiah, like Moses and Jeremiah before him, recoils at the gravity of being drawn into the presence of the divine.[11] But the remedy is neither abstract nor symbolic. A seraph flies to the altar, retrieves a burning coal with tongs, and places it directly on Isaiah’s lips. This is no poetic flourish it is a painful purification. Holiness wounds before it heals.[12] The divine fire does not merely cleanse; it marks Isaiah as one now consecrated for sacred speech.
This moment of fiery purification reveals the logic of divine vocation: grace precedes mission. Isaiah’s shame is not dismissed it is burned away. Only then does the Lord speak: “Whom shall I send?” and Isaiah responds without hesitation, “Here I am! Send me” (Isa. 6:8). The prophet’s readiness is not self-confidence but surrender. Bergsma and Pitre underscore that Isaiah’s commission flows not from innate qualification but from divine initiative and sacramental transformation.[13] He is now a vessel, sanctified by suffering and empowered to speak a word not his own. As the New Testament affirms, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Isaiah’s lips, once unclean, are now set apart for the glory of God.
The enduring impact of this scene has been noted by both Catholic and Protestant commentators. R. C. Sproul reflects, “Only after Isaiah was cleansed could he be commissioned. Grace preceded service.”[14] Isaiah’s trembling response is not weakness but the foundation of true mission rooted in an encounter with holiness and sustained by divine mercy. This is the pedagogy of God: He sanctifies before He sends. The altar coal that sears Isaiah’s mouth also ignites his calling. His words now carry fire, not his own, but God’s.
Seems paradoxical, get good, then be of service. Isaiah’s trembling response is not weakness but the foundation of true mission rooted in an encounter with holiness and sustained by divine mercy. This is the pedagogy of God: He sanctifies before He sends.
Not about what we do, but surrender to God for His will. The quote from Mother Teresa is: “God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful.”
Humility, he is the vine, strength comes from being grafted to Him.
Citations
The post Isaiah 6: The Call—The Pedagogy of God IV appeared first on Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective.