December 18: I Saw the Lord
♫ Music:
WEEK FOUR INTRODUCTION
TITLE: COME & BEHOLD HIM: KAIROS TIME
December 18-24
“Behold, now is the accepted [kairos] time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The Scripture passages for this week focus on the compelling invitation found in the Gospels: “come and see” or “come and behold,” an invitation filled with anticipation and wonder. Can you imagine encountering the living God in the flesh? Those early eyewitness accounts of meeting Christ face to face stir our hearts as we read and reread them hundreds of years later. These familiar Christmas passages never grow old but continue to enliven our spirits as we imagine what it must have been like to actually participate in the divine drama of “God with us.”
The participants we encounter in this week’s devotionals were recipients of kairos time or extraordinary time. Kairos “aha” moments occur when time stands still, as it were, and something out of the ordinary intersects otherwise routine lives. Kairos time offers crucial opportunities to act on what one is experiencing. These eternal, God-ordained, “come and see” moments of crisis transformed the lives of those who chose to believe. Kairos moments both then and now allow those with eyes to see a pale glimpse into God’s divine plan and ways of working in the world.
Day 22 - Sunday, December 18
Title: I SAW THE LORD
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-10
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” and He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Poetry & Poet:
“Wreck of the Deutschland”
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Thou mastering me
God! giver of breath and bread;
World's strand, sway of the sea;
Lord of living and dead;
Thou hast bound bones & veins in me, fastened me flesh,
And after it almost unmade, what with dread,
Thy doing: and dost thou touch me afresh?
Over again I feel thy finger and find thee.
I did say yes
O at lightning and lashed rod;
Thou heardst me truer than tongue confess
Thy terror, O Christ, O God;
Thou knowest the walls, altar and hour and night:
The swoon of a heart that the sweep and the hurl of thee trod
Hard down with a horror of height:
And the midriff astrain with leaning of, laced with fire of stress.
The frown of his face
Before me, the hurtle of hell
Behind, where, where was a, where was a place?
I whirled out wings that spell
And fled with a fling of the heart to the heart of the Host.
My heart, but you were dovewinged, I can tell,
Carrier-witted, I am bold to boast,
To flash from the flame to the flame then, tower from the grace to the grace.
I SAW THE LORD
“I’m going to pray that God shows up this morning,” the speaker said.
I was late. I had stopped to get a vanilla latte and now was rushing into the Bible conference. The gymnasium was packed and I grabbed the last seat on the floor. To my right were three university students who had brought their own seats. Each one reclined on a neon-colored bean bag. “I wish my coffee were a little warmer,” I thought as the speaker finished his prayer.
I looked over and one of the girls in her bean bag was already nodding off. After the conference, I kept thinking about the speaker’s bold request that God would show up. Did he? If he did, why didn’t I notice?
Now consider a different encounter with God.
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death” (Isa. 6:1). A deep unsettledness has come upon Israel in learning of the death of their king. They feel alone and rudderless. Isaiah is also unsettled and comes into the temple to receive what? Comfort? Assurance? Direction? While he eventually does receive comfort, it comes through an awe-inspiring encounter.
“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts” (6:1-3).
Isaiah viewed God as holy and majestic; I view God as a gentle, soothing presence. When Isaiah thought of God he trembled; I think of God and am comforted. Isaiah was awestruck; I am at ease.
Feeling completely at ease with God is not wrong so much as it is imbalanced. In constantly relating to God as my heavenly father and friend, I have slowly lost my sense of awe. In the course of my relationship with God, I have slowly stripped him of attributes that make me feel uncomfortable—holiness, sovereignty, omniscience—and fixated on the ones I take comfort in—kindness, trustworthiness, love, and patience. Over time, God has become a glorified version of the best of human characteristics: a God who is reliable but not majestic; a God who is reassuring, yet not fear inducing.
This Advent season I’ve become concerned with the mental image I have of God. Is it balanced? Am I too at ease with God? Like Isaiah, have I ever been “undone” in the presence of the Holy? In the midst of Advent how can I bring a sense of awe back into my relationship with God? Where to start? Perhaps, we can begin with prayer.
Not rushing to pray
The most important thing about prayer, suggests Martyn Loyld Jones, is what you do before you pray. Jones advocates a time of introspection before prayer. He writes: “We should say to ourselves: ‘I am now entering into the audience chamber of that God, the almighty, the absolute, the eternal and great God with all His power and His might and majesty, that God who is a consuming fire.’”
Just as a runner warms up before he or she takes the first step of a race, perhaps we need to have a warm-up time before we pray. What if, before our next prayer time, we took a minute or two to read and reflect on Isaiah’s encounter with God (Isa. 6:1-10)?
Engage the body
As modern Christians we have sorely neglected the role of the body in our spiritual lives. We think that the position of our body has little to do with anything. To counter this tendency, I’ve decided that during Advent when I pray, I will do so standing up and with my arms raised. My decision to pray with arms raised is motivated by Paul’s instruction to Timothy that believers should intercede for kings and people of authority by “lifting holy hands” (1 Timothy 2:8).
Does God hear me any better by my standing with arms raised? No. But I hope to be more attentive to what I am doing—engaging the God of the universe who is, as seraphs remind us, “Holy, holy, holy.”
A friend of mine is close friends with the United States Ambassador to a small island nation. In addition to two drivers, a butler, three housekeepers, twenty-four hour security, and a personal chef, the most unique person on her staff is the Protocol Officer. This person’s job is to explain to people like us how we should relate to her. He explains that we should refer to her as “Her Excellency” or “Madam Ambassador'' and should limit our physical contact to a handshake unless she initiates an embrace. My friend can’t help but chuckle when he hears these instructions, because “Her Excellency,” is his mom. My friend not only stands in awe of his mom’s accomplishments and title, but is constantly bowled over by his special relationship to her. Similarly, in the weeks to come let’s appreciate the special relationship we have with the lofty and lifted-up God Isaiah encountered; who equally is our Abba Father.
Prayer:
God, you are exalted and holy. If not for your grace, I would be undone. In the weeks to follow, remind me regularly that you are both the sovereign King and my dearest abba. Let my prayers reflect both.
Amen
Tim Muehlhoff
Professor of Communication
Co-director of the Winsome Conviction Project
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Whom Shall I Send
Diane Fairfield
2012
Oil and mixed media on textured substrate
24 x 24 in.
This painting was inspired by today's Scripture, where the robe of the Lord fills the temple, the temple fills with smoke, and a coal is held out to cleanse Isaiah’s lips before he is sent out as a prophet for the Lord. The “coal” in the visual center of today’s artwork has a bas-relief quality as well as sparkle from layers of paint and metallic light-reflecting elements. Fairfield’s desire is to invite viewers into her paintings to experience what she sees—both naturally and spiritually. The themes that dominate her work are landscapes and nature, abstractions, and spiritual or visionary work—and often these are interconnected. In her vision of art, she is committed to communicating about beauty and the glory of God. “There is much in this life to pull us down and oppress us. My desire is to create a space where people can be uplifted and inspired—a place where they can get in touch with something that enriches them,” says Fairfield.
About the Artist:
Diane E. Fairfield is an American artist who resides in the Southwest, where her paintings are greatly influenced by the vast expansive landscapes that surround her. Her artistic passion was ignited in her as a child and, though her life took her in many other directions, she always returned to art and now paints full time. Her college and career years were spent in the Northeast, where she majored in commercial art in college, realized that discipline did not fulfill her artistic passion, and continued studies in fine art following college. Fairfield is a colorist whose style is painterly and intuitive. She does not usually rely heavily on preliminary sketches, other than the occasional thumbnail, but prefers to plunge in, beginning with an idea of the composition followed by quick application of initial color. Often she works in oils over an acrylic underpainting. Her work is in private collections across the United States as well as overseas.
https://www.dianefairfieldart.com/biography
About the Music:
“I See the Lord” from the album My Redeemer
About the Performer:
Singer-songwriter Matthew Ward (b. 1958) is one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. He is best known as a part of the trio 2nd Chapter of Acts, in which he sang and performed with his sisters, Annie Herring and Nellie (Ward) Greisen. During his musical career with the 2nd Chapter of Acts from 1973 to 1988, he also recorded solo albums, and he continues to perform his solo work to this day. In 1988, after sixteen years of touring and over one thousand concerts, 2nd Chapter of Acts prayerfully retired as a group. Matthew then launched his solo career in earnest. Throughout his career, Ward has received a number of honors. He has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame of the Gospel Music Association. He was honored with a Dove Award. Matthew has also had the privilege of helping lead 500,000 men in worship as part of the 1996 Promise Keepers praise team. He also sung the title song for the 1996 Billy Graham Christmas TV special, Season for Peace. These days, Matthew still continues to share in music both nationally and internationally.
https://www.matthewward.com/
About the Composer:
Annie (Ward) Herring (b. 1945) is one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. She was a member of the musical trio 2nd Chapter of Acts, for which she wrote most of the songs, and sang lead and harmony vocals with her brother Matthew Ward and sister Nelly (Ward) Greisen. During her musical career with 2nd Chapter of Acts from 1973 to 1988, she also recorded several solo albums. Herring's music and ministry were forged from personal family tragedy. In 1968, her mother died of a brain tumor and two years later her father also died, leaving her youngest sister, Nelly, and brother, Matthew, orphaned. Annie and her new husband, record producer Buck Herring, took in the two younger Ward siblings. Annie was a self-taught singer and songwriter who wrote and played her songs around the family piano. Her brother and sister would often join in as she played, and eventually they developed extremely tight and intricate harmonies. During her time with 2nd Chapter, Annie released two solo albums, Through a Child's Eyes and Search Deep Inside, as well as an album for children, Kids of the Kingdom. After 2nd Chapter disbanded, Annie continued her solo career and toured the US through the 1990s and early 2000s. Though officially retired from touring, Annie continues today to make music and minister privately.
https://www.annieherring.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Herring
About the Poetry & Poet:
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) is regarded as one of the Victorian era’s greatest poets. He was raised in a prosperous and artistic family. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied the classics. In 1867 he entered a Jesuit monastery near London. At that time, he vowed to “write no more...unless it were by the wish of my superiors.” Hopkins burned all of the poetry he had written and would not write poems again until 1875. He was ordained in 1877, and for the next seven years carried out his duties of teaching and preaching in London, Oxford, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Stonyhurst. In 1875, Hopkins, deeply moved by a newspaper account of a German ship, the Deutschland, wrecked during a storm at the mouth of the Thames River, began to write again. Although his poems were never published during his lifetime, his friend, poet Robert Bridges, edited a volume of Hopkins’s works entitled Poems that first appeared in 1918.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gerard-manley-hopkins
About the Devotion Author:
Tim Muehlhoff
Professor of Communication
Co-director of the Winsome Conviction Project
Biola University
Tim Muehlhoff is a professor of communication at Biola University and co-director of the Winsome Conviction Project designed to reintroduce civility into our private and public disagreements. Tim is also an author whose latest book is Eyes to See: Finding God’s Common Grace in Unsettled Times (IVP).