Woe to me! Reflections on a country divided.

George Floyd died in Minneapolis, in the metropolitan area where I lived for 19 years.

Daniel Prude died in Rochester, in the county I now call home.

In the midst of this time of grief, misunderstanding, anger, fear, confusion and sorrow…

I struggle to know what to say.

I have dear friends and family who are…

*African Americans who have faced racial prejudice their whole lives

*In law enforcement and are feeling vilified 

*Republicans

*Democrats

*Hunters who fight for gun owners rights

*Gun control advocates who want all guns “off the streets”

*Centrists who are feeling torn apart by trying to remain in the middle

I know for certain that this country is a mess. 

It seems that everything is upside down.

I’m guessing that no matter where you find yourself, you agree with that statement. 

But how do we untangle this mess that we find ourselves in?

The other day I was reading in the book of Isaiah, chapter 5. I read:

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil...” 

I thought about all the social media posts that have made me grieve, and when I read those words of Isaiah, I said “YES!” 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil! They deserve it! 

And then I read on:  

“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes.”

And again I said “YES!”

And then I said…. “Oh.  Wait.  Is that me??” 

By me judging everyone else… was I bringing “woe” upon my head, thinking I was smarter than everyone else? 

I’ve been sitting with that question for a few days.

I want to see systemic cultural change. And I want to work for this change.

But if I am to truly be part of seeing change come to this country, this region, this culture… it’s got to start with me. 

Isaiah comes to understand this. While in Isaiah 5 he says: “Woe to THOSE who are…” something changes in Isaiah 6. What happens? Isaiah 6 starts this way:

In the year that King Uzziah died

Uzziah had been a king who many had great hopes in. He followed God and he’d been extraordinarily effective as a king.  But in the latter part of his life, he becomes convinced that he doesn’t need to do things God’s way, and he goes to the temple, stepping into the role of a priest (which he was not). The result? Immediate leprosy which lasts for the rest of his life, reminding him of his arrogance. 

When Isaiah starts (what we now call) chapter 6 with “In the year that King Uzziah died” I think he’s saying: “In the year that my hope in the king fully died…”

What might we say here? Perhaps: 

In 2020, the year our hopes in the government, science, technology, the economy & humanity itself died…

Then what? Here’s what brought Isaiah from a place of despair to a place of purpose: 

I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim… 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.

Isaiah sees God. He sees the holiness and the beauty and the power of God. 

And something radically shifts. Rather than pointing his finger at others (“woe to those who…”) he changes which direction he’s pointing his finger.

“Woe to ME!…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.

When we see God, everything changes. We see our own sins, shortcomings, mistakes and flaws. We see how unfair we can be. We see how we have hate in our hearts. We see how we are the problem, rather than the solution. 

But we don’t have to stay there. 

 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.”

The Lord “atones” for Isaiah’s guilt, and therefore it is taken away. 

THIS is the essence of the good news of Jesus.  Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Once we see our own guilt, and ask for forgiveness, Jesus offers it. Friends, how we need to see our need for Jesus to do this again and again in our lives and our churches!

And it’s only in that place of humility that we can hear the next words that the Lord speaks to both Isaiah and to us: 

 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Is our world incredibly messed up? Yes. 

Are people seeing good and calling it bad, and bad and calling it good? Yes. 

Are people wise in their own eyes? Yes.

Does all this bring “woe”? Yes. 

But… does the Lord call us to look at Him, and in light of His greatness and beauty and perfection and power, humbly cry out “Woe to ME”? Yes.

And when we do, there is atonement, forgiveness, and an invitation. 

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

There are many places where the Lord is ready to send us. Places of hurt where healing is needed. Places of brokenness where reconciliation is needed. Places of hopelessness where hope is needed. Are we willing to go?

Jesus brings healing... Jesus brings reconciliation... Jesus brings hope...

THROUGH US.

Here am I, send me.