It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim…. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations,,, Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
One of the most surprising experiences I’ve ever had was ascending to the top of the Eiffel Tower. All my life, my concept of the Tower’s height and mass was based on pictures. Those little glimpses were just representations. Not the real thing.
I had the same experience seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time and Yosemite’s El Capitan. Both, too big to take in or see. Humbling experience. You could say that Isaiah had a similar experience, though more profound and most existential.
I think this is what Jesus was getting at when he said, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” It is a state of emptiness when all that is left to say is “wow,” or “woe is me,” or “I don’t have words,” or “I feel so insignificant.” And this is life-changing.
A person who really looks at the Grand Canyon and sees its grandeur is newly appreciative of the beauty of the world and doesn’t want to spoil it. After viewing the Eiffel Tower, I was awed by its iron lace, its massive feet, and its cloud-touching height. You don’t get this until you touch it and stand under its imposing beauty. That approaches what I think Isaiah was saying with his “woe is me” or what Jesus meant when he said “poor in spirit.”
Being poor in spirit removes entitlement. It’s sharpens one’s eyesight so that you can see the smallest person or the greatest leader. Much like seeing El Capitan through the eyes and heart of an environmentalist so that you’d never crush a cigarette butt on its face or drop trash on the earth that supports it. El Capitan makes you want to share its beauty. Or join a group dedicated to its preservation.
Jesus knew that being “poor in spirit” makes us capable of seeing, awestruck and submissive. Until one is poor in spirit, the Grand Canyon will never deliver its full grace. It will be just a big hole to the arrogant and superior feeling.
Isaiah only had one reaction to seeing God in God’s throne room and that was “woe is me.” Followed by “I’m here; send me.” It is in this place of surrender that one becomes blessed. Not an accomplishment. Not self-attainment. But blessed as a result of relationship to God. Which is not unlike seeing the Eiffel Tower.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, we cannot imagine what Isaiah saw when he gazed into heaven. You warned Moses of the danger of seeing you straight-on. You told Joshua to take his shoes off in your presence. Jacob had a permanent limp and a totally changed life after wrestling with you. So we want to say, like Isaiah, “Woe is me.” We know we are nothing when standing before you. Help us to live in that realization. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Comments
Amen