Here Am I: Send Me!Sýnishorn

“Houston, we have a problem” is a phrase from the movie Apollo 13 and has become a phrase that means we are in trouble here! The actual phrase was “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” transmitted by Jack Swigert and repeated by Mission Commander Jim Lovell to Mission Control. Either way, it has come to mean we have a serious problem on our hands.

Isaiah might have offered those words had the expression been around in his day after his encounter with the Living God. Remember that even Moses didn’t get to see the face of the Lord and His Glory, but God had to hide him in a rock and just give him a glimpse of His back as God passed by. Yet here God allows the prophet to see a different glimpse of the Lord’s Glory. In that moment, Isaiah comes to a startling realization.

I AM SERIOUSLY COOKED! Well, he didn’t say it exactly that way but the meaning is the same. “Woe is me”, “I am cooked”, and “Houston we have a problem”, all communicate the same truth. We have a problem when we encounter the Living God. We don’t belong there!

In the light of God’s glory, we realize that we are sinful creatures. Isaiah sees himself in a new light. He was good guy. He was a religious guy. He was doing his best to live his best life. The problem was he was also a sinner. And he lived in a sinful population. He assumed he was about to die! I mean that is what God had said in Exodus 33:20. Since we know Isaiah lives, it is also probable that he didn’t see the face of God, but like Moses, he had been allowed to see a part of the Lord’s glory! Either way, he was in serious trouble.

But God had a solution ready. One of the Seraphim took a coal from the altar and touched it to the lips of the prophet. He proclaimed that this act had taken wickedness from the prophet and atoned for his sins. God had a solution in place before the prophet ever knew there was a problem. That’s the goodness of the Lord on display.

I also think that is one of the reasons this story is in the Bible. To remind us that God wants us to know that He wants us to be able to experience His glory. To see Him as He really is. To know Him and His Mighty Strength. He has provided a way for us to enter His presence as we will see tomorrow as we take a small detour into the New Testament to fully understand this idea of grace.