Recently I have looked back over the call narratives of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. I have
found some interesting elements in these narratives. Isaiah and Ezekiel have overwhelming visions
in which they see the glory of the Lord.
Ezekiel falls on his face when he sees the vision, but he is told to
stop being dramatic and stand up. Isaiah
has a similar experience, he sees the glory of the Lord and Seraphs flying
around and smoke filling the throneroom.
Jeremiah has a slightly more commonplace experience, he just hears God’s
voice directly tell him that before he was even formed in the womb he was
appointed to be a prophet to the nations, no big deal.
All three of these guys have overwhelming experience where
they are called to be prophets. But I
want to look at one particular element that these call narratives hold in
common; namely, that all three of these prophets have their lips or mouth
touched and consecrated by God. In
Isaiah 6, Isaiah’s mouth is touched by a piece of coal from that altar, after
which his guilt departs from him, despite his declaration that he is “a man of
unclean lips.” Ezekiel is told to eat
the contents of a scroll that is handed to him, he obeys and quickly realizes
that the scroll tastes as sweet as honey.
In Jeremiah’s story, the Lord reaches out and touches Jeremiah’s lips,
thus putting His words into the mouth of the prophet.
I think one of the major themes we can draw from these
stories that once God calls an individual, his or her words become very
important. Upon calling each of these
prophets, God enacts a strong symbolic action regarding the mouth and words of
His chosen prophet. It seems to me that
the words of anyone who feels a call from God are important in the same manner
as the mouths of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.
Let us remember that when we act upon a call to ministry, our words and
actions become a mouthpiece for God Himself.
I pray that we who intend to do ministry take seriously the consecration
of our mouths. Whether in public or in
private, our words ought to reflect the mission and action of God in the
world. If we feel the “fire in our bones”
of God wanting to work through us, let us be careful not to misrepresent him
with our mouths.
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