Thursday 8 January 2026

Psalm 99

Background
Over Christmas our focus has been on the story of the incarnation. God is with us, known to us in the frailty and vulnerability of a human baby. But Isaiah’s account of his call to be a prophet reminds us that God is also radically other in terms of sound (the pivots on the thresholds shook); sight (his robe filled the Temple); touch (that live coal!); and scent (the house filled with smoke). All of these conjure up a dramatic multi-sensory encounter with a God who is terrifyingly beyond our normal experience. As we carry the Christmas message into the new year, part of our task is to hold in a creative tension our experience of a God who is both too vast to comprehend, and almost too small to notice.

When I was candidating for ordained ministry, I was repeatedly asked to tell the story of my call. Alas, it was not as dramatic or glamorous as Isaiah’s experience! But there was indeed a moment, an encounter, a question that convinced me God was inviting me into something new. The Hebrew scriptures contain many vocation stories. Along with Isaiah, Moses (Exodus 3-4), Gideon (Judges 6), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-3) all tell the story of an encounter with God, either directly or through a messenger of some kind. (My own messenger was a very ordinary member of my local congregation.)

All the prophets experienced a sense of being commissioned to be, do or say something significant for God. All (except Ezekiel) felt inadequate, and all came up with a range of excuses for refusing the call. And I, too, recognise what it is to be called to a vocation for which I felt insufficient, and the desperate scrabble for good reasons to walk in the opposite direction.

Eventually all of these prophets accepted God’s exhilarating and daunting challenge, and were confirmed by a ritual act of some kind. For Isaiah it was the live coal taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. Today, for those of us called to ministry in the Methodist Church the ritual is the services of Reception into Full Connexion and Ordination.

I like to think that Isaiah and his cohort of prophets also knew the deep peace which comes from saying 'yes' to God.

Today’s passage ends before we learn of the difficult message Isaiah is asked to share with his people. Being called is never an easy option.

To Ponder:

• The songs ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty’ and ‘Away in a manger’ describe God in very different ways. Do you find one image easier than than the other? Is there room for both in the way you imagine God?
• Have you experienced a sense of being called by God to a particular task? Was it dramatic and awesome, or ordinary and local? How did you respond?
• How might you explore what you are being called to today?

Prayer
Holy God, when I am overwhelmed by your ineffable glory, help me to remember your human face. When I am a little too cosy, remind me that "the hem of your robe fills the temple". Give me the courage to say yes not because it is easy, but because it is life-giving. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Val Reid
Val Reid is a retired presbyter who lives in Salisbury. She is a reflective supervisor and spiritual director, and has recently trained as a mediator with Place for Hope.