A Little Project: Jesse Tree Day 4

Ornament: Fire tongs with hot coal

Isaiah the prophet is sent to tell Israel of God's love for them. 

Isaiah is another prophet whom the Lord speaks with. The Lord sends Isaiah a vision - something like a dream when you are still awake - of angels in heaven bowing down to worship the Lord. The vision makes Isaiah afraid because he senses how large, powerful and great the Lord is. He feels unworthy to be in His presence at all, and says "I am a man of unclean lips, and live among people of unclean lips," which means that he and the people of Israel have sinned, disobeyed and turned away from God the Father, and even the words that they speak are not without sinfulness.

But in the vision, an angel takes a hot coal from a burning fire and touches it to Isaiah's lips and says "now your lips have been made clean, your sin has been removed."

Isaiah then says:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
The Lord sends Isaiah to tell the people of Israel how much he, their Father, is pained by how they have turned away from him and hurt themselves by not living by his commandments. Especially he is hurt how they worship the Lord the way that the other pagan religions (religions that worship nature) worship - by only offering animal sacrifices and nothing more. The Lord says how he is exhausted by the burnt offerings and animal sacrifices that the Israelites give him, when they refuse to also give him their love, devotion and attention. He speaks of how the Israelites continue to fall under other countries' control because they refuse to be close to the Lord.

But the Lord fills his story of heartbreak with hope by saying

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
Upon those who lived in a land of gloom
a light has shone.

and

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;

upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace

The Lord tells the people to wash themselves clean from their sacrifices and to return to loving him as their Father, and they will be made as white as snow. 

Connection & Reflection: The burning coal represents how intense the presence of God is - Isaiah gets a taste of this in his vision, but the Lord also promises that if his people will return to him, they will be greatly changed and transformed. Just as a fire's heat can warm an entire house, and a spark from a fire can light and spread so quickly, so God's power and love are also intense enough to forgive the sins that we commit, and make each one of us clean as if we had never sinner. 

Prayer: Father in heaven, it is so easy to forget the intensity and tenderness of your love. We know that you ache for us to be close to you, and that your love for us is similar to how we feel spending time with our own loving families. Please help us to remember this constantly so that we can live and act as your children, and especially that we would be inspired to love you in return with our whole hearts. 

Conclude with your favorite family prayer, or an Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be.