Watching Isaiah and Peter in today’s readings, and remembering Paul, we see how the human heart responds when standing before the face of God. Paul fell off his horse. Peter fell to his knees. Isaiah cried, “Oy veh! Woe is me! I’m doomed.” It isn’t the good we have done that jumps to mind when standing before God, apparently. It’s those behaviors and attitudes that are un-godlike that become blatantly clear and self-accusing. Maybe it’s also the failure to act when justice calls, the unwillingness to abandon comfort and reach out a hand—maybe these INACTIONS are also reflected in God’s loving face.
God is Truth. God is the light of lucid awareness. One does not see God and fail to see the inner workings of one’s own heart at the same time. And those inner workings can be self-seeking, uncharitable and insensitive. Isaiah, Paul and Peter provide a mirror for that common human experience of “failure to be our best selves.”
But today’s Scripture passages also offer a glimpse of how God responds to human failings. When Isaiah protests that he is a man of “unclean lips” God’s angel touches those lips with a burning coal, telling Isaiah through word and sign that his sins are removed. When Peter falls to his knees before Jesus, protesting his unworthiness to be in Jesus’ company, he is told not to be afraid and entrusted with a new job. Failure to live up to our highest values will be an ongoing challenge throughout our lives since personal needs and desires live in constant tension with the needs and desires of others. As we learn we make mistakes. Love and compassion, mercy and forgivenessdon’t come easy. That’s why these qualities are at the forefront of every major religious teaching throughout the world.