Another teammate of mine posted along these lines and I
figured I’d expound as well on an element of my trip for next year.
My team of seven (myself, Jennifer, Becca, Stacy, Katie,
Hannah and Josh) have decided to brand ourselves “Team 61.”
I like this name for two reasons: 1) it
forces the question “what does it mean?” and 2) it embodies the mission to
which we’ve been called for next year.
“61” refers to the initial verses of Isaiah 61 which say:
“The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me because he has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim freedom for the captives and to comfort those who mourn.”
I cannot think of a more noble calling than this from the
words of Isaiah the prophet.
I am
currently finishing up a class on the Major and Minor prophets and Isaiah has
become one of the heroes of my faith (well, everything but the going around “stripped”
for 3 years).
The role of the prophet was no easy task.
When Isaiah received his call (Isaiah 6) he
initially refused it because he was “a man of unclean lips.”
I can think of a host of other reasons to
fight against the prophetic call (“I don’t know what to say,” “I have a fear of
rejection,” “I don’t want to,” etc.).
Yet, here is Isaiah claiming that he is not worthy to carry the words of
God to the rebellious Israelite nation because he, himself is a sinner.
This is somewhat convicting to me because I
fear my fleshly reasons for avoiding the painful prophetic lifestyle would be
incredibly selfish in nature.
Yet,
Isaiah, in an exemplary act of humility, denies this call because he fears his
wayward nature would pollute the message he has been given to deliver.
Obedience does not imply competence.
In fact, scripture says in my weakness, I am
made
strong.
God is able to receive the glory
as I remove myself from the equation and allow him to use the talents and gifts
of which I have been endowed and allow his spirit to act on my behalf.
How do I know if I’ve done this or not?
The result of such selfless action will be
seen in where the glory is sought.
If I
am content to deflect humanity’s praise to God and acknowledge that it was him
all along (and deep in my soul know this to be the case), I might just be on
the right track.
