The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-08-12
Vision And Call
Is.
Lesson for August IA. 1860

Protestant name for it is call
ing" They mean just the same
thing. the call Of God to a man
or woman for special service.
Protestants and Catholics as
well are now beginning to ex-
pand the meaning of the word.
1t is being seen by many, though
others are slow to see it, that
God may call a man to be a
grocer or a farmer just as well
as to be a minister of the Cos
pei. No Christian, surely, has
any business staying permanent
ly in a job where God does not
want him to be. The more you
believe in the will of God, the
better you can see that it is
really not good at all to choose
your own way without asking
what Gods will is. The wiser
you believe God is, the more
eager you will be to learn what
he has for you to do.
When Half Gods Go
When half-gods go, the gods
arrive" q poet said. Let US say
that better: When half-gods go,
then God arrives! How did God
arrive to Isaiah? That m a n
was perhaps the most famous,
certainly one of the most dis
tinguished Of the Hebrew pro-
phets. How the call of God came
to him. he tells us in chapter
8 Of the book Of his prophecies.
In some ways the story is hard
to understand; but in other ways
we can put it into a modern
dress, so to speak, and get a
good deal from it. To put it
shortly, Isaiah's call came when
he saw the Lord. But when did
he see the Lord? He dates it
so that all his readers would
identify it. I'm the year that
King Uzziah died l saw the
Lord" he writes. That was like
1865 or 1915, when two great
presidents die d. King Uzziah
had not been a perfect king,
but he had been a strong one.
People had leaned on him as
they always lean on a father.
image" whether a Lincoln or a
Roosevelt or a DeGaulle or any
one else. Isaiah (being out of
the top drawers in his country,
a friend of the royal family had
leaned no doubt on the good
king Uzziah. When he died,
Isaiah was ready for the vision
God had not sent him before.
God became real to him, in a
time of disaster and loss, as he
had not seemed real before.
Isaiah was not carried away
by rapture when he saw God.
The sight of the Divine Majesty
las many saints have learned
can be a terrible experience.
The first thing Isaiah feels is
shame for his sins, sins which
God deals with not by washing
them away but by burning them
away. To put this into common
language. perhaps too COM
mon: Isaiah has to begin by
getting right with God. God was
calling him to be a prophet, or
as we would say. a preacher.
An important part Of a preach
er's business is to condemn
mems sins. But no preacher can
lead others to the forgiveness
of God who has not felt that
forgiveness himself. No preach
er has the right to condemn
other mems sins if he spares
his own.
A Sense of Human Need
A Christian leader, being ask
ed what a ''call of God'' is, re-
Piled: "A call consists of realiz-
ing a need and realizing ones
own ability to meet that need"
So it was with Isaiah. He hears
the voice Of God saying who
will go :. ?" and he cries
out, Here am l; send me-"
Not all Gods messengers and
servants have heard lite r a !
sounds that they could have TAX
en- off on a tape recording ma
chine. But the point is always
the same: Men are seldom If
ever aware of the needs Of the
world until God has touched
them. What is it to be a mini
ster Of the Gospel? Without that
strong sense Of God, a minister
is only another career man who