“In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord” (Isaiah 6:1). So began a recent sermon. The preacher then went on to explain how extra-ordinary this experience for Isaiah was. Even Elijah and Moses did not see the face of the Lord. Elijah “wrapped his face in his mantle” (1 Kings 19:11-13). Moses saw the back of the Lord: “you cannot see My face and live”. (Exodus 33:20).
At On Fire Mission this morning, we sang a song with the words “I want to see your face, Lord” In our lives we can do this by seeing God in the faces of those we meet. We all have a spark of the Holy Spirit within us, and in some people that shines out brilliantly.
We are privileged to have lived in a time that Francis was pope. As a most powerful Christian figure, he led a life of humility and compassion for God’s people. He even stipulated that at his funeral he should be welcomed into church by criminals, poor, and needy people.
He lived his life trying to act out the Gospel message.
“One does not proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one’s desk or at one’s computer, arguing like ‘keyboard warriors’ and replacing the creativity of proclamation with copy and paste ideas taken from here and there. The Gospel is proclaimed by moving, by walking and by going.” Pope Francis, 12 April 2023. This seems quite relevant for us in the BCF.