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Holy and Set Apart

Christmas and EpiphanyWorship, Epiphany and Public WitnessWeek 6 · Day 5

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Isaiah 6:1-8

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.

3 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”

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4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.

7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”

8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

New Testament

1 Peter 2:4-10

4 Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.

5 You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be disappointed.”

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7 For you who believe therefore is the honour, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”

8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offence.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

10 In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Thought for the Day

Isaiah’s vision begins with splendour and ends with a trembling honesty. The Lord is high and lifted up; the house is filled; thresholds shake; the air is thick with smoke; the song is ‘Holy, holy, holy.’ And Isaiah’s first words are confession. In the presence of holiness there is no room for posed virtue.

Lord, make us holy in the way you are holy: truthful, gentle, fearless of confession, ready to serve. Cleanse our speech, and send us into the world with mercy.

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He speaks of ‘unclean lips’ and of living among a people of unclean lips. Holiness reaches into speech, into public talk, into the words by which we bless or wound. Yet the vision is not meant to crush him. A coal touches his lips; guilt is taken away. Only then comes the question: ‘Whom shall I send?’

Holiness, in Scripture, is not superiority. It is cleansing that makes a person usable for love. Peter dares to name the Church in the same key: living stones, a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, a holy people. Not for boasting, but for proclamation; not for separation that despises, but for a distinct life that blesses and tells the truth about God.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Holy God, make us honest in your light, and cleanse what is unclean in us
  • Form your Church as a holy people who are gentle, truthful, and full of mercy
  • Strengthen Christians in public witness, that our lives would match our worship
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  • Forgive our pride and our harshness, and give us humility that can be sent
  • Gather us as brethren at your table, proclaiming your excellencies with quiet joy
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