In 1955, the Tappan Stove Company introduced the first home microwave. That same year, Jonas Salk found a way to prevent polio with the Salk vaccine. The world’s first successful commercial jet airliner, the Boeing 707-120, was used for mass air travel. In 1960, the first birth control pill was approved, and the first pacemaker was successfully implanted in a human.
Bar codes, supercomputers, GPS, Microsoft Word, and DNA fingerprinting followed over the next 15 years. Ten years later, Facebook was born, followed by the iPhone, Siri, and the COVID and malaria vaccines.
What does this have to do with being a messenger? It has to do with bravery in stepping out into new territory — just like Isaiah did.
Trees and prophets share one commonality: both are planted for the future. Nonetheless, both are often overlooked or ignored — as was Isaiah. Now, Isaiah didn’t set out to be the greatest prophet ever. He recognized his shortcomings and frailties as a human. Isaiah was mortified by the doorposts and thresholds of the temple shaking, it being filled with smoke and the sound of the seraphs singing praises to God.
“Woe to me!” I cried,” Isaiah says in Isaiah 6:5. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
The prophet then continues in Isaiah 6:6-8: “Then one of the Seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it, he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
That was Isaiah’s commission from the Lord. The prophet was so overwhelmed with being cleansed of all his sins that he willingly committed to a lifetime ministry. God chose Isaiah as one who accomplished his mission with care for people, especially for those who were hurting. Isaiah’s message brought about universal justice.
Establishing justice is not just for our leaders. Indeed, it is the responsibility of the individual. Someone recently asked a group of graduates what was most important to them: diversity or unity. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of diversity. That is somewhat unsettling to me, as I understand it.
Diversity refers to the collective mixture of differences and similarities along a given dimension, whereas unity refers to oneness. From my viewpoint, unity is most important.
The general definition of a messenger (I am not referring to Facebook Messenger) is someone who carries a message or runs an errand for someone else, often as a duty or business matter. It can be anyone who facilitates communication or conveys information from one party to another. Messengers play a crucial role in connecting people.
We are all messengers, whether for good or evil. The words we speak and the actions we take send a clear message. We should strive for our message to be one of unity and justice. We should exude calm confidence in representing our Savior, not shouting or forcing our beliefs on others. We must try reaching the spiritually deaf and blind to the good news.
John the Baptist was sent as a messenger to prepare the way of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Then Jesus was sent as His father’s messenger as the light of the world to pave our way into salvation through grace.
Read the Book of Malachi — it is only four chapters. Its main message is that the people’s relationship with God was broken because of their sins, and that they would soon be punished. But the few who repented would receive God’s blessing, highlighted in His promise to send a Messiah.
Malichi had a message for the evil priests and the sinful people: we cannot separate our dealings with God from the rest of our life. He must be the Lord of our life in its entirety. Much can be learned from reading Malachi. We must strive to be a messenger for what is right.
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