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One of the purposes of the first “week” of the Spiritual Exercises is summarized with the word “purgation.” It’s a time to acknowledge patterns of sin in our lives, how those sins have hindered relationship and mission with God, and how God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy cleanse those sins. It’s not intended to be intellectual, but experiential. Participants are to once again experience the depth of sin and its consequences and the free and flowing forgiveness of God.
Toward that end, my spiritual director has me meditating and contemplating upon one of the most visceral texts in Scripture: Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord (Is. 6). Warren Wiersbe provides a helpful summary of the experience:
- He saw the Lord.
- He saw himself.
- He saw the need.
Just as Isaiah saw a stunning and overwhelming vision of the majesty, sovereignty and holiness of the Lord, so today I seek to see the Lord. In all his majesty. In all his sovereignty. In all his holiness.
Just as Isaiah saw himself as a man of “unclean lips” living just like the rest of his culture (a people of “unclean lips), so today I seek to see myself. The me I hide from everyone else. The me who thinks and acts just like the rest of the culture around me.
And, just as Isaiah received the removal of guilt and atonement for sin, so today I seek to be touched by the glowing grace of God.
Finally, just as Isaiah saw the need-the need for those still with unclean lips to experience what he experienced, so today I seek to see the need of the world around me-a world desperate for God.
