Really useful

 

Philipp Melanchthon once enquired of his mentor Martin Luther about some people who had professed faith in Christ, wondering whether their faith was genuine. Luther wrote to him, saying that in order to explore whether they were genuine or not, “… you should inquire whether they have experienced spiritual distress and the divine birth, death and hell. If you should hear that all [their experiences] are pleasant, quiet, devout (as they say), and spiritual, then don’t approve them.” As so often with Luther, his reply is both slightly disturbing and deeply pastoral.

And he is saying nothing more than the prophet Isaiah experienced. Do you know the story in Isaiah chapter 6? First, he has a vision of the awesome holiness of God (‘I saw the Lord seated on a throne … “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty’”, verses 1,3), and immediately sees his own desperate sinfulness (‘“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!”’, verse 4), which is then wonderfully met by God’s amazing forgiveness (‘“… your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for”’, verse 7), which in turn leads to him becoming useful to the Lord (“Whom shall I send?”’, asks the Lord, and Isaiah famously responds, “Here am I. Send me!”, verse 8).

Holiness… sinfulness… forgiveness… That is the path to genuine Christian faith and experience, a path that then leads to genuine usefulness to God.