Seeing God gives you a new sense of how utterly inadequate you are compared to the steadfast love of God.  Quite the opposite of bad self-esteem; this is true self-esteem - seeing ourselves for who we are, creatures who are small and who have done nothing to deserve this love.  But love us and reveal herself God does. 

But, thirdly, however beautiful rapture or humility is, neither one is the point of seeing God.  Those are only steps to the real point - mission.  Seeing God is seeing your mission.

After Isaiah has been cleansed, God asks, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"  (Odd that God says "us," but it reminds us that in the Old Testament, God is never alone but always accompanied by the host of heaven.)  Isaiah shouts out, probably without thinking, "Here am I.  Send me."  Likewise, Jesus tells the prostrate Peter, "Don't be afraid.  From now on you'll catch people."  (Fishing for people, like shepherding, was an image the early church used for its ministry.)  Peter hasn't been given a glimpse of God for his own benefit.  He has seen God for the benefit of others; he has seen God in a way that moves him to follow Jesus and make disciples.

Stanley Hauerwas, a seminary professor at Duke Divinity School, would counsel future ministers, "When a couple comes to you, telling you they're in love, and asking you to marry them, tell them, ‘I'm glad you feel that way, but can you share a bank account?'"  It was his joking way of saying that when it comes to marriage, being in love is wonderful, and it starts the process of a lifelong commitment.  But it's not what holds your life together because that feeling can go away.  Plus, he would point out, it may be that being in love is a kind of blissful ignorance that keeps you from knowing what you're doing when you marry - if you really knew what you were doing, you might never do it!

All of this is to say that, in seeing God, like getting married, if ALL you do is focus on the emotion and the splendor of the vision (or being in love) you'll miss the point entirely.  The point is that seeing God is God's way of commissioning you to service.  The point of being in love is to drive you to a deeper commitment.

It's remarkable and probably foolish, but God carries out his purposes through human followers - prophets, priests, kings, even disciples like Peter or apostles untimely born like Paul.  Or followers like you and me in this parish. 

Fourth, seeing God turns things upside down.  After seeing the Lord Peter leaves everything to follow him.  This great catch of fish is surely good news for Peter's business; only Peter's business is no longer catching fish but catching people.  Isaiah sees and hears God clearly; but now his job is to prophesy to a people who can't see with their eyes or hear with their ears.