Cleansed by the Thrice Holy God and Sent to Serve
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| "Isaiah under Divine Inspiration" by Marc Chagall |
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him
stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with
two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and
said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His
glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who
called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am
lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having
in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he
touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is
taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:1-6).
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
It sounds like a scene
that could only come from a feverish dream or the computer-generated imagery
(CGI) of the latest Marvel superhero motion picture. The King sits on a throne,
high and lifted up, the train of His robe filling the temple. Above Him are
strange, supernatural creatures, each having six wings, two covering his face,
two his feet, and with two flying. As they cry out, the foundations shake down
to the bedrock, and the whole house is filled with smoke.
But it’s not a feverish
dream, or CGI special effects, it is an historical event. It is the year 740 BC,
the year that King Uzziah died. The prophet Isaiah has a vision of the Lord
sitting on His throne in the inner sanctum of the temple. But it’s hard to tell
if the prophet is seeing the throne room of heaven or the Holy of Holies in the
temple in Jerusalem.
But there’s a good
reason for this confusion: The Holy of Holies is the Lord’s home on earth. When
the temple was first completed and dedicated, the Lord appeared in a cloud of
glory and descended into the Holy of Holies to dwell with His people. In a very
real way, in Isaiah’s time, the Holy of Holies is where heaven and earth come
together, for the one true God is enthroned in both places.
The six-winged
creatures flying above the throne are seraphim, attendants to the Lord Most
High. Little is known about them. This is the only place where these spiritual
beings are mentioned by name in Scripture. They seem to be nobles among the
angels of God and superior in rank. But what is more important than speculation
about their special position among the angels, is the action of these heavenly
beings. With their wings, they hide their faces and cover their feet. They are
not worthy to be in the presence of the Lord, and their actions reveal their
great reverence for Him and their great humility in His presence.
Imagine that! These
powerful and holy creatures consider themselves unworthy to stand with
uncovered feet and faces in the presence of God—so great is His holiness! Isaiah
sees them flying, hovering about the throne and calling out to one another in
praise of the Lord. The chief occupation of these heavenly beings is praise.
Here, they offer an antiphonal hymn as they call to one another, “Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” The truest
worship of God is pure and simple praise and confession. The sound of this
angelic hymn shakes the doorposts and thresholds of the heavenly temple.
The One seated on the
throne is the Thrice Holy: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He alone is
worthy to be praised. He is set apart, perfect in every respect, and exalted above
all things—including the angels of heaven. But God’s holiness also means that
He is separate and opposite from all sin. He hates sin and must destroy sin
like an antiseptic must attack bacteria. He would cease to be holy if He did
not oppose sin and all its consequences.
Realizing he stands in
the presence of the Thrice Holy, Isaiah is terror stricken. “Woe is me!” he
cries out, “For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts!” As he looks upon the Lord in His holiness and glory, Isaiah’s own sin
become clearer. The brighter the light, the more apparent are blemishes,
stains, and scars; the nearer to God’s glory, the more evident is man’s
wretchedness and sinfulness. The contrast is unmistakable, and Isaiah knows
there is nothing he can do to make it any different. He is a dead man, a damned
man.
But the Thrice Holy
Lord can do something. He sends a seraph, who takes a burning coal from the
altar. The seraph touches the coal to Isaiah’s lips and says, “Behold, this has
touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The Lord
makes Isaiah holy through the hand and voice of His ministering spirit. Now,
Isaiah can be in the presence of God and live. Now, Isaiah can speak God’s holy
Word: for the Lord has opened his lips, and Isaiah’s mouth will show forth His
praise. All because the holiness of God exposed the sinfulness of Isaiah,
leading him to repent, and to receive God’s grace and forgiveness.
One of the problems that
the Church encounters today is simply this: people have far too high opinion of
themselves. As long as this is true, they will see little need for Jesus and
His perfect atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Some of this is natural—at
least according to the sinful nature. Blinded by sin, people cannot know how
terribly unholy and apart from God they are. Furthermore, tempted by the devil
to believe that they can be like God, people will find a way to justify the
sins they commit.
You see it in society.
Our culture has made a god out of self-esteem: it teaches that the key to
success is feeling good about yourself. This is a problem in education, where a
prevalent philosophy seems to be that it is better to pass a child who doesn’t
know math, because we don’t want him to feel bad about himself.
It is a huge problem in
matters of morality, where many seem to buy into the idea that, “I’m basically
a good person; so whatever I do must be basically good, too. If you object to
something I do, it’s not that I’m wrong or immoral. The problem is that you’re
intolerant.”
This presents a great
danger in therapy, too: for rather than help a troubled person overcome a
sinful behavior, a therapist might instead help the person feel good about the
sin.
But enough of the
obvious examples in the world. If all we do is point out the troubles of other
people, guess what will happen—we’ll end up feeling like we’re better than them
and good about ourselves!
The harsh reality is
that you have too high opinion of yourself. So do I. It’s that old sinful
nature at work, tempting us to believe that we’re not that bad, that we’re
actually decent people. Now, by the grace of God, you and I are willing to
confess with Scripture that we’re poor miserable sinners; but are we
willing to confess how truly sinful we are? Do we realize how sinful we are? We’re
not just less than we should be; left to ourselves, we’re utterly sinful and unholy,
completely undeserving of God’s grace and mercy. Unfit to come into God’s holy
presence for even a moment.
Please don’t misunderstand:
the point of this sermon is not that you should run away from God. Rather, it
is that you and I are in constant need of repentance for failing to acknowledge
how sinful we are, how undeserving of grace and mercy we are. See, if we think
we’re reasonably good people, we’ll also believe that we’re only partially
sinful. If we think we’re somewhat righteous on our own, we won’t look to
the Lord to credit us with all His righteousness.
The truth from God’s
Law, sounds brutal to protesting sinful ears. We don’t deserve God’s presence
and mercy. We’re far too sinful, and there’s nothing you or I can do about it. But
the Thrice Holy Lord can do something about it, and He has.
The Father sent His
Holy One, Jesus, to live a perfect, sinless, and holy life for you. God’s
sinless Son, became the sacrifice to pay the price for your sins and gain your salvation.
Now when God sees you, He sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You are
now holy in His sight (Colossians 1:22).
Jesus became the sinner
who was forsaken on the cross and cast from the Father’s presence so that you
might dwell with Him forever. Before the Thrice Holy made the world, He chose
you in Christ Jesus to be His child (Ephesians 1:4). Just as Isaiah was cleansed
when the coal from the altar touched his lips, so the Father has cleansed you
in the waters of your Baptism, uniting you to Christ in His death and
resurrection (Romans 6:1-14). In Christ, He made you new creations who love
Him, trust in Him, and have His power to live holy lives. You are now His
saints, His “holy ones.”
As you strive to live
as the saints God created you to be, you are not alone. The Thrice Holy—God the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is with you always. The Holy Spirit given to you
in Baptism works to conform you to the image of Christ. Through daily contrition
and repentance, you put to death the old Adam that your new man would arise to
live in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness forever. At the altar, the
place where heaven and earth meet, Christ feeds you His very body and blood for
the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.
The Lord no longer
holds your sins against you. Instead, He forgives you. He makes you righteous.
He welcomes you into His presence, now and forevermore. Then, He sends you out
into the world to share this Good News with your family, friends, and
neighbors.
There is no greater
hope or comfort than this—but only for repentant sinners. Those who think too
highly of themselves will find little comfort in the news of forgiveness now;
and they will find no comfort in themselves on Judgment Day. But this is not
for you: by the grace of God, you confess your sinfulness. You know it doesn’t
damage you to tell the truth about your sin, but instead frees you from the
slavery that would have you try to make yourself righteous. And as you grow in
faith, you’re not surprised that you feel more sinful—for as you grow in faith,
your recognition of sin will grow, too; but so will the joy and comfort of the
forgiveness that the Lord gives you.
Dear friends, the Lord
has better for you than you feeling good about yourself for a while. Confess
your sins and your sinfulness beyond what you can comprehend; and rejoice to
hear the words of the Thrice Holy Lord:
“Your guilt is taken
away, and your sin atoned for.”
You are forgiven for all
your sins.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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