Sermon for Sunday February 7th, 2010

Sermon Theme: A Holy, Righteous, and Loving God

Sermon Text: Isaiah 6:1-8

Holy, Holy, Holy: Isaiah 6

What would you do if you saw God face to face? When I say see God face to face I don't mean that we are looking at a picture of Jesus patting the children on the head, which is pretty common artwork that many of you might have in your own homes. I mean what would you do if you saw God face to face with the gloves off. What would you do if you walked into church just a few hours early or stayed after everyone had left and right there, where that wooden cross is, it suddenly disappeared and in its place you saw opened the very throne room of God. There in the middle sat the Almighty in all of his Glory and He looked at you. What would you do?

Some of us might think that this is a great opportunity. We might say, "Lord there have been some questions that I have been dying to ask you? First, off how is aunt Myrtle? What about those dinosaurs? Can you explain to me about Pre-destination? Pastor Haugen tried once but no one really quite knows what he is talking about so this is great. I have all these questions?" If you think this would be you than great.

But what is interesting is that regardless of time, person, or situation, whenever someone in the Old Testament was confronted by God, their answers were unanimous. Their answers were all the same. They all said, to a person, "Oh no!!! Woe is me!!! I'm gonna die!" Because when they were confronted with the honor, glory, power, majesty of God, out went all the questions, out of their mind went all the concerns or points of debate. The only thing they realized was that they were small, sinful beings, standing before the awesome unrelenting Holiness of God. So they stood their, with no defense, no response, they just stood, waiting to get zapped like the folks got zapped at the end of Indiana Jones and the raiders of the Lost Ark.

This is an important point for us to remember. For in our world we often have this picture of God as this rather friendly old grandfatherly like being, who just wants us to find him, and when we do, regardless of what we have done wrong, He just sort pats us on the head and says everything is going to be okay. Some of these images are not 100 percent wrong. But what has happened is that God in our world today has become this sort of safe toothless entity. Some folks, even in Christian churches, doubt that He created the heavens and the earth. Some others have divorced him from the Old Testament. Some folks think that our God of the New Testament is not that bloody God that lead the children of Israel into battle and demanded sacrifices. He is not that God that set up a sacrificial system that made streams run red with blood. He is not that God whose Holiness is so untouchable that when Uzzah touches the Ark of the Covenant he was struck dead.

So what has happened today is that all fear, trepidation, and unease has been removed from the picture of God. I must admit that thinking of him as just this friendly being is a lot more appealing. After all who wants this entity that is so holy, so powerful, and so awesome? Who wants this God who sits on his throne and will allow no other? Who wants this God who doesn't look approvingly on sin but says judgment will come? No, it is quite understandable that many folks would want a Barney God who just sings and dances about love, a God who never makes us feel uncomfortable, and a God who doesn't demand a whole lot from us.

But the problem with this is that this is not the God that Isaiah saw. This is not the God that confronts us this morning. The God of Isaiah is a rather uncompromising God. His Glory fills the temple. His power is unquestionable. He is so Holy that the angels that attend to him can't just have two wings, but have to have six because even the angels have to have some protection between this holy uncompromising God.

The angels, their song reflects this power, holiness and glory of this uncompromising uncomfortable God, because they sing, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Then just to add a exclamation point of who this entity is the foundations even shake and all is filled with smoke just like on Mt. Sinai and all other places God appeared of old.

So there is no question or wondering why Isaiah says, "woe to me." Isaiah doesn't throw up some defense and say, "Hey God I have certain Israelite inalienable rights, or according to certain philosophies or theories you really can't be this holy and uncompromising." No, before this God all defenses fall away. Before the throne of God Isaiah realizes that this God has every right to destroy the sinner, to destroy each and every one of us, and it wouldn't be evil, it wouldn't be unjust, it wouldn't be an unfair genocide, it would be just what ever sinner truly deserves before the throne of the God who is holy.

But then the really neat part occurs. Isaiah says, "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.'"

Fire is still one of those very basic things in life. Get a group of men around a fire and you could swear they are literally reverting back in time. Fire definitely has some pretty negative connotations to it. If you have ever been burned then you know that pain is about as bad as it gets. But fire also has positive implications to it. Fire can sterilize and clean. Fire is important in purifying metals. So it shouldn't seem strange to us that fire is used as a symbol as that which purifies Isaiah. This is holy fire, it is an image, Isaiah didn't come away from this scene burned, but he did come away from it clean.

What is amazing about this God who is so Holy, and His Glory is so powerful, is we tend to always think about this scene in terms of Isaiah's perspective. But look at it like this. Here you have this Holy all powerful God who does not just sit up in his throne room high in heaven, look down upon those poor sinful humans in disdain, but He brings it, all of it, down to earth. He brings it to Isaiah, where he takes a purifying coal from his altar and takes away Isaiah's sin.

I bet Isaiah walked the rest of His days assured and confident that before His Holy uncompromising, all powerful God He stood clean, because God had brought the throne room of heaven and its cleansing coals down for that very purpose. You could have told Isaiah a thousand times that you doubted him and his story and he wouldn't have cared. The Holy God had come near to make him right. Who was He to doubt?

See if we have a friendly, nonchalant, grandfatherly type God who just sort of pats us on the head and says, "Little Timmy, everything is going to be okay." We might think to ourselves ya that's nice. I feel sort of warm and fuzzy about that but it doesn't necessarily change much about how we view the world or our lives.

But if we have the Isaiah God, the God who is Holy, Holy, Holy, who takes something from His altar and touches it to our lips and says we are clean then we probably tend to believe Him. We might just think something truly unique, something truly unbelievable has happened. We might just want to go tell someone about it. We might just think that the Lord of Hosts with His powerful throne has come near and done something utterly amazing. It might just have the possibility of changing everything about us and everything about how we view our lives, because the Lord of Hosts has come down to us, spoken to us and He does not lie.

So here we sit today. Here we sit in the new temple of the Lord. We may not get the straight unblocked shot into the throne room of God. But the scene is still strangely similar. We have these folks behind me, who some of them perhaps look a little more angelic than others, I'll let you be the judge, taking on the role of the angels. When we get close to the Lord's Supper where we say Jesus, the Holy Almighty powerful God, comes down to us we too sing with the whole chorus of angels, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory." Then we all go up to where the Lord is; knowing full well that we have unclean lips of a people of unclean lips. Then something purifying too comes from the altar of the Lord to us. I guess in this image pastor Koenig must be one of the angels too.

After we eat and we drink we too have the same promise coming from Jesus, the Holy Almighty Powerful God that "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Only if all this, comes from a Holy Triune God whose promises mean just what He says they mean, and whose Holiness is as powerful as He says it is, can we have the confidence to say, "Amen, yes this is true." So it is important that we have Isaiah's God. The God who can still shake the heavens and earth and us. Because only a God that powerful can bring us forgiveness that is so sure that if he says it: who are we to doubt.

This is why right after the purifying when the Triune God says, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?", the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Isaiah had the confidence to say, "Here I am send me send me." So too in your lives because we have a Holy God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that has come down to us today do we have the strength and courage to say, "Yes Lord as you send me out into this world help me to be a blessing to those around me. Help me to love those whom you have given me to love. Whether this is LLL, the folks in Haiti, or just my family and those who surround me, send me. For you are the Holy God and if you say you have forgiven me and you are with me, then surely you are. I may not see, but I know all the same that there are angels that follow me, there is a triune God who guides me upon His path."

So as you come up today to receive the Lord's body and blood, the purifying coal from His altar. Remember the scene from Isaiah. It may be a little clouded and covered. The angels may not quite have the same pretty wings. But the same promise is still coming to you modern day Isaiahs. So as you go out to wherever the Lord has sent each and everyone of you may the true powerful uncompromising God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, comfort you with His words of sure uncompromising Grace. Amen.