The Divine Fire of the Holy Lord
Is. 6:1-8
PSCOC
2/11/07
Introduction: The perils of idealistic youth.
When I was a young preaching student I was full of zeal for serving the Lord. The problem was is that I was also full of pride. I remember a particular song that I really identified with by Rebecca St. James called “Here I Am.” Here are the lyrics.
God asks the question, "Whom shall I send?"
Now what will we answer? Will we go and do as he says?
All that he wants is a heart, ready, willing and waiting
Here I am (chorus)
I surrender my life to the use of your plan
Here I am
I will do as you say I will go where you send
Here I am (end chorus)
Jesus commanded us "Go and tell the good news"
For the harvest is many but the workers are so few
All that he wants is a heart, believing, serving and loving him
chorus(repeat)
Lord I give myself to you, my God I trust you
Lord, tell me your ways, show me how to live
Guide me in your truth and teach me my God, my Savior
chorus and repeat
You probably recognize that verse. Isaiah said “Here Am I; send me!” That was me! I was willing to go and do anything. The problem was I had not been where Isaiah had been to get to that point. It was all about me! Isaiah had a vision where he learned his total worthlessness before the Holy Lord. It was only after he came in contact with the divine fire of the Holy Lord that he was ready to say the words that I said in youthful pride. Today, we turn our eyes to the vision of Isaiah in 742 BC (read rext).
Move 1: I’ve seen the Lord!
1. Isaiah the prophet.
Isaiah was probably about 20 the year that King Uzziah died. Isaiah was apparently in the service of the temple, and so we have every reason to believe that he was filled with that idealistic fervor. He already served God. He was better than many of those immoral Judeans, and certainly better than those backsliding northern Israelites. God was surely pleased with him. It is safe to assume that Isaiah was a big fan of King Uzziah. We don’t know if he had the vision prior to his death or after, just that it was in the same year. But Isaiah would’ve known that his death was imminent. Though a righteous king most of his life, Uzziah became filled with pride and attempted to make sacrifices in the temple, though he was not a Levite. God struck Uzziah with leprosy, so began the slow demise of his 52 year reign. But it was an unforgettable reign! The borders were expanded. Commerce was flowing. The military was strong! As his death approached Isaiah and others surely wondered what would happen at the loss of their great king. So, this is the Isaiah that steps into the temple on that fateful day.
2. The vision.
It is hard to imagine what Isaiah saw. Ex. 33:20 tells us that no one can see God and live. That only makes the vision more horrifying. Yet at least in a vision, Isaiah is able to see God in some form. He sees his Adonai. His Lord and Master. The throne is likely the cherubim (angels with wings touching forming a seat to represent the throne of God) on top of the Ark of the Covenant. That he is “high and lofty (NIV exalted)” describes his majesty and his stature, as does the idea of the “hem of his robe filled the whole temple.” The picture this paints for us is a vision of an overwhelming glory and presence of God that fills the entire space of the temple. But that’s not all. The seraphim are literally “the burning ones.” We don’t know what they looked like, but they were blazing angelic attendants, and we don’t know how many. The glory of the Lord is so overwhelming that they not only cover their face, but their feet, and they flew with their other two wings. I don’t care how brave you think you are; there is no way you could witness this manifestation of God and not be absolutely frozen in holy terror. But there’s more!
3. The song.
There are few texts that have inspired more worship than this one. The seraphs are calling to one another; “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” God’s holiness means that he is above all. He is separate from creation. He is the wholly other. There is no other like him. There is no image (idol) that can represent him. He is the I Am. It also speaks to his perfect nature and righteousness. He is perfect and glorious in all ways, incomparable to anything in creation. And you could indicate all that by simply saying that God is holy. But the seraphim say it three times, over and over again! This is a Hebrew way of expressing infinitude! There is no beholding God’s holiness! Furthermore, he is “Yahweh of the hosts!” The angelic armies and the armies of the world are all in submission to him. But there’s more! “…the whole earth is full of his glory!” Do not even begin to think that the temple can contain me, Isaiah! Glory has the meaning of radiant presence. The earth is full of his glory! But there is more! Like Mt. Sinai, the tabernacle, and the dedication of the temple, God manifests his glory in smoke and a shaking of the temple to its very foundation. It was the last straw that forever changed Isaiah’s vision of God.
Excursion: Spiritual Lasik
I have heard people talk about how LASIK dramatically changed the way they saw everything. They could see with greater focus and vividness, in a way they never imagined. Lasik harnesses the power of light in the form of a laser. It is heat that cuts into the retina to correct the vision. They have perfected it so that it is not painful. Isaiah experiences spiritual Lasik that changes the way that he views God and himself. And it is painful. He has come in contact with divine fire and the old way of looking at God and himself has melted away and the reality is unbearable for Isaiah.
Move 2: I am ruined!
“Woe is me! I am ruined (lost NRSV)…” What other conclusion could Isaiah come to? For the first time he sees God as he clearly is, so now he sees himself as he is. He spoke of “unclean lips” to indicate his utter sinfulness and that of the people. No longer could Isaiah see himself apart from the sinfulness of the people. He could only identify with it. So, he’s got a big problem. He has seen God in all his holiness. He has seen his sinfulness helplessly exposed. He expects nothing but the divine fire to consume him completely, and he will be no more.
The NT affirms this image of God; “for indeed our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). But what we so often do is try to bring God down to our level. We cannot handle the implications of a holy God nor or own sinfulness. So, we diminish God and our own sin, and then we have a god that we can handle. We say “O, my God,” as if it were the commonest expression in the English language. We treat God with the same level of respect as we would a genie in a bottle. Just rub your hand together in prayer every now and then and God should give you what you want. It is not a big deal to lie on occasion or to cheat or to curse or to lust…you fill in the blank with your sin of choice. God doesn’t really mind it. Hey, at least, we are better than most. Then one day, we get a glimpse of God’s holiness of his glory. It might just be a touch of what Isaiah saw, but we recognize in that moment that we are dealing with unimaginable holiness and glory. We fall to our knees and we cry out in solidarity with Isaiah, “Woe is me! I am a ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips; and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet I have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts!” Before Isaiah had this vision he was troubled by the loss of an earthly king. He never imagined that he would meet the true King!
Move 3: I am cleansed!
This is a vision that gets stranger and stranger, but there is mercy and love in the midst of the awesome holiness of God. God had every right to consume Isaiah, but he acts in compassion. He sends one of the seraphs with a live coal and he touches Isaiah’s lips. Now I’m sure that hurts. But sometimes what hurts also heals. God did not just shrug his shoulders and say that Isaiah’s sin didn’t matter. He would cease to be holy. Instead of using the divine fire to consume Isaiah, he uses it to cleanse him of sin. He chases away his guilt and he forgives his sins. The remembrance of the burn is reminder that sin is no minor inconvenience. It costs, but it was also a reminder of God’s healing mercy.
It wasn’t a coal that cleansed Isaiah. It was God himself. He would do so ultimately through the incarnate Son. The pain of cleansing sin is not ultimately ours to bear, but it is borne by God. Maybe a burn of the lips would help us remember better what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Maybe we would remember the awesome holiness of God, and that if that holiness had not been shared with us we simply would’ve been destroyed. It is shared through Jesus Christ. God did give us something to remember that cleansing. Read. Rom. 6:1-4. We don’t go on living like we’ve never been cleansed of sin, like we’ve never experienced the holiness of God. Paul says remember what happened at your baptism. It is in the act of faith that God applies the burning coal to our lips, and we are forever cleansed by the blood of Christ.
Move 4: I am sent!
It is only now that we are ready to say “Here Am I; send me!” It isn’t a mantra of pride. It isn’t a statement of I’m so brave and loyal that I will do what others won’t do. How could we say or do anything else? It is simply our reality when we encounter the holy God and experience his cleansing. What else are we going to say when God calls? I’m busy. I’ve got to take care of something else first. I want to have fun first. Whatever it is, such a statement only betrays the reality of never having met the Lord of hosts who is holy, holy, holy, or one has forgotten that divine encounter, which unfortunately is all too possible (see the entire history of Israel). But this text isn’t about anyone telling you to go and do what God asks. When we’ve seen God in this way and we realize what he’s done for us, no one will have to tell us anything. We will simply say, “Here Am I; send me!”
I don’t know what your Isaiah moment will be. Maybe it is today, as you have truly seen the holiness of God for the first time and you have become acutely aware of your need for his cleansing. If that’s you, then I am going to tell you how you can receive God’s forgiveness this very day. I do know this. When you have seen your need in the way Isaiah did, you are ready to do go through anything to be healed. Thankfully, God has made it easy for us to come to him.
I can think of two moments in my life that drove this vision home. Once I had purposely and willfully rebelled against God to embrace sins I thought I had left behind. The next day I was so overwhelmed by my own sinfulness I wept until I couldn’t cry anymore. I also felt the coal on my lips. I knew God’s grace again. Another time I was simply reading the story of Gethsemane alone in my office in Denton. Unexpectantly, I started to weep. I was overwhelmed that my sin cost so much and that my holy God loved me so much that he would endure that suffering for me. I want to close with the lyrics of another song, one that recognizes this full implications of this text My Offering…
Magnificent Holy Father
I stand in awe of all I see
Of all the things You have created
But still You choose to think of me
Who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to set me free
The only thing that I can give You
Is the life You gave to me
This is my offering, dear Lord
This is my offering to You, God
And I will give You my life
For it’s all I have to give
Because You gave Your life for me
I stand before You at this altar
So many have given You more
I may not have much I can offer
Yet what I have is truly Yours
This is my offering
Invitation: Be touched by the divine fire.
God has shown us his holiness and his mercy in Jesus Christ. It is through faith that we accept that gift and live a new reality, basking in the holiness of God. It is in baptism that we meet the cleansing blood of Christ. If you need his cleaning, today….
