Intro
What it would be like to see God and gaze upon His glory? We think it would be an awesome sight, don’t we? Oh, no doubt, it would fill us with awe--so much that fear would seize every corpuscle of our being. But it would not be awesome; it would be awe-full.
Main Body
Just listen to Isaiah’s experience. He got to see with his eyes the invisible world. It was the year King Uzziah died, and in a vision Isaiah saw earth drop away and heaven become visible. Isaiah saw the Lord, Yahweh, sitting on His throne, high and lifted up. The hem of His robe filled the earthly temple like billows of sweet incense. And above, the angels of fire were flying, six-winged, many-eyed, and covering their faces in humility before the Lord. As they flew, they kept crying out: “Holy One, holy One, holy One is Yahweh of Armies!”
The earthly Temple was quaking at the voice of the heavenly liturgy, and the smoke of the incense filled the house with glory. And what did Isaiah say--or what didn’t he say? He didn’t say, “Wow, how cool! I’ve always wanted to see God with my own eyes and now I am. Yeah, sweet!”
No, what did Isaiah say? He said, instead: “I’m doomed! I’m silenced. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am living among a people of unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies.” Isaiah thought he was dead meat. For you see, to lay eyes on God, as Isaiah testifies, is terrifying. Isaiah sees God and fear rips to the core of his inner soul.
Strange--why should the sight of God terrify and alarm Isaiah? Isn’t God good? Ah, but that’s why Isaiah is afraid--because God is good! God’s goodness is no comfort to Isaiah. For Isaiah is no different from me or you: we have unclean lips and are living among a people of unclean lips. Every lie, every hateful word, every piece of twisted gossip that has dripped from our lips has stained them with sin. And so we have nothing to say to make amends or right our wrongs with God. Like Isaiah, we too are struck silent.
Yes, as Isaiah found out, the worst place to be, for someone who doesn’t even have an excuse, is to be in God’s presence. He was doomed, damned, headed for destruction, and without defense. His guilt was too great. His sin was too shameful. There in the presence of the Truth, he could not lie about who he was. He could not fake it. He was exposed, vulnerable, and naked before God.
But look at the fiery angels flying in God’s presence. They cover their eyes and their feet. What are they doing? They’re holy, confirmed in the grace they received in creation. These are God’s servants who cast down Satan and his devils. They are without sin. They are without any reason for fear.
But even these fiery angels cover their eyes. They bow their heads in reverence. They do not look at the Lord who created them. Other than God, who is more holy than these fiery angels? And yet they cry out, “holy One, holy One, holy One,” chanting their confession in the liturgy for all to hear.
But Isaiah has seen the Lord. He stands in God’s presence: Isaiah who was conceived in iniquity, born in sin--Isaiah, the man of unclean lips. No wonder he cries out, “I’m doomed!” Isaiah couldn’t stand in the presence of the Lord’s majesty. He was only a man and he was not holy. It is as the Book of Deuteronomy says, “The LORD God is a consuming fire”--a fire that destroys the ungodly (Deut 4:24).
So repent! Like Isaiah, learn humility in the presence of God. Learn to say, “I’m doomed” and mean it. Tremble with awe at the holiness of God. Fall down before Him, knowing that you are but dust. Join Isaiah in saying, “I’m doomed” and mean it. Lay bare the foulness of your sins. Learn to fear God--for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
But that’s just the beginning. For wisdom is more than fearing God. Isaiah learns this as he is trembling and weeping, a fallen creature before the perfect God. Isaiah sees a fiery angel thrust a pair of tongs into the fire of God’s altar. He plucks a glowing ember, burning hot, and wings it toward him.
With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, the fiery coal flies toward his mouth. The angel sears the mouth of the Seer; he purges the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah’s lips are purified, and yet, and yet, he feels no pain but, instead, a beautiful release. The angel whispers: “This [coal] has touched your lips--and [so] your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for.”
Dear sinner, behold the mercy of God! Isaiah doesn’t burn into a cinder. God who is an all-consuming fire does not consume him. Did you notice what the angel didn’t do? The angel didn’t tell Isaiah that his guilt and sin weren’t real, as if sin doesn’t matter to a holy and righteous God. No, the angel told him that the coal had touched his lips--and Isaiah was pulled from the wreckage of his guilt and sin.
On his mouth, Isaiah received what was sacrificed in his place. It was put in his mouth and made him clean. That which had appeased God’s wrath for him was joined to him--and so he could rejoice and sing. He, too, sang praise to the Triune God: “holy One, holy One, holy One.”
Now Isaiah, like the fiery angels, is holy. The Almighty has declared it to be, and it is so. God’s Word does what it says. Isaiah has been redeemed. He calls the second Person of the holy Trinity, the Incarnate God of Moses and of Abraham, the One-and-Only from the Father from whom the Spirit proceeds, Brother.
But today, you have it better than Isaiah. For what Isaiah had was in a vision, in signs and pictures. Today, you have reality. And what is this reality? Today, the burning ember that is the body and blood of the Son of God will be taken from the altar of the cross at Jesus’ command to touch your lips that you may be pulled from the wreckage of your guilt and sin. All the life that is in His death touches you: His body, now resurrected and glorified and forever beyond the grave, the pledge of eternal life, touches your lips.
For today, the Lord Jesus’ most holy body and precious blood are here to touch your lips and make you clean. Today, heaven bends to take your sins and send them all away. For Jesus has died for your sins, and was raised from the dead. And now His body and blood carry that eternal life and that power of sacrificial-forgiveness. As Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day” (John 6:54).
You can’t pull yourself up to heaven. You can’t reach the heights and loftiness of the most-holy Trinity. But thank God you don’t need to, for your heavenly Father has sent His Son. He came down from heaven to be your brother. And as the true and righteous brother that He is, our Lord Jesus endures your suffering, carries your cross, dies your death, and restores and renews your life.
Christ Jesus unites you to His Father--and that’s the only reason we now have the right to call God our Father. And yet, in a wonderful and comforting way, our Lord Jesus more intimately binds and unites you to your God, making His Persons one with your person. And that happens in his holy Supper. For in His Supper, by receiving Christ’s body and blood, you commune with God and live in Him, just as He communes with you and lives in you.
And so today, a servant of God’s Word, without wings, at God’s direction, will take from this Altar the body sacrificed and risen and place its fire to your lips. Your guilt will be removed. Your sin will be forgiven. And you will receive what was sacrificed in your place for your sins: Jesus’ body and blood. It will be put into your mouth and make you clean. That which has appeased God’s wrath for you will be joined to you. And so like Isaiah, you can rejoice and sing.
Like the fiery angels, like Isaiah, you are holy. Jesus Christ has redeemed you. You can now call the second Person of the holy Trinity, the Incarnate God of Moses and of Abraham, the One-and-Only from the Father from whom the Spirit proceeds, Brother. You belong to God; He has spared you. He has named you in baptism. You belong to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You have been born from above through water and the Word.
Conclusion
And so, beloved, rejoice that this gift of salvation is yours. Rejoice that the whole holy Trinity is bent on your salvation. The Father so loves you that He sent the Son to die for you, and He has not left you as an orphan, but has sent the Spirit to comfort you with His Word and Sacraments.
And each time that the Lord so feeds you, He confirms his New Covenant with you again. For the steadfast love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit endures forever. Amen.
