Pastor Chris Royce
Sermon Text: (Isaiah 6:1-8)
Sunday May 30, 2021
If your favorite celebrity was standing right in front of you, right now, what would you say? What would you do?
It’s pretty rare, but on occasion it happens. People like us get to intersect with “someone famous”. Kids at a Seahawks game who sit close to the field can reach their arms out, hoping that one of the players (maybe even Russell Wilson!) will come by and hi-five them as they head into the locker room. Your favorite author is doing a book signing and you’re next in line to greet her. Not only did you win concert tickets from the radio station, but you also scored VIP meet-and-greet passes and you can go backstage before the show to meet the band. Or, maybe you’re just walking around Seattle and who happens to pass you on the sidewalk? One of the stars from the primetime drama you love watching. Again, meeting a celebrity is rare, but it’s not impossible. Maybe you’ll eagerly come up to me after the service and tell me about “that one time” you got that autograph or picture. And even if you don’t have a favorite celeb or artist or author anymore, I bet that once upon a time, you did. So, back to my original question – if its just the two of you, face-to-face, what would you say? What would you do? Maybe your jaw would hit the floor, you’d start shaking, just overcome with excitement. Maybe you’d suppress your emotions and do everything in your power to play it cool. What would you say to them? Would you babble on and on about what they and their work mean to you? Would you ask questions? Would you say nothing and just stand there, starstruck? I’m sure however you envision a celebrity encounter in your mind, all bets are off when you’re right there, encountering them live and in the flesh.
If you were standing right in front of the throne of God, what would you say and what would you do? One of the most popular Christian songs ever written talks about this very subject. “I Can Only Imagine” by the band MercyMe. Maybe you’ve heard the song before – “Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel? Would I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still? Would I stand in your presence (or) to my knees would I fall, would I sing hallelujah, would I be able to speak at all?” This beautiful song asks a number of questions of what it would be like. But our lesson this morning from Isaiah gives us the answer. When mortals like us encounter our holy God, the King of Kings – two things always happen – we’re pierced by the law and we’re soothed by the good news of free forgiveness.
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah was given an incredible opportunity – he got to see God. Now if you know a bit of Bible background, it might surprise you that he got to experience this. Isn’t it impossible for a human being to “see God” and live? In the book of Exodus, Moses wanted to see God face to face, and yet God said “No” – because, in God’s own words “no one can see God’s face and live.” But also in Exodus, it says that Moses and Aaron and other Israelite leaders saw God, and ate and drank on Mount Sinai – Exodus 24:10. No one can see God’s face and live, but in Genesis – Jacob gives the place where he wrestled with God a special name because he saw God face to face, and his life was spared.” I could keep going with more examples like this, but it almost seems to be a contradiction in the Bible. The truth is, despite the clear warning God gave, he still allowed certain people in the Old Testament to partially witness him, see him.
And how did Isaiah feel when he got to see God? Excited, joyful, eager, blessed? Nope. Miserable. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” If you got to meet your favorite celebrity, you would be a bit nervous, yes, but happy, excited and eager. Isaiah got to feast his eyes on the king of this universe, and the first words that came out of his mouth were: “Woe is me”! Why was Isaiah so distraught? Because he had just encountered a holy God. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.
What does holy mean? This came up a couple weeks ago in one of our services here at Messiah, but since we use this word around here so often, it’s good for us to know it well. “Holy” means “sacred” or “set apart”. There is no one like our God. He stands alone as God and Ruler of the entire universe. He has no beginning and end, whereas we are born and then we die. He knows all things, he is everywhere – there’s no way we can be like that. Most importantly, God is perfect – but we’re all the same. We’re all sinners. Because Adam and Eve sinned one time and broke God’s commands, all human beings are doomed to die. Since God is holy and perfect, that’s what we too need to be in order to dwell in his presence. If you want to go to heaven when you die, you need to be perfect. No wonder Isaiah’s first words were “Woe is me” and “I am ruined”! Not one of us deserves to stand in the presence of a good and perfect God. Whenever we receive this sad, painful reminder in our sermons, services, and Bible lessons – this is called God’s law at work on our hearts.
But then, you see what happens next to Isaiah: Then one of the seraphim (angels) flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” It was as simple as that. Unasked, unforced, unearned – mercy is extended to this troubled and weary soul. Isaiah’s problem, in his own words, was that he was unclean to stand before a spotless LORD. Now, he was made clean. He himself was guilty of sins, I mean – not only that but he also said that just by virtue of where he lives (living among a people of unclean lips) – that he didn’t deserve to be here. Well, the guilt was taken away. His sins were wiped away, forgiven, atoned for. Atonement is another important Bible word you’ll come across. Maybe this helps us understand it. Atonement means we are at – one with God. If I owe you money, we are not “at one” with each other, because I’m in debt to you. But when you say “no, forget about it – you don’t have to pay me back, we’re good” the debt is erased and we are all squared up, “at one” with each other again. Spiritually, it’s the same thing. Our sins had us in enormous debt to God, but unasked, unforced, unearned – he has good news to give us – we’re forgiven of all our sins and we are now at – one with God, because Christ has washed us clean by his powerful blood and sacrifice. So now, when God looks at us mere mortals, believers in him – he sees perfection. We can look forward to heaven and dwelling in God’s house forever. Whenever we receive this happy, uplifting reminder in our sermons, services, and Bible lessons – this is called God’s gospel (or good news) at work on our hearts.
Unfortunately, we don’t get to have an incredible encounter with God like Isaiah got to experience here. Someday, in heaven we will get this, but not ours just yet. However, we still have encounters with God in everyday life, don’t we? Anytime we crack open our Bibles and hear this living and active word, we get to have an encounter with God. Whenever we come to worship, as a church body we come together as a group and have an encounter with God – together we learn the truths of his word and receive forgiveness and comfort from the fount of every blessing. Whenever we encounter God in his Word, the Bible – two things happen to us just like what happened to Isaiah. We’re pierced with the law and soothed with the gospel. It’s so important for us to drill home both of these vital Bible teachings every single Sunday – the law and the gospel. Because everyday, we need to hear both.
Every Sunday when you come here to encounter God, you need to hear the reminder that your unclean lips, your dirty minds, your filthy hands, and your sin-stained heart puts you in the same boat as Isaiah. There is no way that you can stand before God and feel good about it. And if this scene happened to you right now, you would react in the same way he did. You are hopeless standing before a holy God. The world tries to teach us all kinds of lies about God. “God wants me to be happy” or “God hates the sin but loves the sinner”. Psalm 5 doesn’t hold back. For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; Be reminded this morning who God really is – he’s not a divine buddy who let’s anyone who says “I’m a good person” get into heaven. He is a holy God whom we offend everyday by our sins. He ought to send us to hell. And yes, this is the pot calling the kettle black. All of this applies as much to me as it does to you. Woe is us, we are ruined. Does it strike you as strange that we come here Sunday after Sunday to hear how wretched we are and to openly confess it? Why do we stress our hopeless condition Sunday after Sunday?
Because it makes the good news, the gospel, all the sweeter. If my sins aren’t a big deal, then the good news isn’t that big of a deal. But our sins they are many – his mercy is more! If you think the harsh news is intense – all the more burning and intense is God’s love for you. He still deals with our many sins – but he does it by putting them on Jesus when he died on Calvary. Who would punish their only Son like that? That’s how much God loves you! Who would go to such great lengths to make us sinners at-one with him? God. Who would be wronged constantly day-in and day out and yet keep no track of it? That’s our God.
How powerful was this good news for Isaiah, specifically? Look what happens at the end here. Isaiah says Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” What was Isaiah about to go do? Read the rest of chapter 6 later…it’s just 4 more verses. It’s honestly depressing. Isaiah was going to go be God’s mouthpiece to the rebellious nation of Judah. And Isaiah would have some very depressing truths to say to them. Kinda like what I was talking about a few minutes ago. But you know what else? Some of the most beautiful good news in all of the Bible comes from Isaiah’s mouth. Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength – that’s Isaiah. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. That’s Isaiah. By his wounds we are healed – Isaiah. We bring up the honest, harsh reality because it shows us just how amazing God’s acts are!
When we encounter God ourselves in the Word, in worship or when we tell of our God to others – we always do it with both law and gospel. Never one or the other, always both. Because through law and gospel we learn of our holy, like-no-other God. A God who always has zero tolerance for sin. But also, a God who forever has zero memory of sins and forever endless limits to his love. Amen.
