Isaiah 6:1-8

(sermon note:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.’

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ 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!’

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a man who had done only minor sins and died one day. He stood before God at the gates of heaven where his whole life was being judged. After a few moments of silence, God decided that the man was indeed worthy of heaven, but he must do a few tasks to repent for his few sins. On the first day, he had to wash filthy plates such that he had never seen before. On the second day, he had to make up the beds in which all the saints had laid in the night before. On the third day, he was asked to iron clothes which were worn by God himself. While he was ironing, he thought to himself, “Am I repenting or did I just get married?!”

As the designated cook/bathroom cleaner/lawn maintainer in our household, I can say there is no shame in pulling your own weight with household chores. Sure, it can feel like you’re atoning for marital discrepancies at times, but it also feels good to be a contributing partner in maintaining the household. And getting married doesn’t exempt you from household chores altogether. Only a fool would believe otherwise! No, a marriage is a partnership in which both partners contribute to the upkeep of the household. Double the dirt but also double the hands. Basic guidelines for a successful marriage…

But highlighting that wisdom about successful marriages isn’t why I lifted up that funny this morning. No, that man had a struggle that is similar to a struggle of Isaiah’s: it’s a struggle of feeling a sense of worthiness. In his vision, Isaiah stood before the awesome throne of God with angels bowing before God and praising him, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The angels understand the importance of God and the mighty power of our God and can’t help but praise God for all his glory. Nevertheless, Isaiah was so caught up in his own guilt and sense of unworthiness that he just couldn’t get past it and praise God. He didn’t feel he was worthy enough to be in God’s presence let alone praise him. “Woe is me! For I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” Such guilt, such shame in the presence of our Lord. Who among us would feel such shame for simply the words that came out of their mouth? Well, I won’t ask for any hands but it’s revealing how shameful we can feel for the words that come out of our mouths. Words have tremendous power in this world! Words can create realities! Just look at how God created our entire reality by speaking 4 simple words into the vast nothingness: LET THERE BE LIGHT. Words make or break relationships, the very bedrock of our existence. Well, I take that back…the bedrock of existence is love but sometimes love needs words to convey itself. Words plus action. The point is that words are important for creating entire realities and Isaiah understood this as revealed by his shame over his unclean lips.

Now then, as guilty as he was, God didn’t consider him unworthy to be in his presence nor to receive his blessings. No, God simply had one of his angels take a burning coal to his lips as a way of cleansing them and in doing so prepared him to speak his words. None of us is fully formed and unchangeable. We’re all just clay in God’s hands and we’re all worthy to be in his presence. We shouldn’t ever think that who we think we are and what we’ve done in the past somehow makes us unworthy to be loved by God. We’re all worthy to be in God’s presence. And we’re all worthy to be cleansed by God too. God wouldn’t have created us if he didn’t think we were worthy of existence. We all have worth to God, so we need to stop telling ourselves otherwise. We need to start thinking of ourselves as nothing but works in progress. That’s how God thinks of us. The decisions we make and the actions we do, they’re all accounted for by God, but they only reveal who God wants us to become. We are an ever-evolving, unfolding reality in the eyes of God and sometimes we need God’s help along the way. God helped Isaiah become a tool. God cleansed him, not as a punishment but rather as an unveiling. We are the clay, He is the potter.

You see, both the man in that opening joke and Isaiah were wrong in thinking they were unworthy to receive God’s blessings. They were most certainly worthy to receive. God simply helped reveal the worthy parts within them. I’m sure Isaiah chose his words very carefully after he had that vision! God helped reveal his worthiness to the world. We’re all worthy, we just need to present ourselves before God sometimes for his help in revealing our worthiness. Recall the words of Jesus, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)

Sure, it’s easy to believe we’re unworthy to receive God’s blessings when we’re in his presence. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, we are nothing in comparison. Yet God created us just the way we are, and God loves us. God loves us so much that He died to save us from the sinfulness within us! That is no small thing He did for us! God created us, God created the sin within us, and God redeemed us. Why? Because He love us, plain and simple. Paul wrote in his letter to Titus, “He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (3:5) And in his letter to the Romans, he said, “but God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (5:8) Friends, have no doubt that He loves us!

Are we worthy? YES! Are we nothing by clay in God’s hands? YES! Does God love us? YES! Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.