Passage, Presence, Purpose

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Isaiah’s Three P’s: Passage, Presence and Purpose, and my focus is our first reading (Isaiah 6:1-8). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

I have preached on Isaiah 6:1-8 previously, and titled that sermon Isaiah’s Three C’s: Confession, Commission and Cost. The passage was for a Sunday early in the Season of Epiphany. Why would the Church employ it now on Trinity Sunday? To answer that question, we turn to my first point, Passage.

Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost. It introduces us to the season when we hear about Jesus’ ministry and our ministry. Although we focus on the doctrine of our belief of a Triune God, none of the readings lays out in explicit terms how the Divine Trinity is structured. Isaiah is chosen for today because of the rare triad in v. 3: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The early Church considered this to be a Trinitarian formula. However, during the Arian controversy, the Church stepped away from using this text because Arius used it against the Church to support his heretical position that the Three Persons were not co-equal. Arius taught that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made before time by God the Father; therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father.

Arianism was condemned during the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. From that gathering of bishops, we also have the mainstreamed statement of our Faith, the Nicene Creed. There are remnants of Arianism alive and well in the world today, which is why Christian Churches do not consider as Christian the Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, because they do not believe in a Triune God as the Creeds state. Enough on why we read Isaiah 6:1-8 on Trinity Sunday. Now, let’s look at the passage.

It's rare and unusual to mark an event by the death of an individual. The Ides of March recall the assassination of Julius Caesar, and November 22, 1963 ended not only the life of President Kennedy but a period of time the media dubbed Camelot. Here, the death of Uzziah was symbolic of Isaiah’s view of the nation, its plight and problem. From this point, Judah’s truly hopeless situation emerges.

Isaiah is allowed to see God’s glory, as Jesus stated in John 12:41. Not only did Isaiah describe the Lord’s majesty, but he also expressed the truth that God is present in all his majesty at the Center of people’s lives. The temple is not merely a symbol of God’s indwelling presence, but the reality of it. In the Temple God met his people in the sacrifice.[1]

As Isaiah witnessed the interaction of the seraphim calling to one another, we are reminded of the absolute holiness of the space. The Hebrew repetition of a word indicated totality. And when the angels speak the truth about God – that God is holy – this is so far beyond what we can comprehend that a super-superlative had to be invented to express it. God’s holiness is so complete that the only reaction of anything in His presence, animate or inanimate, is to tremble. Isaiah tells us that the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called.

Before I move forward, I want you to take a moment and think of this space, God’s house, as absolutely holy. I want you to consider that our awesome God is here. Think of shaking in His presence. Feel your teeth chatter; your knees knock; your legs buckling; and an inability to control your organs. That is how God’s awesomeness made Isaiah physically feel. God’s awesomeness made Isaiah consider that in the presence of a totally holy God, I am a sinner among sinners. And so, he said, “Woe is me! For I am lost, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King. The Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah knew how utterly filthy he and his people were that no number of sacrifices could cleanse them. With that, God – using an angel – brought to Isaiah a live coal from the altar. The perpetual fire on the altar went beyond symbolizing divine wrath, for the altar was the place where the holy God accepted and was satisfied by blood sacrifice.[2] It holds together the ideas of atonement, propitiation and satisfaction required by God and of forgiveness, cleansing and reconciliation needed by his people. All of this is brought to Isaiah in this one live coal.[3]

Isaiah confessed his sinfulness and God responded instantaneously. The immediate effect of this atonement is reconciliation. In the following verses, Isaiah, now cleansed of his sin, is free to speak, and willfully goes to do what God commands. In a nutshell, that is our passage.

From Passage to Presence, my second point. Here’s a question for you. Have you ever watched a movie and said, “I know where that place is!”? Cindy and I watched Crazy Heart, and in an opening scene Jeff Bridges pulls into a parking lot of his next gig, Spare Room Bowling Alley. We once drove past the New Mexican landmark and noticed the oversized pins on the roof. Another example. Previously, I told you that I served as Chaplain at the now-defunct Western Center, which was in an early scene of Silence of the Lambs. I am sure you have seen movies or pictures and recognized such scenes.

I mention that because I have another question for you. The temple Isaiah cites in verse one, where is it? Instinctively, you may say, “Jerusalem.” That could be, but it could also be the Heavenly Temple. In the understanding of the Hebrew people the two are inseparable. They do not think of them as unrelated realities. The more important reality described in this text is how Isaiah finds himself in the presence of the living God – the Holy One. This is a terrifying situation because Isaiah knows full well that the unholy cannot endure the presence of the Holy.

If, for the Hebrew people, the two Temples are inseparable, are they for us? Does not God fill this space with His Divine Presence? Yes, and not just this space, but every space where we gather to worship. After all, when we gather, do we not begin offering each other the Peace of Christ, a peace that the world cannot give? Yes, and as I approach the altar, do we not sing praise to our Triune God in this space? Do we not begin our worship in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?[4] Amen, we do! We boldly invoke our Triune God because He has claimed us and named us.

We recently completed our study of the Small Catechism with the Sacraments. We spent two sessions on the Sacrament of the Altar, and were reminded of the Four Parts of the Lord’s Supper: its Nature, Benefit, Power, and how to worthily receive it. How do you worthily receive the Sacrament? How do you prepare yourself to take and eat Christ’s Body and drink His Blood in, with and under the form of bread and wine?

Do you fast? Do you pray? Do you read and reflect upon the Scriptures for the day? Do you recall how God saved you through the waters of Baptism when you were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? Do you call to mind your sins and seek confession and absolution? Do you review the Small Catechism which guides you on how to worthily receive this powerful Sacrament?

Although we are steadfast Lutherans, we benefit at times by turning to the words of other holy men and women. The Russian Orthodox priest, John of Kronstadt said, “There is nothing on earth higher, greater or more holy than the Divine Liturgy, nothing more solemn, nothing more life giving.” Bishop Makarios said “Whoever respects the altar and gives it its due holiness will see amazing spiritual scenes, and God will uncover for him the hidden mysteries.” Another priest said, “During the Holy Liturgy, the church is full of angels, martyrs and saints, and this is something that we need to take into consideration while attending the Holy Liturgy.”[5]

While attending Holy Liturgy or Divine Worship, do we see ourselves like Isaiah, as men and women of unclean lips living among people with unclean lips? Like Isaiah, we live among earthly people who have unclean lips. Their speech reflects their heart. They gossip. They lie. They slander. They speak crudely about their neighbor, in-laws and even spouses. Throughout my 67 years, I worked in Babcock and Wilcox, and in between calls, other businesses. There, unclean lips would be a polite way of describing people’s speech.

As one Church Father put it, “To take part in the talk of worldly people without defiling our own heart is all but impossible. If we permit ourselves to discuss their affairs with them, we grow accustomed to a manner of speech unbecoming to us, and we end clinging to it with pleasure and are no longer entirely willing to leave it. … So, being such a person, why should I be surprised that God is slow to hear my prayers when I pay no attention to God’s command?”[6]

Friends, in this world, created by God, and in this space, where we worship our Triune God, the Holy, Holy, Holy One is present. Keep that in mind not only when we are here worshipping, but every moment of every day because God has claimed us to be righteous men and women. If you need a reminder that you are made righteous, call to mind Martin Luther’s advice: Daily recite the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Sacraments of our Church, including Confession and Absolution. I find this practice to be immensely valuable to being a Christian man in this world of madmen. That said, we move from my second point, Presence, to my third, Purpose.

What is our purpose? To answer that, we keep in mind that first, God claims you; second, God cleanses you; and third, God commissions you. As I was writing this part of the sermon, I read a short pamphlet by Jack Preus entitled The Vocation of Every Christian.[7] In his own words, Preus reminds you that God created and claimed you in a call and cleansing much like Isaiah’s. Through Baptism, you have been made clean. Like Isaiah, you have been made righteous men and women for a purpose. That purpose is simple: To love your neighbor.

God has not given the treasure of the Gospel for the Church to hoard and protect within the safe confines of its sanctuaries. God sends you into the world with His words of love on your lips and His works on your hands so that, as you have been transformed by the power of God’s Word, you may likewise transform reality through word and deed. Thus, there is an outward impulse of the Gospel whereby those whom God has drawn draw others. You go out so that others might come in.[8]

You are inside-out people. You do not live for yourself or within yourself. Martin Luther said that to live inside of yourself is not Christian. Our justification before God is as complete as it can be, for God Himself did it. Our justification is finished. Our role is simply to receive it. God’s role is to give. And so, He does. He gives us everything: Baptism, Absolution, Lord’s Supper, preaching of the Gospel – everything. So, the Christian lives in God alone through faith.[9]

Good works have nothing to do with our relationship of faith with God, but they have everything to do with our relationship of love with our fellow human beings. As a Christian, you have a two-fold calling, or vocation, both of which involve your living outside of yourselves. The first is the call to live in God through faith in Christ. That comes through the Gospel in one of its forms, Baptism, evangelism, the Word about Christ, etc. The second is the call to live in your neighbor through love. This call is from and out of the Gospel. In the first call, our good works are nothing. In the second, they are everything. So, we live out the implications of the Gospel call through our vocation as Christians.[10]

Luther said that when we show love to our neighbor, it is God who is acting. We are wearing God’s mask. “If you find yourself in a work by which you accomplish something good for God, or the holy, or yourself, but not for your neighbor alone then you should know that that work is not a good work.”[11] And any good work may not be merely “spiritual,” it must be tangible and for your neighbor. These tasks may be drab and lowly, but no matter what they are, you must have faith to see that it is truly God who is working, and not you. In other words, all of our tasks are Cross-marked.

Your tasks of love may be lost on others. Your neighbor may not respond to God’s love. You may feel like Isaiah (6:9ff) preaching to an unresponsive people. That’s okay, because as Christians we ultimately find our identity not in what we do nor even in what we think or feel. We find our identity in Christ Jesus. That is why we Lutherans preach and embrace Christ crucified. Copy that, and may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press (1993), p. 76

[2] See Leviticus 6:12-13; 17:11.

[3] J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL InterVarsity Press (1993), p. 78.

[4] For an understanding of the parts of the Lutheran Liturgy, see: https://www.lcms.org/worship/liturgy-parts

[5] Bishoy, The Art of Orthodoxy: The Liturgy is Filled with Saints, Angels and Martyrs. www.theartoforthodoxy.com, Jan 27, 2022.

[6] Steven A. McKinion, Ed., Thomas C. Oden, Gen Ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament X: Isaiah 1-39. Downers Grove, IL InterVarsity Press (2004), Gregory the Great, p. 53.

[7] Jacob A. O. Preus III, The Vocation of Every Christian: Life in Christ as a Holy Calling. St. Louis: The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (2019).

[8] Ibid., p. 5.

[9] Ibid., p. 7.

[10] Ibid., p. 8.

[11] Preus quoting Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957), p. 120.