My first encounter with ND Highway Patrol was during my 8th grade year. I was collecting orders for fruit with our Future Farmers of America group. Not having my drivers’ permit, I knew better than to drive on the paved State HWY 32. It was only a mile over to Uncle Johnny’s. What could it hurt? As I came out of their long driveway to make a left turn and head for home, I didn’t see the Pontiac Bonneville in time to stop. The car broadsided me on the driver’s side. The door post on my grandfather’s 67’ Impala protected me from harm as I felt the car slide sideways in a semicircle. My biggest concern was revealed in the question I asked the Trooper, “Will I still be able to get my permit?” He answered that he was still assessing to see if there were injuries in the other vehicle. I felt overwhelmed and ashamed. How did I not see that car? I was clearly at fault and was embarrassed to face the driver and afraid to face my parents. Images of that day are still vivid in mind. Isaiah came face to face with a much more daunting force than parent or Law Enforcement.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” These are the words that rang in the ears of the prophet Isaiah, as one six-winged angel called to another. Not only did Isaiah hear these words, the Lord blessed him with an amazing vision revealing the glory of the Lord. “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up: and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” Isaiah got to see a vision of heaven, of the Lord in His divine majesty and glory.
The pure, perfect, and sinless God stood before Isaiah. When Isaiah saw God in all His splendor and glory, he wasn’t giddy. He didn’t experience an emotional high due to his personal encounter with the almighty God. His reaction wasn’t even one of joy, but of fear and reverence. Fear, because he knew he was a sinner in the presence of the most holy God, humble reverence, because he was in the presence of his Creator and Lord. He saw God in full display in all of His majestic glory.
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (V. 5) Isaiah saw what he truly was – a poor miserable sinner. He recognized that he was a sinner among sinful men. He recognized that he, a sinful mortal, could not stand in the presence of a holy God and live. This vision of God and the seraphim caused Isaiah to mourn for Israel and fear for his very life. “Woe is me! For I am lost!” He admitted that he had no standing before God and deserved to die. He had nothing to appease the wrath of a holy God. He realized he had nothing to offer to earn forgiveness. He stood before his God in naked shame.
This was the same God before whom Moses had stood at the burning bush and been told to remove his sandals. “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.” (EX 3:5) Moses stood in fear of the Lord.
Isaiah was very aware of the filth of his sin. It’s like spilling wine on a white garment. There is no hiding it. Isaiah admits his shame. I am a man of unclean lips. I’m not worthy to stand before the King, the Lord of hosts. In our Gospel, St. Peter had a similar experience. He found himself in the presence of God in the person of Jesus Christ. After the first miraculous catch of fish, Peter fell down before Jesus and begged, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” This is the reaction of those who get even a small glimpse of the divine nature of God. They are crushed by the reality of their sin. The façade of their imagined self-righteousness falls away. The light of God’s glory reveals the darkness of their souls, all pride is removed, and they despair. If ever man’s sinfulness stands out, it is when he is in the presence of holiness. It is a fearful thing to be delivered into the hands of the almighty God.
What about you? You have come to this holy place. You stand on holy ground. You are in the house of the Lord – in His temple. You have called upon the Lord, invoking His holy name, Father, Son and Spirit, trusting Him to keep His promise to be in the midst of His people wherever they are gathered. You are in the presence of the same God with whom Isaiah could not abide. He have no wings with which to hide himself and cover his shame. So, too, you are men and women of unclean lips, living in the midst of a people with unclean lips. You are not worthy to be here in the presence of God.
You do not speak in the kindest way, putting the best construction on everything. You are quick to judge, slow to forgive. You fail to defend your neighbor when others speak ill of them. You tear down with your words, rather than build them up. In fact, you complain about your neighbor and even spread rumors about them. Instead of drawing attention to our neighbor’s good qualities, we prefer to shine the light of truth when they mess up, especially among those whom we would consider enemies. Rather than praising the Lord with our lips and coming to Him with prayers, we curse Him when things don’t go our way. You and I stand before God with nothing to cover our sin and our shame. God’s Word of Law has exposed the truth that you cannot stand in His presence for you are absorbed in sin.
For Isaiah an angel came forth, a seraph from the army of God, an angel who is in the temple day and night singing to the glory of the Lord. He flew to the altar and took from it a burning coal, a remnant of the burnt offering, and placed it, burning, on Isaiah’s lips, and Isaiah’s sin was forgiven. He was made holy like the angel, for he partook of that which was sacrificed in his place. It was put on his mouth, and it made him clean.
We confess with Isaiah that we are a people of unclean lips and with Peter, “I am a sinful man, O Lord.” In Christ, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
Christ Jesus took the fiery wrath and punishment for your sin in His body. Some 700 years before Jesus was born Isaiah wrote these familiar words.
He was despised and rejected[a] by men,
a man of sorrows[b] and acquainted with[c] grief;[d]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[e]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Of course the “HE” is Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross. In the blessed exchange, He takes what is His and makes it yours. He died the death that we deserve. His third day rising to life confirms that His sacrifice was the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
The Lord has given us the Word and Sacraments to distribute the wonderful blessings of forgiveness, peace, and eternal life. In your baptism you have been washed clean, your sins forgiven. He has removed your filthy garments and clothed you with pure vestments. At the same time, he sends His Holy Spirit, who breathes into you the power to believe and gives voice to your confession with Peter that Jesus is “the Christ, the son of the Living God.”
Can you be confident that your sins are forgiven? Here is a quote from Luther’s Small catechism that sums it up very well. “When the pastor absolves us – that is, says, “I forgive you all your sins” he speaks with Christ’s authority and on His behalf. Therefore we can firmly believe that God Himself has completely forgiven our sins.” Small Catechism p. 310
Just as Isaiah was made pure by the burning coal, in the Lord’s Supper the flesh that suffered the holy fire of God’s wrath for you is placed on your lips and tongue, and you are purged of your sin, made holy and righteous in God’s sight. All the glory that was and is God is fed to you in this most holy meal. We no longer cry out, “Woe is me! For I am lost” or “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” We have been made holy through the shed blood of Christ. With our lips we confess our sin. With purified lips and hearts we boldly confess that Jesus Christ, crucified and risen is my Lord. “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.”
Condemned no more, you stand with the angels and archangels and all the saints of heaven and sing with them the three fold hymn of praise, “Holy, holy, holy”. Your tongue is loosed to sing God’s praise and tell of His glory. Joyfully tell of Jesus and His love, His cross, His death, His rising to life for you and for all. Fear no more. Trusting in Christ alone your sin is forgiven. Because Jesus lives! Yes, because He is now risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, all who believe in Him will overcome sin and death and will rise again to new life. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we are able to laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising God and saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of host; the whole earth if full of His glory!