I. In the Temple
\nThis story seems so far away from you and me in space and time. It\u2019s the year that King Uzziah died \u2013 that\u2019s nearly 3000 years ago. The prophet Isaiah\u2019s vision takes place in the inner sanctum of the temple in Jerusalem. It\u2019s called the Holy of Holies. He sees the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. Seraphim are flying above, attendants to the Lord Most High. As they fly, they call out, \u201cHoly, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!\u201d The foundations of the temple are shaking to the bedrock. God Himself is present\u2014Yahweh is in the house. <\/p>\n
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It sounds like one of those visions where you have two locations all mixed up together, the kind of scene that only works in dreams, like when you\u2019re standing on a Caribbean beach and then you turn around and walk into your house here in Edmonton. But there\u2019s a big reason why Isaiah sees this taking place inside the Most Holy Place of the temple, and it\u2019s not just because the temple is associated with God. The Most Holy Place is not just a memorial: it is the Lord\u2019s home on earth. When the temple was first completed and dedicated, the Lord appeared in a cloud of glory and descended into the Most Holy Place. The same Lord enthroned in heaven also dwelled for His people in the temple on earth. In a very real way, in Isaiah\u2019s time the Most Holy Place is where heaven and earth come together, for the one true God is enthroned in both places. <\/p>\n
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It\u2019s an awesome sight. Isaiah is standing in the presence of God Most High, looking at God Most Holy. And what is his reaction? It is not joy or excitement or laughter or relief. It\u2019s terror. \u201cWoe is me!\u201d he cries out, a way of saying, \u201cI am a dead man.\u201d Why? He goes on: \u201cFor I am lost; for 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s like fire and water, like darkness and light: the one simply cannot continue to be in the presence of the other. Back in Exodus 33, the Lord declared that no one sinful could look upon His face and live; and indeed, as soon as Adam and Eve fell into sin, the Lord exiled them out of the Garden and away from His presence. When He descended on Mt. Sinai to give the Ten Commandments, the Lord told everyone to stay off the mountain, lest they die; later on, Moses and the elders ate in God\u2019s presence, but only after a sacrifice was made. At any event, the Bible is full of demonstrations that sinful man cannot be in God\u2019s glorious presence and live. <\/p>\n
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Isaiah is no dummy. With his knowledge of the Scriptures, he knows this, at least academically. But when confronted with the Lord enthroned in glory, it isn\u2019t that he thinks back to Sunday School and says, \u201cThe Bible says that I should feel bad about this situation.\u201d His reaction is immediate and based on what he sees: for as he looks upon the Lord in His holiness and glory, his own unholiness and sinfulness become far more apparent than ever before. The brighter the light, the more apparent are blemishes, stains and scars; the nearer to God\u2019s glory, the more evident is man\u2019s wretchedness and sinfulness. The contrast is unmistakable, and Isaiah knows that there is nothing he can do to make it any different. He is a dead man.
\nThere is nothing he can do to make himself holy in the presence of God; but the Lord can do something. He sends a seraph, who takes a burning coal from the altar. The seraph touches the burning coal to Isaiah\u2019s lips and says, \u201cBehold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.\u201d The Lord takes Isaiah\u2019s sin away. The Lord makes him holy. Now, Isaiah can be in the presence of God and live. Now, Isaiah can speak God\u2019s holy Word: for the LORD has opened his lips, and Isaiah\u2019s mouth will show forth His praise. <\/p>\n
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2. At the Altar
\nOne of the greatest problems that the Church encounters today is simply this: people have far too high an opinion of themselves. As long as this is true, they will see little need for Jesus. <\/p>\n
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Some of this is absolutely natural, as in the sinful nature. Blinded by sin, people cannot know how terribly unholy and apart from God they are. Furthermore, tempted by the devil to believe that they can be like God, people will find a way to justify the sins they commit, demonstrating one way or another why they\u2019re not guilty (in their opinion) of anything that deserves punishment. I remember a statistic a few years back that something like 78% of all drivers consider themselves above average (which always leaves me mystified that I so often end up behind the other 22%). But if drivers have too high an opinion of themselves, you can be certain that sinners will give themselves far too much credit and assign themselves way too much righteousness before God. <\/p>\n
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You see it in society. Our culture has made a god out of self-esteem: it teaches that the key to success is feeling good about yourself. This is a problem in education, where a prevalent philosophy seems to be that it is better to pass a child who doesn\u2019t know math, because to acknowledge his limitations might make him feel bad about himself. It is a huge problem in matters of society and morality, where many seem to buy into the idea that, \u201cI\u2019m basically a good person; so whatever I do must be basically good, too. If you object to something I do, it\u2019s not that I\u2019m wrong or immoral. The problem is that you\u2019re intolerant.\u201d This presents a great danger in therapy, too: for rather than help a troubled person overcome a sinful behavior, a therapist might instead help the person feel good about the sin. This presents a threat to the Church: it\u2019s been suggested on more than one occasion that to teach original sin to children is a form of child abuse; in Canada, to say what the Bible says about homosexuality technically falls into the category of \u201chate speech.\u201d <\/p>\n
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But enough of the obvious examples in the world: if all we do is point out the troubles of other people, guess what will happen\u2014we\u2019ll end up feeling better than them and pretty good about ourselves! The truth is, you have too high an opinion of yourself too. So do I. It\u2019s that old sinful nature at work, tempting us to believe that we\u2019re not that bad, that we\u2019re actually decent people. Now, by the grace of God, you and I are willing to confess with Scripture that we\u2019re sinful; but are we willing to confess how truly sinful we are? Do we realize how sinful we are? <\/p>\n
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We do well to remember the conclusion of Don Matzat, who struggled with this issue a few years back in his book, Christ Esteem. Partway through, he announced this life-changing discovery: \u201cI did not feel good about myself, because I wasn\u2019t supposed to. I didn\u2019t have a negative self-image; I had a negative self. As an old joke put it, \u2018He didn\u2019t have an inferiority complex. He was simply inferior.\u2019\u201d We\u2019re not just inferior: we\u2019re sinful and completely undeserving of God\u2019s grace and mercy. <\/p>\n
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Peter provides us with an example. After teaching the crowds, Jesus provides Peter with a miraculous catch of fish\u2014that\u2019s a lot of wealth for a commercial fisherman like Peter. What is Peter\u2019s immediate response to the miracle? It\u2019s not joy or thankfulness. He declares to Jesus, \u201cDepart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.\u201d \u201cLord, go away?\u201d The response might surprise you; but when Jesus shows His authority over the sea, Peter is suddenly conscious of the vast difference between the two of them. On the one hand, there\u2019s the Son of God\u2014incarnate, almighty and absolutely holy. On the other, there\u2019s Peter\u2014and the Lord\u2019s holiness and power cast Peter\u2019s sinfulness into sharp relief. So Peter says, \u201cDepart from me!\u201d Sinners shouldn\u2019t be in the presence of God.<\/p>\n
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This gift of fish provides us with an opportunity for self-examination. God provides daily bread to you, and also to all the wicked. But, as we say in the Small Catechism, we pray \u201cthat God would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.\u201d So how do you regard the things, the possessions that God has entrusted to you? Do you comfortably regard them as something you\u2019ve earned, or do you rightly see them as undeserved mercy from the Lord? If they were all lost, would you be embittered toward the Lord for taking what is yours? Or would you be able to say by faith with Job, \u201cThe Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord\u201d? See, the more we recognize our sinfulness, the more we\u2019ll be like Peter and acknowledge that all we have is undeserved. <\/p>\n
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Another example would be the Lord\u2019s Supper. It\u2019s no coincidence that we sing the words of the seraphim in Isaiah 6 just before the Holy Communion: \u201cHoly, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth: heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!\u201d We sing it for the same reason they did: we believe that God is just as present here. The same Lord who is enthroned in heaven is also present here: in, with and under bread and wine. He says so. Therefore, the Lord\u2019s Supper is where heaven and earth come together today: it is a Most Holy Place where Jesus is present to save. So is the Baptismal Font. So is His Word of Absolution, public and private. The Lord is just as present here as He was with Peter in the boat, or with Isaiah in the temple. And as people thronged to wherever Jesus was for help and would give Him no rest, so we should hasten to His Word and Sacraments. Yet thronging to the Lord\u2019s Supper\u2014or His other means of grace\u2014is rare today. As we take the time for proper preparation and examine ourselves, you and I should react to the Law like Peter and Isaiah did: \u201cWoe is me! Because of my sin, I do not deserve to be in the presence of God.\u201d However, feeling truly unworthy of the Supper is usually not the issue; too often, we\u2019re tempted to feel entitled. <\/p>\n
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Please don\u2019t misunderstand: the point of this sermon is not that you should run away from God. Rather, it is that you and I are in constant need of repentance for failing to acknowledge how sinful we are, how undeserving of grace and mercy we are. See, if we think we\u2019re reasonably good people, we\u2019ll also believe that we\u2019re only partially sinful. If think we\u2019re somewhat righteous on our own, we won\u2019t be looking to the Lord to credit us with all of His righteousness. <\/p>\n
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The truth from Scripture, from God\u2019s Law, sounds brutal to protesting sinful ears: we don\u2019t deserve God\u2019s presence and mercy. We\u2019re far too sinful, and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it. <\/p>\n
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But the Lord can do something about it, and He has. He\u2019s gone to the cross in our place, died for our sin. He\u2019s suffered the judgment for our sin so that God no longer holds our sin against us. Peter the sinner said, \u201cDepart from me!\u201d and Isaiah the sinner said, \u201cWoe is me! For I am lost!\u201d Jesus became sin for them on the cross, and He cried out, \u201cMy God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?\u201d For the sake of Peter and Isaiah, the Father departed from the Son and forsook Him at the cross. For the sake of Peter and Isaiah, the Son was abandoned and condemned there. <\/p>\n
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But it wasn\u2019t just for Peter and Isaiah. It was for you, too. Jesus Christ became the sinner who was forsaken on the cross and cast from His Father\u2019s presence so that you might dwell with Him forever. As He said to Peter, so He says to you: \u201cDo not be afraid.\u201d You need not fear God\u2019s wrath or hell for your sin anymore, because Christ has taken that wrath and hell and sin for you. \u201cDo not be afraid,\u201d He says. Instead, you can be confident of God\u2019s grace and favor, for the sake of Jesus. <\/p>\n
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As He said to Isaiah, so the Lord says to you, \u201cYour guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.\u201d The Lord no longer holds your sins against you. Instead, He forgives you. He makes you righteous. He welcomes you into His presence, now and forevermore. <\/p>\n
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There is no greater comfort or hope than this\u2014but only for repentant sinners. Those who think too highly of themselves will find little comfort in the news of forgiveness now; and they will find no comfort in themselves on Judgment Day. But this is not for you: by the grace of God, you confess your sinfulness. You know it doesn\u2019t damage you to tell the truth about your sin, but instead frees you from the slavery that would have you try to make yourself righteous. And as you grow in faith, you\u2019re not surprised that you feel more sinful\u2014for as you grow in faith, your recognition of sin will grow too; but so will the joy and the comfort of the forgiveness that the Lord gives. <\/p>\n
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Dear friends, the Lord has better for you than you feeling pretty good about yourself for a while. Confess your sins and your sinfulness beyond what you can comprehend; and rejoice to hear your Savior\u2019s words:
\n\u201cDo not be afraid. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.\u201d In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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