Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 6:1-8

February 9, 2025

When we read Jewish apocalyptic texts, we discover that it typically begins with the throne room of God. We see this with Jeremiah, sort of. We see this with Ezekiel. We see this with the prophet Daniel, in a little different way, but the throne of the Lord is certainly there. We see it in Zechariah, and we also see it in some of the non-biblical apocryphal texts from both the intertestamental period and throughout the 1^st century AD.

The image of the prophet, receiving his call by being brought up to the throne room of the Lord and seeing the mighty angels.

I shouldn’t forget to mention the Book of Revelation, that John, like the others, begins his apocalypse with a vision of the throne room and the angels and the Lord in the midst of it all.

And here in Isaiah, it shows up once again, the throne room, the angels, and the throne of God.

For these men, it was how the Lord chose to reveal Himself to them and call them to be His prophets. His message to the people is so important that it just wasn’t enough to mail a letter or send a text message. No, the Lord brought these prophets, at least in a vision, into His very presence, He absolved them, forgave them of their sins, and then He assigned their tasks.

Now, we shouldn’t feel left out. I don’t know of too many pastors or priests who have seen such visions of late, and most pastors or priests or prophets never have such visions. The Apostles, save St. John or St. Paul, never had such visions. The pastors such as Timothy or Apollos, Barnabus, the Apostolic Fathers, the Post-Apostolic Fathers, the Latin Fathers, the Cappadocian Fathers, the Medieval fathers, the desert fathers, as far as can be known, none of them had such visions.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and the others, they wrote Holy Scripture. The Apostles, they walked with Jesus. It was important that they experienced the presence of God as they did because they wrote the Word of God.

So, we shouldn’t be jealous, and I pray we never try to fabricate false visions of the Lord just to garner the attention of others and feel important. And believe me, there are PLENTY of false prophets, both in the present time, and throughout history, who use false visions and encounters with the Lord, voices in the head, prophecies, etc. in order to gain an audience.

There’s a pretty recent podcast on Issues Etc. all about the false prophets of today and how they go about their “prophecies.” It may be worth logging in and listening to; it’s almost frightening how manipulative are the false prophets.

So, Isaiah has a vision and receives his call as the prophet to Judah. King Uzziah had just died. Uzziah was a relatively faithful king but had a few dark spots in his reign as well. He was certainly better than many of the kings that came both before and after him, and he was nothing like the king of the northern kingdom, Israel. Israel had suffered several horrible, godless kings until their destruction.

But Uzziah is dead, and the people are afraid. They know Assyria is closing in. They know the northern Kingdom of Israel is also facing imminent destruction. The people are scared, they’re worried, and they don’t know what to do without a king.

The Lord gives Isaiah the throne room vision both for his sake, and for the sake of the people of Judah. King Uzziah may have died, but the eternal King and Lord isn’t going anywhere. Repent and believe on Him. He is the holy, holy, holy King of kings and Lord of lords. He rules the nations, His eye is always on His people, and He will guard and keep them.

Where did this vision take place? In the temple, in Jerusalem. “I saw the Lord sitting high upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple.” God made His dwelling among His people in the temple – well at first it was the Tabernacle, but then in the Temple of Solomon. The temple was the intersection between heaven and earth, and it was at the temple where the sacrifices were daily performed for the sins of the people.

And it was in the most holy place, the “holy of holies” where the throne of God stood. But wait, what was in the holy of holies, behind the thick veil that no one could enter save the high priest on the Day of Atonement? The Ark of the Covenant, right? And atop the ark sat two figures, two cherubs, with their wings stretched out. But Isaiah sees also the “fiery ones,” the seraphim, the six-winged angels covering their faces and eyes as they flew.

And what does Isaiah hear? He hears the never-ending hymn of the heavenly hosts, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole universe is filled with His glory!” The same angelic hymn is also echoed in other prophetic texts such as Revelation and Ezekiel. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of His glory!”

The definition of “holy” IS the Lord for there is nothing but holiness in Him. It is His nature, His attributes, His character. And yet here He is calling into His presence a sinful, troubled, fearful human being named Isaiah who will be His prophet. His plan is to save His people, and not just Israel and Judah, but all His people, the whole world. And we see this everywhere in Scripture, that the holy, holy, holy Lord sends out His Word through His prophets and apostles, His pastors and priests, His evangelists and servants, so that all the ends of the earth might hear and believe.

We sing this same hymn just about every Sunday, don’t we? The Sanctus, just before the distribution of the Lord’s body and blood, right? It’s why in the “proper preface” that I speak or chant, the last thing I say before the Sanctus is, “Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and saying,” right? The Lord has called us together. We are in the temple, we are before the Lord and He invites us to sing the eternal hymn, and we do.

It’s why we call our “worship service” the “Divine Service,” because we are in the presence of the divine, of the Lord, and He has come to bring us His Word and Sacraments, the very means of grace that offer us life and salvation, forgiveness and eternal life.

Isaiah stands before the Lord in the temple, gazing into the holy of holies, he hears the eternal hymn, and the temple shakes at the voice of the seraphim. And what does Isaiah do? What’s his reaction? To say the very least, he is overwhelmed, isn’t he? It’s not a light and casual thing for him. This is SERIOUS business. He is in the presence of the creator and ruler of the universe who, in a thought, could wipe the universe from time and existence. This ain’t no laughing matter, not in the least.

Isaiah knows full well that he is not worthy to be in the Lord’s presence, to see past the vail and gaze upon the holy of holies and to He who sits upon the throne. He cries out, “Woe is me! I am over! I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among people with unclean lips.” “This ain’t a good situation,” cries Isaiah.

What would you do? Would you do as many do and overly humanize the Lord of hosts as if He’s your best friend and closest neighbor and ask if He’d like to have a beer with you? Would you take this time to complain to the Lord about your aches and pains or how boring the worship is or how you think He should change His mind about certain sins?

But that’s what we do, isn’t it? When we think we’re not in the presence of the Lord; when we think He is light years away and not paying attention, our unclean lips rattle off disrespectful, irreverent, unholy, unchaste things which flow out of our poisoned hearts.

When Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost,” this is what he means. He, like the people of Judah, were sinners who broke the Lord’s Commandments sometimes habitually. They were not worthy; Isaiah was not worthy to stand in the presence of the Lord. And neither are we.

Isaiah confesses his sins. We do this in the Divine Service, don’t we? Before we start enjoying the good gifts of the Lord, the gifts of Word and Sacrament, we stop and we somberly say what is true, that we have sinned against our Lord in thought, word, and deed. It’s no joke, it’s not just a rote exercise said as some magic mantra. It’s the truth. It doesn’t take a brain or heart surgeon to discover that our hearts and minds are full of sin and that sin oozes out of our mouths. Jesus Himself makes clear that it is from the heart where our sinful words and actions flow, that our thoughts are often bent on sinful desires far more than godly desires. We lie, we cheat, we gossip, we slander, we covet, we lust, we allow our fleshy desires to rule us rather than the Word of Christ, we prop up idols before our Lord and use them as excuses to skip church, to live for and like the world.

Like Isaiah, we are so not worthy to stand in the presence of God. You don’t have some innate right built into you by virtue of your just being you. Instead, your Lord gives you the privilege of entering into His presence, but He asks you to remember that He is holy, holy, holy, and to do it with reverent fear.

Isaiah confesses his sin, in other words, he repents, and as any good priest, he also confesses on behalf of his people. The Lord has every right at this point to literally take Isaiah out, to end him. Isaiah seems to think this is just what’s going to happen. “I am ruined!”

And when we enter into our Lord’s presence it should always be with the understanding that it is not deserved or earned, we don’t have a right to any of His gifts, but it is granted by our Lord, freely given, and we are privileged to receive it.

As Isaiah realizes his immediate situation, that he is a sinner and undeserving of being in His Lord’s presence, the Lord hears his confession of sins and sends the mighty seraph to the great altar. The seraph picks up coal with tongs and touches the lips of Isaiah with the coal. Isaiah may think this coal will be his undoing, but no. The coal isn’t a condemning judgment upon Isaiah; the coal is a cleansing fire. As the angel touches Isaiah’s lips with the hot coal, he says, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Did a piece of coal just atone for the sin if Isaiah? No, not the coal. But the body and blood of Jesus, the very atoning sacrifice found on the mercy seat in the holy of holies, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has atoned for the sin of Isaiah.

What grace! What mercy! The God who had every right to condemn and destroy instead forgives Isaiah’s sins. And this same God is among us here today, not to condemn you but to forgive you and cleanse you of your sins. John chapter 3 says, “For God did not send His son to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” The Lord had no interest in condemning Isaiah or His people. The Lord always offers mercy and forgiveness, grace and salvation for all.

And the pattern we see here in Isaiah’s call is no different today. Jesus’ message in His preaching is the same thing, “REPENT and believe the good news. REPENT, for the kingdom of God is near.” Peter preached the same message in Acts 2, “REPENT and be baptized, for the forgiveness of your sins.” The prophets, the apostles, all of them preached the same message, REPENT and trust in Jesus.

And so you don’t think God calls us to repent only once, let us remember what our patron saint, St. Paul tells us, we are to die to sin always and rise again always. Repentance is a way of life, not a one and done event in some past age. Luther’s first thesis in his 95 Theses says, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” And if we consider the word in Matthew 4:17 which Luther evokes, ??????????, this word literally translates as “be always repenting” for the kingdom of heaven is near.

In the Lutheran church, we like to say it like this: “Remember your baptism!” For it is in your baptism where the Lord repented you and gave you the gift of forgiveness. Remember your baptism.

And today, you who daily die to sin and rise to new life, to live daily in repentance and trusting in the words, “Given and shed for you,” you are privileged to receive the food and drink of atonement on your lips, flowing down from the altar of the Lord, the cross of salvation and eternal life. Yes, this bread and wine is the very body and blood of Christ our Lord, because He says it is, and His Word always does what it says. If the coal from the altar can cleanse the sins of Isaiah, then the body and blood of Jesus given in the bread and wine can cleanse you of your sins too. His flesh is real food and his blood real drink, and it is here for you today. Only repent of your sins, and believe in His Words, that it is His true body and blood given and shed for you.

Isaiah is forgiven of his sins, his unclean lips are cleansed, and how does he respond? Well, first he hears the Lord say, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” Isaiah responds, “I’m too busy Lord, too much to do, too many things in my life more important than this; we’ll see you in a month or two.” Uh, no, that’s not what Isaiah says. No, here’s what he says, “I want to make lots of money; I want to be a professional athlete, I want to have everything I want, the car, the girl, the popularity, so let me get all that first, then I’ll come back, maybe in my late 20’s when I settle down.” No, that’s not right either. Let me look…oh, HERE is what he says, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah eagerly and willingly – out of pure thankfulness and response to God’s mercy – says, “Here am I! Send me!” And the Lord equipped Isaiah with the words to speak to go and be His prophet to Judah, the last prophet before the destruction of Jerusalem.

What about you? What is your response to the mercy and forgiveness your heavenly Father has given you in Jesus? May it NEVER be, “Lord, I’m too busy,” “Lord, my personal desires and dreams and wants and pursuits are more important than You,” “Lord, it’s not my job, send someone else.” For such reasons are like the wicked servant who received the master’s money and buried it rather than investing it and earning interest.

The Lord has placed a high and noble calling on your life. You are God’s own child and an eternal citizen of His kingdom – forever! You have purpose because He gave you purpose, not because you pursue your hopes and dreams and fantasies. You have everything already – there is simply nothing more you need than to be with your Lord and your Lord to be with you. The vocations, the callings He places upon your life, they are given as a way for you to serve your neighbor and proclaim the grace of God. Are you a mother, a father, a grandparent? Do you work full time, are you a student, are you retired? Do you clean toilets, do you build houses, do you manage employees? Whatever vocations the Lord has assigned to you, use them to serve your neighbor and proclaim Christ.

Parents, teach your children how to pray and to memorize the commandments and the creeds and the Lord’s Prayer. Teach them about their baptisms and how to rightly confess their sins. Teach them how to reverently enter into the presence of the Lord in the Divine Service and to give thanks and respond in their vocations to love and serve their neighbors.

Employers, do not overburden your employees but pay them fairly and serve them lovingly, as Christ has served you. For to carry out your vocations in loving service is the Christian way.

Like Isaiah, we are in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God. God is in His temple. God Himself is present. We are not lost, we are not undone, we are not finished, but we are forever because the Lord who is forever, has forever forgiven us our sins; He has atoned for the sin of the world. Amen.