Listen to the Sermon or the Entire Service
May 31:
Call: Romans 8: 14-17 Reading: W7S #163 Text: Isaiah 6: 1-8 Closing: John 3: 1-7 Hot Coal Spirit The year was around 742 BC. The place was Jerusalem The man was Isaiah. And Isaiah had a problem - A big problem. Somehow or the other he found himself observing a meeting of the heavenly council, presided over and controlled by God. He knew he was not supposed to have been there Although in all honesty We don't know how it was that he ended up there He certainly wasn't supposed to have seen the Lord That had been established for years He knew fully well That coming face to face with God was punishable by death. I told you that Isaiah had a big problem. This problem was aggravated and worsened by the fact that Isaiah was a man who was honest with and about himself And thus could not justify his presence or his God seeing For Isaiah was well aware that he was not perfect He had said and done things he should not have Too, Isaiah knew his people were not perfect They too had said and done things they should not have And so, having seen the Lord And having no defense Isaiah was convinced he would be killed. Now, I have faced problems that made me quite nervous. But Isaiah's problem was bigger than any I have ever faced And I am pretty sure that Not many of you have ever faced a bigger one either. That is the setting and that is the problem presented in our text. [Isaiah 6: 1-5] Isaiah didn't know what to do. But God did! God knew what to do. And God took the initiative to do it. [Isaiah 6: 6-7] Instead of causing Isaiah to die, God had a seraph (an angel) take a coal from the fire Touch Isaiah's lips with it And wipe way all of Isaiah's uncleanness. His own And that which he had because of his community. Then one of the truly neat and heart warming scenes in the OT [Isaiah 6:8 - 9a] He heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Upon hearing this question, Isaiah could not help himself, "Here I am, send me!" And God responded, "Go and say to this people ..." I love this scene! Here is Isaiah One moment so aware of his sins and faults That he expected to be executed. And the next moment Purified through God's own initiative And through God's red hot coal spirit. He was telling God to use him as a servant. Across the years, I have come to expect great things from God That is why, as great as it is, the part of the story that gets to me Is not that God was good to and merciful to Isaiah But rather, that Isaiah was so grateful that when God was looking for someone to send on a mission he volunteered! He volunteered! Moses protested when God called him, Jonah ran away, booked passage on a boat, and tried to flee, But Isaiah was so grateful that he volunteered!! Can't you just hear him? "You've got a job that needs doing, God. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. Send me" What an impressive example for us. But that is not half of it. A look at the story reveals That while Isaiah was waving his arms and shouting to God He did not know a single detail about the mission! Why did God need someone? Where did God need to send him? What did God want him to do there? When was he supposed to go? Isaiah didn't know any of that And yet he was willing to go. In fact, he vol un teered to go. When God's spirit through that hot coal touched Isaiah's lips Isaiah was given new life. Instead of being executed he was transformed. Isaiah was an OT character. This story was more than seven centuries Before the famous and much celebrated night in Bethlehem It was even longer before The much celebrated weekend of the cross and empty tomb And it was even a speck longer Before the eleven day Ascension to Pentecost period. And yet if there is any way to explain what Christ told Nicodemus The man who John tells us came to Christ by night. The sixth chapter of Isaiah is it. We know this story well, [John 3: 1-7] If Nicodemus had been willing to look back at his own Hebrew scriptures he could have found the story of Isaiah and the hot coal and it could have unlocked the meaning of what Jesus was saying when he told him that no one could see the kingdom of God without, being born from above; being born anew; being born again. For we see Isaiah being born from above Through the Spirit as manifested in a hot coal that could be described as heated by tongues of fire. And thereby we see Isaiah being transformed From a frightened and fearful observer of God into a trusting, risk taking servant of God. Last week we celebrated Pentecost [I might add: In a service that was far more joyful, exciting, and energizing Than I could ever have planned or created.] In that service we saw the Holy Spirit Give life to the dry bones And Give birth to the church. Today we see the Spirit Give new life and new birth to Isaiah And in doing so, provide to us with an example And the answer to the baffled inquiry of Nicodemus We see and we hear these lessons We might even shout out a few "Hallelujahs" in celebration But we will only know if we are transformed Into such trusting, obedient, risk taking servants of God If we are willing to write God a blank check By saying, "Here am I; send me" We will only do that if we recognize that we haven't earned God's blessings any more that Isaiah had earned his And if, therefore, we are as grateful for our blessings as Isaiah was for his. The question is, "Are we?" Has the red hot coal of Pentecost Combined with Christ's crucifixion and resurrection to cause us to wave our arms and shout to God "Send me!"