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How many of you here this morning like to watch movies? I certainly do; watching movies is one of my favorite pastimes. What I most enjoy in movies are the stories about people...about their lives and how they interact and how they think and how they change. But I also enjoy seeing how film makers use special effects to enhance the story...or, in some cases, to make up for the lack of a story! (Did you see "The Matrix"?!) Anyway...
I think that "the call of Isaiah" - the story we heard in our Scripture reading this morning - might make a good movie. It's a story about a man's "close encounter" with God....and how they interacted, how Isaiah thought and how he was changed by God. And, no doubt, the special effects people could do some amazing things with the images described in this story.
Scene 1: "An Announcement of Holiness"
Isaiah, the soon-to-be prophet, had been a member of the royal household and like many in the kingdom of Judah, he was grieving the recent death of their good king, Uzziah. This was a traumatic time for the nation and for Isaiah and because of that trauma, the young man had gone into the temple to pray.
Like most of us, in a crisis, Isaiah knew that he needed God. Little did he know that, in the midst of an ordinary worship service, he would have a life changing close encounter with the God whose comfort he was seeking.
Isaiah wrote, "I saw the Lord - Yahweh...." There in the temple, during worship, where music would have been playing and incense would have filled the air with smoke, Isaiah's ordinary physical vision was transformed by a spiritual vision...a vision of God on a great throne. Now this is where the special effects folks could have a field day, no doubt. Scripture says the throne, "...was high and exalted, and the train of God's robe filled the temple." This is a great and mighty God, whose robe was big enough to fill the whole place as it hung down from the throne. I'm sure, in a movie, the robe would shimmer with light. And, Isaiah says, there were these flying creatures - angelic beings with three pairs of wings. Now you know the people who did the creatures in the "Star Wars" cantina scene could really have fun with these little guys!
In Isaiah's vision, the music of the worship service became the song of the seraphs, who sang, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty...." There is a pretty well-known hymn in the Christian tradition that says that: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty...."
In this instance, "holy" is not a word "describing" God. It's not something "about" God. God, we're told clearly here, IS "holy." The word in Hebrew from which we get "holy" means "other," "separate," "different," "unique." And the repetition of the word is meant to emphasize the point. Saying something three times in a row like that is pretty rare in Scripture and, when it happens, we're meant to really pay attention. God IS holy! The Bible never says that God is love, love, love or mercy, mercy, mercy, or justice, justice, justice or anything, anything, anything - except that God is holy, holy, holy.
So here, in Isaiah's vision and in our imagined movie, these angelic creatures are flying around calling out, "Holy, holy, holy is God...." It's an overpowering, overwhelming image to realize the true "otherness" of God. To be confronted with the uniqueness of that power. To see something so big...and to suddenly feel so small. Isaiah says, "At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook...."
The "shaking of the foundations" was an inward experience for Isaiah, not something that the other worshipers felt. When God encounters us within our being, and we see God as God really is - holy...other...separate...unique - if we truly realize what we're encountering, then surely the very foundation of our lives will be shaken...as it was for Isaiah.
Scene 2: "A Confession and A Cleansing"
Now the scene probably resembles something from "Earthquake" or one of those other "disaster" movies from the '70s. The temple is shaking, there's smoke and loud noise and there is Isaiah, cowering...perhaps laid out covering his head and crying, "Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the Lord Almighty!" Hebrew tradition taught that no one could see God and live. And so, in fear and in shame and in despair, Isaiah lies trembling.
If God is given the rightful place in our scheme of beliefs, then its pretty likely that we might feel this kind of discomfort in God's presence. Here in M.C.C., we work very hard to teach folks that God is a God of love and mercy and forgiveness and that we are not "worms" or "trash" - that we have value and worth and that we should have positive self-esteem, accepting and loving ourselves as we are - and all that's true. But sometimes we forget to tell "the rest of the story." Held up to the fullness and magnitude and holiness of God, we still leave a lot to be desired. God is God ...and we ain't!
If we assume the place of God, then God is reduced to a solely human figure - an idol - and to purely human ideals. In Jesus Christ, we encounter "Emmanuel" -- "God with us"...and through the Holy Spirit we have God working in and through us...but still God alone is God - the great "I Am" who is singularly unique. Our Creator...not our creation. Sometimes a little healthy, wide-eyed trembling before God is a good thing...lest we forget just Who is Who in the scheme of things.
But, like Isaiah, God does not leave us at the point of fear and trembling and dismay. This is not where the movie ends...there is another "special effect" we need to encounter...up close and personally. God's cleansing forgiveness.
In Isaiah's vision, one of the seraphs takes a pair of tongs and lifts a burning coal...a red hot ember...from the altar. Now there's a lot of symbolism happening here. The altar represents the heart of God. That "purifying fire" -- a symbol of forgiveness -- is so hot that no lesser creature can touch it, hence the use of the tongs.
Now picture this riveting action: this flying seraph brings this red hot coal down, closer and closer to the trembling mouth of the wide-eyed Isaiah and hhhiiisssssss! We think of that and imagine only pain! To realize our weakness...our smallness...and yes -- in many ways that have nothing to do with sexual orientation -- our sinfulness...is a painful experience.
But remember what happened. In that instant, the angelic being said to Isaiah, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for." There comes the comfort. Forgiveness is a gift from God. There is no indication that Isaiah did anything other than confess his sins and admit his weakness, and God immediately cleansed his life. No doubt, forgiveness from God comes to us in the ongoing concentric circles of our lives and experiences and we are, always, "a work in progress." But the forgiveness and mercy and grace of God is never withheld from us; in fact, it is freely given to us.
So Isaiah -- and we -- experience the assurance of cleansing and forgiveness. End of story? Roll credits? Not quite.
Scene 3: An Invitation and A Dedication
As this "movie" continues, we become aware that God has a plan and needs someone who is willing to be used among the people to enact that plan. God asks, "Whom shall I send?" The invitation itself seems to indicate an openness on the part of God to use those who are willing to be used. I find it difficult to believe that there is a job that can only be done by one person.
Pastors can be kind of notorious for believing that we alone can "shepherd the flock" and accomplish God's plan for our church. It was an amusing little reality check last Sunday morning as I sat in one of our "Leadership Equipping Sessions." We were watching a video-taped lesson by "leadership guru" John Maxwell, and he was addressing a group of pastors about this very thing. He said, "Pastors, if you think you are so important and so indispensable, then I challenge you to try this: die! Mark my words - thirty minutes after they've buried you, your people will be sittin' around eatin' potato salad! They'll say, 'Oh, isn't it awful about...what's her name. Are there anymore baked beans?'" And all the folks in the room watching that video with me were laughing and turning kind of red, you know...'cos they know it's true! And so do you...and so do I!
The work of God can and will be done. Even if we don't die...if we just refuse to respond. Now, please...don't hear me as saying that anyone can do anything - that's not what I mean. We each have our gifts and talents, and the call of God is to perform within those gifts and talents to the best of our ability. However, if I won't respond to the invitation...or you won't respond to the invitation...God will surely find someone who will.
Isaiah responded. He said, "Here am I. Send me!" While God is certainly omnipotent - all-powerful - nevertheless we has human beings have to operate under self-dedication. God does not use forced labor for God's purposes. For each of us, there is an area where we can render service that will be beneficial to us and to our fellow human beings and to the realm of God in this world.
In actuality, the work of God in the world is achieved by the unique combination of the dedication of many people. The larger the distribution of responsibilities and the more self-dedication there is, the greater the success of the whole. Nowhere can that be more true than in the church. God's work requires us all being willing to say, each in our own unique way and circumstances, "Here am I. Send me."
That's as far as we read this morning, but the "movie" of Isaiah's life didn't end there. The great prophet would go on to serve for probably fifty years as God's spokesperson in Jerusalem. I wonder how many times he went back, in his mind, to that original "close encounter" and remembered the "special effect" it had on his life, his relationship with God and his mission in the world.
The movie of our lives is still playing out, too. Some of us have had at least one "close encounter" with God, and we know how it changes everything. Some of us, even today, are in that place of fear and woe and trembling - because something terrible and traumatic is happening around us and, if God is in it, God seems so huge and obscured by the noise and smoke. Some of us are in despair over the knowledge of our own sinfulness and weakness and we can't imagine that cleansing could come again. Yet some of us inwardly rejoice because we have been touched, today, by that "cleaning fire" and we have heard God's reassurance. And some of us have heard God's call: "Whom shall I send?" And some of us will respond, even now, in our hearts with courage and dedication, "Here am I. Send me."
At any given time, these scenes of God's awesome holiness...our confession and God's cleansing...God's invitation and our response...are being played out in the lives around us and in our own lives over and over and over. We are a "work in progress" always. Yet, by faith, we always know how the story's going to end. God is God. Our forgiveness is sure. God's plans will be accomplished. We have nothing to fear. Where our lives say, "The End," God's screen will read, "New beginning." Roll credits. Amen.
(Thanks to the late Rev. Jimmy Brock for the outline and ideas!)
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