Splendor

Bekkah and I have always loved Disneyland. It has been something we have been doing since we started dating. I know that Disney World is the one called The Magic Kingdom, and I have been there before, but I would call all of the Disney Parks The Magic Kingdom. I say that because they instill a sense of awe and wonder, splendor and joy all mixed together when you walk into them. Disney does an amazing job of making you feel like you are where they say you are, whether that is in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge or Fantasy Land or on a ride like Pirates of the Caribbean.

It is a place that we love going and even more than experiencing that splendor ourselves we have both grown to love seeing that sense of awe and excitement in our girls eyes. From the moment you enter the park and realize they are entering a place that reflects all of the TV shows and movies that we watch as a family to meeting your favorite characters as you spot them standing around waiting for you on Main Street. It brings so much joy to us to see those girls eyes light up when they take it all in and go and see everything there is to see wondering what else there might be for them to ride or look at or do. It is one of the most uplifting and powerful moments as a parent. I’ll acknowledge but let’s not get into the moments of tiredness and everything that comes with those moments at the parks as well.

That is where my mind went when I thought about what Isaiah must have felt like when he entered this vision. Where is that place for you where you experience awe and joy and splendor all at the same time? The amount of awe that he must have felt and the splendor that he saw as he saw this temple. I think we need to take a moment and really just soak in what all is being described here. God is on the throne but the entire temple is filled with just the hem of his robe. If you thought you had seen some long wedding dress trains in your life then think again because the entire throne room is filled with just the hem of God’s robe. So either God’s clothing is extremely extravagant like an extravagant wedding dress OR God is so big that just the hem fits in what we would typically think about a throne room.

Then there are the Seraphs. Each having 6 wings which is mind boggling as to how they use them to fly. But we see that these seraphs that are in attendance of God they are used in a way that shows that even though they are supposed to be there they are careful in the way that they interact with God. Two wings cover their faces, two their feet and only two used to fly. They may be a part of God’s holy court, but even they are being modest and reverent toward God. They do not look at God it seems and their purpose is to call out the holiness of God to one another and declare God’s glory over all the earth.

That is the image that Isaiah walks into when he has this vision, and as he does so, he realizes that this is way more than he bargained for or was prepared for. The major difference between my girls walking into Disneyland with that splendor before them is they can’t believe that they get to be there for the day, but they are excited and know they want to be. Isaiah on the other hand realizes that he is not worthy to be there. God’s presence and grandeur are too great for this simple man, even if he has been called as a prophet. It’s like that dream you have where you walk into a room in your bathrobe or less, and you look up to realize that there are a bunch of people in suits having a very important meeting and you either aren’t supposed to be there at all or you should be at the meeting but not in your bathrobe. Isaiah says “I’m lost! I’m ruined!” He realizes he shouldn’t be in the presence of the Lord.

I think we oftentimes feel like Isaiah does in this vision. This sense that God and the work that God has called each of us to do is too big or that we’re not worthy for God to call us. That somehow we are unclean and our actions and our words have in some way excluded us from God’s presence or notice. God’s not really calling me, like I talked about with my friend Chris last week. Or maybe the thought that comes through your mind is that I’ve done too many things in my life that God would not approve of, therefore that can’t be what God wants from me, a poor sinner. Or as Isaiah says, “A man of unclean lips.”.

Yet God calls Isaiah. God has one of the Seraphs place a burning coal on his lips and declares his guilt and sin are gone. I love this part of the vision more than any other. The grandeur of the temple is amazing, the sense that Isaiah is unworthy is profound, the call we are about to talk about is inspiring, but this part about the coal on his lips is, to me the center of the Christian faith. No matter how unworthy any of us feel. No matter how small we think we are, and how we don’t think we can enact any change for the better or to do anything that can really bring about God’s kingdom. No matter how many times we try to label ourselves as an unworthy sinner, God takes a coal to our lips and declares us clean. Now you might think about the whole coal on lips or coal in mouth is going to be painful, but we often forget the cleansing and purifying symbolism of fire. God makes Isaiah’s lips pure to speak God’s word to the world. We see that most profoundly through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through his death and resurrection we are made clean.

Because of the cleansing, that purifying, that claim by God that you are worthy and you are good enough we have this last exchange in this part of the vision between God directly and Isaiah. One of the commentators I was listening to this past week about this text said something profound about this exchange that makes this verse even more meaningful than I had already thought of it. That first part that says, “Here am I” is a relational response. The words there in the Hebrew is a response that is elicited as an automatic response. For example, think about someone that you have tremendous respect for. A friend or a parent or grandparent that you love and care for so much that if they said, “Hey, I need you to do me a favor.” and without even thinking or really hearing what is being asked of you you tell that person you’ll do it because you have that much love, care and respect for that person that you just WANT to do what it is they need you to do. That is Isaiah’s response. Out of his great love for God and for all God is and what God does, Isaiah’s snap response is that he’s here and he’s willing to go.

I think part of that is that God could have responded to Isaiah’s claim for unworthiness with a “you’re right, get out” or worse. But that’s not God. God doesn’t wait for a perfect person, but God calls each and every one of us. In our our journey’s and paths, God calls us to be sent out into this world to carry out the work of bringing about the Kingdom of God. God declared Isaiah clean and welcomed him into the temple of the Lord. In response to that care and saving act Isaiah says send me. He may not have been any worthier than before but he knew that with God by his side he could do what God was calling him to do no matter how hard it might be, and trust me Isaiah doesn’t have it easy after this.

The word apostle, which is a word we typically use for the disciples after Jesus ascends into heaven, in its most basic form simply means “one who is sent”. We are all apostles for the Lord. We have call been called like Isaiah to go out and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the whole world. That good news is of God who may seems huge and unapproachable in all God’s splendor, but in reality is the one who calls to us and tells us that we may seem unworthy and unclean, but though the love of God as found in Christ Jesus we are made clean. We are purified with the refiners fire. We are not sent away from God’s presence but we are cleansed from our sins and invited in God’s courts. We are brought in and the only reason we are sent out is because, out of our great love for God, we are going out to share the same love and acceptance that was shown to us. Knowing the whole time that we are never sent alone and that God’s love never leaves our side. God’s love never goes away. Amen.