I don't know about you; but if I were seeking employment, I don't think I would be interested in the job Isaiah was offered. Here is how God wants this young man to spend his entire life. God says, "I want you to preach to a people who will refuse to listen to you. In fact, the more you preach, the less they will listen. And your preaching is going to result in the destruction of all but a tenth of them. Only a tenth of them will be saved." I don't know about you, but I would probably say, "Lord, isn't there some other job that you would like me to do?" But that is the job Isaiah is asked to do, and that is the job that Isaiah pledges to do. Where did he get the courage? How did his people ever get into a situation where they needed this kind of preaching?
Some speculate that the reference to Uzziah is significant. The story says that it was the year King Uzziah died. Who was Uzziah? He was one of the great kings of Judah. The land prospered under his leadership, and he ruled for more than forty years. But at some point in his reign something went wrong. The writer of the book of Kings says that he did not take away the high places, and he allowed his people to worship there. In other words, he allowed people to worship at altars other than those of the God of Israel. Because of this the writer says that King Uzziah contracted leprosy. In other words, the uncleanness in his inner being is manifested in an uncleanness in his outer being. So, Uzziah is a symbol of the deep inner sickness that afflicts the people of Israel.
So the prophet Isaiah is called to issue a warning to the people of Israel, just as all preachers are called to issue a warning to the people of the church. Isaiah asks a question that is as relevant to our day as it was to his: At what altar are we worshipping? Are we giving our full allegiance to Jesus or are we worshipping at other altars also? Israel knew the true God, but they were allowing other gods into their lives. Do we experience that temptation? Yes, we do. Are many Christians today doing that? Yes, they are. More and more the competition for a Christian's time is increasing. More and more we :are giving our time to these competing gods. And the gods are money, career, success, alcohol, sex, sports, you fill in the blank. We believe that these can give us the peace and fulfillment we need, and Jesus becomes one god among many. And Isaiah tells us that this is the way to destruction. When we do this we make ourselves unclean. God will not allow it. Jesus will not be just one god among many.
In an article in the last issue of Christianity Today the theologian Donald Bloesch talks about it this way. He says that certainly it is the job of the church to convert unbelievers. We need to do our very best to bring people to faith in Christ. But we are equally obligated to call believers to account. And the call we need to issue to believers is that they are called to live out the implications of being a follower of Jesus. We must not worship at the altar of any other god. And we must recommit our lives to Jesus every day. We are called to become more and more like Jesus. And this is not easy to do, is it? It is hard to be in the presence of one who is perfect and holy. It is hard to be in the presence of one who has such high expectations for us. Little wonder that Isaiah cried out, "Woe is me! I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips." How can we stand in the presence of such a God?
William Willimon tells the story of a friend of his who served as a prison chaplain. During his time of service he had an Isaiah experience, an experience that transformed him. The chaplain received a request from a father to intervene with his son who was a prisoner there. The young man had committed a robbery and had received a sentence of many years. The young man was bitter and angry and in his anger refused to see his father. The father asked the chaplain to plead with the young man. He did, but the young man would not change his mind.
Despite the refusal, the father took time off work every week, boarded a bus and traveled across the state in hopes of seeing his son. Each week it was the chaplain's difficult task to go to the young man and say, "Won't you please see your father?" Each week it was his difficult task to say to the father, "He refuses to see you." Then the father would gather his belongings, thank the chaplain, and head home.
Finally, the chaplain could take it no longer. He said to the father, "No one would do what you are doing. Your son is a bitter defiant young man. Give up. Go back home and get on with your life. No one would put up with this rejection week after week. Nobody would do that."
As the father once again picked up his belongings to leave, he said to the chaplain, "God has put up with it for centuries." As with Isaiah, the words brought the chaplain to his knees. "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips."
How can we survive in the presence of a God like this? Because this God, who is so incredibly righteous and has such incredibly high expectations, is also incredibly loving. He is the God who is so loving that he was willing to die for us on a cross. As the Apostle Peter learned, who begged Jesus to depart from him, God never departs. God keeps coming to us again and again. We might harden our heart against him, but he doesn't harden his heart against us.
So, what do you do in the presence of a God like this? You confess. You articulate every sin that is weighing you down. You ask help to resist every god that is trying to lure you away. You overcome your fear because you know that he wants to press the burning coal against your lips and make you clean. And you return again and again, because you want him to make you holy and enable you to serve him fully.
So, here is the question: If someone looked at us, and wanted to know whether we were serious about this whole business of turning away from other gods and serving Jesus, what evidence could we show to them? Have we extended ourselves in any way for anybody, or are we pretty much caught up in ourselves? Are we praying more? Are we giving more? Are we worshipping more? Are we reading God's Word more? Are we witnessing more? Are we taking any risks for Jesus? And we could ask the same of our congregation: What are the signs during this last year that we want to grow in holiness? And praise God, there are signs! In fact, I think there are many. Please take the time during the next week to cut those out from the annual report of our ministry that you will be receiving.
I have the privilege of serving on the board of our seminary in Columbus. Jim Caldwell, who is the lay director for Via de Cristo and who is with us today is one of the vice-presidents of Trinity Seminary. And on February 18 the former Bishop of Montana, Mark Ramseth, begins his tenure as president of our seminary. In his Advent message to the seminary community, President Ramseth shared how he had gotten a card from his daughter that had the following greeting printed on it: "Do one thing every day that scares you." He remarked that that's not a bad slogan for a follower of Jesus. Because we have a God of high expectations and infinite love, we should be willing to take great risks in his service.
As we enter into a new year, we need to answer this question as individual followers of Jesus: What would be the most sacrificial thing I could do in service of Jesus? And we need to answer the same question as a community of believers: What would be the most sacrificial thing we could do?
Then we must do it!