ISAIAH 6:1-16

6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train [1] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!” [2]

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Confession is like castor oil.  You may not like it but it’s good for you.

If that’s true then my soul got a big dose of castor oil back in the spring of 1967.  I think I was in the 5^th grade at the time. One day during recess a few of my friends and I were playing tag.  Unfortunately, we were playing by some parked cars.  We shouldn’t have been playing there but we were kids.  We didn’t really think about what we were doing or what could happen.  So, there we were.  I was standing on one side of this car with the kick ball in my hand and Joey Scriven was standing on the other side of the car.  Just as I went to throw the ball Joey Scriven dodged to his left.  The ball flew out of my hand. Before it got to Joey Scriven though it hit the car’s antenna and snapped it off. As soon as that happened we did what most kids would do when something like that happens. We looked around to see if anyone had witnessed our unintentional crime.  When we saw that the coast was clear we shifted to damage control.  We picked the antenna up and pushed it back into the hole. We figured that the antenna would fall off while the own of the car was driving home later that day.  He’d never know what really happened.  It seemed like a good plan.  Unfortunately, for me Joey Scriven threw a monkey wrench into the plan.  While we were standing there looking at the antenna Joey Scriven suddenly grabbed it. He then tossed it through a window that had been rolled down a couple of inches.  Since the car was locked there was no way of retrieving the antenna and sticking it back into the hole.  I quickly realized that I was doomed.  Now this happened on a Friday.  I spent the entire weekend worrying about that antenna.  What should I do?  What if one of my friends spilled the beans?  How could I have been so stupid?  Finally, on Monday morning I did what I had to do. I walked down to the principal’s office and asked if I could speak to Mrs. Connelly.  When I told her what had happened she summoned the owner of the car to her office.  The owner of the car turned out to be a construction worker who was working on an addition to the school. I’m sure he was a nice guy.  At that particular moment though he looked like the biggest meanest looking construction worker I’d ever seen.  As I stood there in fear and trembling Mrs. Connelly, turned to the construction worker and said, “This young man has just confessed to breaking the antenna on your car.  It was an accident and I think he should be commended for his honesty.” I’m not sure if the construction worker wanted to commend me for my honesty.  I’m pretty sure that the school’s insurance covered the damage to the antenna. I do know that I walked out of Mrs. Connelly’s office feeling like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

I think my experience that day in the principal’s office must have been similar to what Isaiah experienced when he found himself standing in front of God’s heavenly thrown.  As Isaiah stood there in fear and trembling he cried out, “Woe is me…for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips…”

Isaiah’s moment of truth brings us face to face with an uncomfortable but unavoidable and undeniable truth . When you stand before God everyone’s a sinner. I’m a sinner.  You’re a sinner.  President Obama’s a sinner. Your parents are sinners.  Your children are sinners.

Does it bother you a little to hear me say that?  I’m going to guess that it does bother you a little.  When it comes to sin and the feelings of guilt that go with it I think a lot of us can identify with the little boy who went for a ride one day with his grandfather. While they were driving down the road they suddenly heard the wail of a siren.  The grandfather pulled over to the side of the road to let the ambulance go by.  The grandfather shook his head sadly.  “Oh dear God!” he said, “It looks like someone just had an accident.”  As soon as he heard those words the little boy’s eyes got really wide. Then with a quiver in his voice he whimpered, “All that fuss just because someone wet his pants?”

When you start talking about sin your mind can get the best of you.  You start to feel guilty.  You start to feel bad about yourself.  You start to worry that other people are going to judge you and reject you.  Then there’s the constant fear of being punished.

All of that is why people find it hard sometimes to confess their sins.  All of that is why you hear a lot of excuses and explanations.  It’s amazing how our minds can twist things around to justify what we say and what we do even if we shouldn’t have said it or we shouldn’t have done it.

Here’s a good example. It isn’t a sin but it is an example of how our minds can twist things around.  The example has to do with my dad and his dieting habits.  Every now and then my dad will announce to my mother that he’s going to go on a diet and loose a little weight. He has a very interesting approach to dieting though.  When he’s on a diet instead of having a sandwich for lunch he’ll drink a glass of Slim Fast and have 3 cookies for dessert.  His reasoning is that he can have the cookies because he drank the glass of Slim Fast.  Sometimes instead of the three cookies he’ll have a piece of pie instead. 

It’s amazing how our minds can twist things around.  We saw that this past week with Operation Rescue.  That’s the anti-abortion group that’s based in Wichita, Kansas.  They’re based in Wichita, Kansas because that’s where Dr. George Tiller’s clinic is located.  Dr. George Tiller is the doctor who was murdered last Sunday while handing out bulletins in his church.  Immediately after he was murdered Troy Newman the president of Operation Rescue released a statement. In the statement he condemned the violence and disavowed any connection with the man who murdered Dr. Tiller.  It sounds good except for one thing.  Before Dr. Tiller was murdered Operation Rescue had his picture prominently featured on their website. Underneath his picture was the word MONSTER.   Now here’s what I don’t understand.  How can you use inflammatory language like that which is bound to get someone somewhere all riled up?  Then when that person kills someone how can you turn around and insist that you didn’t have anything to do with the violence?   I would argue that whether they want to admit it or not Operation Rescue has blood on its hands.

Of course, I’m not the final judge when it comes to sin.  Isaiah will tell you that God is the final judge when it comes to sin.  “Woe is me,” Isaiah said, “for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” 

Did you notice that Isaiah didn’t offer God an excuse for his sins? Did you notice that Isaiah didn’t offer God an explanation for his sins? No. Instead of doing that Isaiah confessed his sinfulness. Because he did that he was immediately embraced by God’s grace.  He was immediately embraced by God’s mercy.  He was immediately embraced by God’s love.  As soon as Isaiah made his confession an angel touched his lips with that piece of burning coal.  The angel then said to him “your guilt is taken away…”  In that moment Isaiah was a changed man.  You can see that by looking at what Isaiah says when God then asks “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”   Isaiah, the man who just a few minutes earlier had said, “Woe is me” now says with great enthusiasm, “Here am I! Send me.” 

The weight on his shoulders was gone.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Isaiah felt the same way that I felt when I walked out of Mrs. Connelly’s office 42 years ago.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Isaiah felt the same why the penitent thief felt when he confessed his sins on the cross. As soon as he did that Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you today you will be with me in paradise.”

I think that the reason some people don’t feel God’s grace is because they won’t admit that they need God’s grace.  Confession is like castor oil.  You may not like it but it’s good for the soul.

Richard Hoefler tells a story about confession and grace in his book Will Daylight Come? It seems that while staying with his grandparents a young boy by the name of Johnny accidentally killed his grandmother’s pet duck with his slingshot.  When Johnny tried to hide the duck behind a wood pile though his sister Sally saw him. She immediately decided to take advantage of his unintentional sin.  Later that day after lunch the grandmother asked Sally to help her wash the dishes.  Sally surprised everyone though when she announced that Johnny had volunteered to do them for her. She, then, turned to her brother and quietly whispered, “Remember the duck.”  Later that afternoon the grandfather asked the children if they wanted to go fishing.  When the grandmother said that she needed Sally to help her with some chores around the house Sally again announced that Johnny had volunteered to do them for her. Again she turned to her brother and whispered, “Remember the duck.” Well, that went on for a couple of days until Johnny finally got tired of doing all the chores. So, he went to his grandmother and confessed that he had accidentally killed the duck.  “I know,” the grandmother said as she gave him a hug.  “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing.  Because I love you, I forgave you.  I just wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.

I wonder how many people are slaves to their feelings of guilt and fear, shame and unworthiness.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  All you have to do to be embraced by God’s grace is confess that you need God’s grace. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

June 7, 2009