Holy Trinity Sunday
June 3, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah 6:1-8 Acts
2:14a, 22-36 John 3:1-17
In the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Our text today comes from
the Old Testament lesson today, especially these words, “Holy, holy, holy is
the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. We see a terrifyingly beautiful
picture of heaven in our text today.
Beautiful with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven – the
throne of God, six winged seraphs and all that goes with it. It is the perfection that our world will
never be, the holiness of God is everywhere.
And dear friends, that is exactly what makes heaven such a terrifying
place for Isaiah in our text.
For when Isaiah
sees heaven, the difference between his own unholiness and the Holiness of God
Almighty is so stark as to be unavoidable.
When Isaiah thinks of himself compared to the Triune God, the HOLY HOLY
HOLY, there is not even a comparison that fits words. “Woe is me!” he cries, “I am ruined! I am dead mean! For I am a sinner, and I live among
sinners!” And God himself had told Moses
that sinners could not see the face of God, or they would die forever!
It’s not exactly
what we expect is it? We have read or
heard of the books about people who supposedly have gone to heaven and tell of
its glories and majesties. We have read about
ninety minutes in heaven, or how heaven is for real, and not in a single one of
those books does the main character react like Isaiah – with terror at their
circumstances.
Why does Isaiah
react this way? Why is he terrified for
standing before the true and only God, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit? Because of his sin. And Isaiah knew his Bible, he had read time
and time again how God commanded Israel to blot out sin before God. He had read the punishments of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and of hard-hearted pharaoh, and of all the nations that stood
against Israel. He knew God won’t stand
for even the smallest sin. He read how
David, the man after God’s own heart had his own kingdom fall apart all for one
night of adultery. And worst of all –
when he looked at himself, Isaiah realized, that he himself was the worst of
all sinners – for he knew allthe secret little thoughts he had. He knew all the little sins that no one else
knew. He knew the guilty little thoughts
he had, the sin that lurked away in the recesses of his soul. And standing before the throne of God, Isaiah
was terrified, for he knew the just God knew his sin as well.
What about you
dear friends? Ask yourself this question
today: As you are today, how would you
fare before God. Are you holy, or are
you a poor miserable sinner in your thought word and deed? When you stand before God, and all your
secrets are revealed, and your sins brought into light, will you be innocent,
or will you be the worst of all sinners?
I know that for me
personally it is a terrifying prospect, for all my shortcomings, for all my
guilt, and all my sins to become known to the God who says, “Be holy, as I the
Lord your God am holy!” Dear friends, I
have failed – failed as a christian, failed as a pastor, failed as a father and
a son. And I suspect friends that if you
are honest with yourself that you have failed as well. Your sin is ever before you, ever nagging at
your conscience, ever declaring the truth – yes the TRUTH! You are not worthy on your own before
God.
And so with
Isaiah, we stand before God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
guilty. Woe to us, for we have unclean
lips, and we live among those who also are unclean. Woe to us, for we will stand before the Holy,
holy, holy as unholy people.
And yet, see what
happens in our text. Isaiah is terrified
and a dead man, but an angel comes with a burning coal from the altar of God
and touches Isaiah’s unclean lips and says “Your guilt is taken away, your sins
are atoned for.” Isaiah is no longer
guilty before God. What is it with this
coal? How does this seemingly silly act
make all this sin go away? Its where
this coal was taken from! The altar of
God. The place where sin is atoned for,
the place where a poor soul is bound, slaughtered, their blood poured out and
then their body burned as a sacrifice for sin.
Isaiah had been to the temple in Jerusalem, he had seen countless
animals killed as sin sacrifices, and now in heaven he saw the true glory of
God’s atonement for sin.
The sacrifice for
Isaiah’s sin, and for your sin is the same.
God, the great King of Kings and Lord of Lords left behind the glories
of holy heaven, and entered our dirty sinful world. He lived a life in the flesh our human nature
and then when the time was right he was the ultimate sacrifice for sin. He was the one who was bound. He was the one whose blood was poured
out. He was the one who suffered the
just punishment for Isaiah’s sin and yes friends, for your sin as well. His blood was poured out on the altar of
heaven for Isaiah’s sin, for your sin, and for the sin of the whole world.
So when that
burning coal touches Isaiah, it is that blood that heals him. It is that blood that takes away his
sin. It is that sacrifice that allows
him to be before the Triune God in peace.
And the same is true for you as well dear friends. No, we are not going to touch your lips with
burning coals. But we are today going to
touch your lips with the very body and blood of that sacrifice Jesus. We will give him to you for eat. And as you eat him, your whole body is made
well, your sin is gone, you are connected to the sin sacrifice of Jesus.
And dear friends
that sacrifice is good for all your sins.
Because Jesus poured out his life on the cross for you, you can safely
enter heaven. Because Jesus died in your
place, you can stand before God, and see him face to face. For because Jesus died for your sin, because
he took away every last bit of it, you are now holy, just as God is Holy, Holy,
Holy. Your sin is cleansed. You are made well with the blood of the
lamb.
So rejoice, as you
one day will stand as Isaiah does at the end of our text, in heaven. Not afraid of God. Not dreading judgment. Not guilty, but innocent, at peace
forever. You will sing with the angels
and the archangels, the cherubim and seraphim all without terror or fear. You will see your loved ones who have also
died in the faith. You will live
forever, and never have pain again. For
the sacrifice of God has touched your lips, you are made whole in the blood of
the lamb. You – today – are a citizen of
heaven, all because of the sacrifice of Jesus.
Amen.
