Isaiah 6:1-8
1In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of
his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six
wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet,
and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full
of his glory.”
4The pivots on the
thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with
smoke. 5And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts!”
6Then one of the seraphs
flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair
of tongs. 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has
touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8Then
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for
us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
John 3:1-17
1Now there was a
Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and
said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for
no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus
answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God
without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born
after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and
be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the
kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the
flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished
that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus
said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a
teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11 “Very truly, I tell
you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not
receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not
believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has
ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not
send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world
might be saved through him.”
Reflection
God
is so much bigger than I can possibly understand. And, that is a good thing.
Isaiah captures this idea perfectly as he shares his vision of visiting the throne room of God in the temple. God is so big that when Isaiah tries to get look at God, all he can see is the hem on the very bottom corner of God’s robe. Isaiah gets to be in the presence of God, gets to experience God, and even gets to talk with God after he is cleansed with a burning coal to the lips, but Isaiah is not ever able to even see beyond the hem of God’s robe, much less God’s leg, hand, or face. God is so much bigger than I can possibly understand. And that is a good thing.
It is a good thing, because it forces me to be careful when I talk about God. All Isaiah can talk about and all Isaiah knows for certain concerns the hem of God’s robe, and the things that God said to him. He can fully talk about the Seraphs, with their six wings, and their holy song, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). He saw them. He experienced them fully. But, God? Isaiah can only share what little was shared with him. Isaiah only knows what God has given him to know. Isaiah can tell about the destruction that will come upon his people, and the promise of new growth after the years of destruction. Isaiah has been empowered to talk about that, but is equipped to say no more than that. And, that is a good thing.
After-all, what would things be like if I, or Isaiah, or any of us thought we completely understood God. Then we would be powerful. We would know all truth. People would have to come to us and people would have to listen to us and trust in us because we would know the fullness of God.
And the problem with that is that no one should put that much trust in Jira Albers. I could not find one of my socks the other day. I searched and searched. I found it later in the fridge next to the milk. No one should put that much trust in Jira Albers; and no one should put that much trust in you…no offense; and no one should put that much trust in our earthly leaders, and no one should put that much trust in even the great prophet Isaiah. Isaiah admits as much when he approaches those huge threads, weaved together to make the hem of God’s robe. “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah’s lips did need to be cleansed before speaking with God, and especially before speaking for God.
In some churches, before the sermon, you will hear the pastor pray Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” I pray it each Sunday before I even step out in front of you, because I know that God is so much bigger and so much more than my humble words can possibly express. I pray that my words can even come close to the reality that is the love and righteousness of God. After-all, I can only share what I have seen and what I been given. Given that, if we want to be honest in our religious lives, we have no choice but to be beggars, looking up to God, praying for a morsel of truth and grace.
God is so much bigger than we can possibly understand, and that is a good thing.
You see, there are so many things that God does and accomplishes that we simply do not understand, but we see them and they cause us to simply stand in awe. Isaiah stares up at the hem of God’s robe, and he is in awe. The hunter feels the predictable evening breeze and watches as the wonders of creation move about just beyond against the reds and oranges of the setting sun, and he is in awe. The woman finds healing when she thought there would be none, and she is in awe. The siblings sit, swinging in the porch seat together when they had once vowed that they would never speak again, and they stare at each other in awe.
It makes me think of the song, How Great Thou Art:
Oh Lord, my God When I, in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Nicodemus hears about the water being turning into wine, and he is in awe. He learns of Jesus’ courage in standing up to the powers of his world and he learns of Jesus’ desire to bring the temple back as a place of prayer rather than a place of commerce, and he is in awe. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Nicodemus has heard of the wonders of God through Jesus, wonders of something so much bigger than he, and the awe that has struck him causes him to come out of the night into the light of Jesus. He wants to know more. He wants to see more. He is in awe.
Jesus answers Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Jesus can see it in Nicodemus. Jesus can see his awe. He sees how his amazement at the wonders of God has moved Nicodemus to wander in from the darkness, toward the light. Jesus knows that the Spirit has been working on Nicodemus like the wind. Jesus says, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The Spirit has blown on Nicodemus allowing him to glimpse briefly God’s kingdom, and he sees that God is so much bigger than he can possibly understand. And, that is a good thing.
We wonder why the Spirit does what it does and blows on the people it blows on, and we are in awe. We wonder at the bigness of God’s love, that it encompasses the entire world, even those we would rather it not. We wonder at the shocking revelation that God has no desire to condemn. Condemning is what the world does. Rather, Jesus comes to save. How does the Spirit work? Who does the Spirit touch? How does Jesus save the world? It is all so big!
It is so big that it simply causes us to look up in awe, and that is a good thing…that is a gift from God…because when we are looking at all the wondrous things that God is doing we are not focusing down on ourselves…we are not wrapped up in ourselves and our own goals and our own pains and our own cares. The awesome wonders that God does and the things that Jesus says which cause our mouths to open…the things that simply blow our minds…are all gifts that allow us to focus on the things that truly matter in this life: the life changing acts of Jesus, the love of God for the world, the willingness of Jesus to lay down his life for us, and his refusal to condemn. They all cause us to realize that all we see is the lower corner of the hem of God’s robe. God’s love and grace is so much bigger than we can possibly imagine. And, that is a good thing.
Oh Lord, my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my
Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think that
God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul, my
Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
When Christ shall
come, with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my
Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
- Carl Boberg
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