Tomorrow’s Sunday (March 28)

Let’s Remember Who We Worship

Sunday mornings at the Minton’s are quite a bustle. Sunday dresses and an avalanche of items that fit in our bottomless pit—I mean diaper bag. Plus breakfast has to include all the food groups since Sunday lunches come later than normal. The list could go on. 

Maybe for you Sunday mornings are leisurely: two cups of coffee and ample time to read the Bible. Whether your Sunday mornings are chaotic or cozy, it's all too easy to rush into worship without recalling Who we worship. Let’s take some time to meditate together.

Isaiah 6 invites us into the temple, the place of God’s special presence under the old covenant. Isaiah sees the LORD, Yahweh, who is Holy, Holy, Holy. The imagery is awesome (in the old sense of that word). “In the year king Uzziah died,” Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne.” Death had dethroned king Uzziah. Still our eternal Sovereign reigned: His throne exalted and the train of his vestments filled the temple. Do you see Him?

Next Isaiah describes the seraphim: other-worldly creatures with six wings designed for worship. The Creator purposed each set of their wings to that end. One set allowed them to fly around the throne. Another covered their feet, which were viewed as unclean and creaturely. Yet another set covered their eyes because even they couldn’t look at the unmediated glory of Yahweh. 

The seraphim ceaselessly sang in antiphony: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” As has often been pointed out, ancient Hebrews, like Isaiah, expressed emphasis and exclamation through word repetition. God’s holiness is in the superlative. It is absolute. 

Isaiah’s response to encountering the Majestically Holy Sovereign? Malediction. He pronounces a curse on himself. “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.” The blinding light of Yahweh’s holiness enables Isaiah to see himself truly: he is lost and unclean. 

Thankfully, Isaiah’s encounter with Yahweh doesn’t end there. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, says Isaiah, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Isa. 6:6-7) 

Thankfully our encounter with the One who is Holy, Holy, Holy doesn’t end there either. We, however, must resist the temptation to rush because the awful sight of Yahweh’s holiness and our sinfulness is in fact where our stories begin.

Our response to Yahweh’s Holy Glory, like Isaiah’s, is confession. Amazingly in the biblical vocabulary confession and cower aren’t synonyms. Rather we can come with humble courage to confess our sins because our God is absolutely holy—and absolutely merciful. 

Rejoice in this HBC.  If we confess our sins, He, the thrice Holy God, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9) Unlike Isaiah, because of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Yahweh Incarnate, we no longer have to react to the Holy One by cursing ourselves—by malediction. Rather we get to respond by blessing God and receiving Divine benediction. Hallelujah—that is, Praise Yahweh!

Tomorrow’s Sunday!