Sermon Reflections and More!
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Holy Trinity Sunday                                                   May 31, 2015


This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

Isaiah 6:1-8Psalm 29Romans 8:12-17John 3:1-17
 

Pr. Christine's Sermon - Dirty Lips
Pr. Christine's Sermon - Dirty Lips

Children's Sermon - What is God Like?
Children's Sermon - What is God Like?

Choir Anthem - This Little Light of Mine
Choir Anthem - This Little Light of Mine

Youth Bell Choir - My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Youth Bell Choir - My Faith Looks Up to Thee




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Sermon Notes from Pastor Christine ... 

 

Alrighty...

Each of you should've picked up a piece of charcoal on your way into worship today. Please get that out now.

 

I'd like you to hold it, roll it around, check it out. Looks like your basic charcoal briquette that you used last weekend during your Memorial Day picnic, doesn't it? I know, I know - It's making your hands fairly filthy. That's what the napkins are for...

 

Now, I'd like you to rub it all over your lips.

Why are you all looking at me like you're convinced you made a mistake calling me as your pastor? It could be worse...

 

See, you lucked out! You only have dirty hands. Not scalded, sooty lips.

 

I mean, poor Isaiah... Goodness. Can you imagine what was going through his mind as bizarre heavenly bodies dashed to and fro encircling the face of God, as Isaiah stands under the weight of the hem of God's robe.

How small he must have felt as the light of God's throne shone down upon him? Of course his mouth was mute; he was scared out of his mind. Not only that, Isaiah suddenly feels unworthy, unclean, and guilty to be standing the presence of God.

 

And if that's not enough, one of the six-winged creatures flies straight at his face (!), carrying a smoldering coal in it's clawed feet... and seers his lips with it.

 

There is no way my reaction would've been, "Ooo, ooo. Send me, God". Seriously, my reaction would have included a blood-curling scream, followed by a, "What the heck?" And instead of longing to be sent by God, I would've hightailed it out of the temple before the next, 'Holy, holy, holy' was uttered by those devious seraphs.

 

It is quite a vision and it's easy to got lost in the sweeping regality of it all, however when we distill this experience down to what it means for Isaiah, what it means for humanity, and what it means for you and I...

 

What is found thrashing about within the subtext of this reading is something that will not only shake the temple on its foundation, but I dare say, will rattle us at our very cores.    

 

"Woe is me, I am lost..." Isaiah cries as he laments his human condition.  Isaiah is a man with unclean lips. Not exactly the ideal prototype for a prophet.  He is called to proclaim, and yet categorically unequal to the task.

 

What does it mean for Isaiah to be a prophet with unclean lips? Isn't that the crux of the vision? And what does this mean for us?

 

I think our inclination is to liken unclean lips with blatantly obvious sinful statements - racist and hate slanders, cheap talk, cruel gossip, and boldface lies. That doesn't seem to be the case for Isaiah. Nor is it the case for most of us.

 

After studying Isaiah's predicament and lamenting the human condition like Isaiah, I told a close friend that if I was really brave I'd preach on this inexplicable divergence... The incongruity between eyes and mouth, between head and heart, or more specifically the difference between what we say and what we think, but that seems too dangerous.

 

So, this was never supposed to be a sermon.

 

But, the quandary of Isaiah remains and is a real struggle:

As a preacher, a pastor... how do I speak of God when I have unclean lips?

 

Because I know I do. It's not that my lips are impure because of lies (although, certainly I have lied in my life), but rather my questions, my faltering beliefs, and my insistent demanding of more from God.

 

My thoughts on God don't always mesh up with my words about God.

My feelings for God don't always align with others expectations.

Unclean lips.

 

And it has always been this way for me - ardently willing to work for God, proclaim the truths of God while simultaneously wondering if the work matters, whether the truth is even heard... let alone what constitutes truth.

 

And you deserve better than that. You deserve someone steadfast in conviction, confident in her call, and whose heart and head and voice align.

And, let's be real, God deserves better. This I know for sure.

But, I suspect God already knows I am a preacher with unclean lips.

 

Isaiah's vision is filled with vivid illustrations of divine transcendence and utter glory, but there's that one item that seems misplaced and misused.

 

One item that doesn't seem to belong just as much as Isaiah doesn't belong. Just as much as I don't belong.

 

Coal. This coal comes straight from the realm of heaven. Why is something as filthy as coal found in the keeping of God? I've got to think it would've stained his shimmering robe and tainted his hands.

 

Additionally, this hot coal trick of atonement and cleansing certainly would not have held up in my systematic theology class. Exactly how does coal take away sin and make one clean?

 

I don't know exactly how Isaiah looked after his encounter with the hot coal, but I imagine him with a big black smudge on his lips (and probably some fairly painful blisters). Physical evidence to everyone he encounters that he does indeed have dirty lips... No hiding it now.

 

For me it is a scary and risky thing to admit my belief wavers and my questions often seem louder than my resolve, because I worry I'll taint your hearing of God, tarnish your belief, and stain your view of me and the church. And from a selfish perspective, I worry I'll mess up my children's faith.

 

These things should be an impediment to my call.

 

However it's also true that admitting the garbage we carry is honest and pure and clean. And let's not lose sight of the fact that the dirt on Isaiah's lips is from God.

Apparently redemption isn't dependent upon cleanliness, purity, or perfection of word or thought.

 

I'm in luck! And so are you.

 

I guess the reason I decided I'd preach the sermon I said I wouldn't is because the question is not only, what would it mean to be a prophet or pastor with unclean lips, but also what would it mean to be a teacher with unclean lips?
Or a police officer? A scientist? A student? A writer?

A parent? A grandparent? A brother or sister?

 

The list could go on and on. I suggest you take whatever you 'are' and put yourself in that sentence. What does it mean to be a _________ with unclean lips?

 

Where do your dirt and failings fit into God's call upon your life?

We don't ask that question very often. We are much more apt to consider our passions or talents as what drives our call; not our weakness, failings - not our dirt.

 

However the defining law of God is:

Dirt cleanses dirt.

 

Because God died in a messy way and stained His whole world with blood and sweat and tears. Not just charcoal smudges.

 

 

You and I both know what Isaiah recounts is a vision; not an exact reality, however the stunning proclamation within this revelation is the unclean are conjoined to the clean; the unholy held within the holy; and the common are bound to the divine.

 

Maybe the holiest thing we can do when speaking for God is to utter that which blisters our lips, stains our tongues, and strangles our throats. Because here is what I know - someone else has that same stain on their lips and is convinced it places them outside the graces of God.

 

What if, despite our imperfections - we are the holy coal of God placed in the seraphs hand to cleanse the world?

 

What if I'm supposed to be a pastor with unclean lips?

And what if you're supposed to be YOU with unclean lips?

 

While it may not make any sense to us, God seems to enjoy using dirt in the whole redemption of life process. God gets dirty with us, and uses our dirt to not only cleanse us, but others also.

 

If you still question this... I offer the cross.

It was the dirtiest moment in the history of the universe and stands to this day as the proclamation of the only things which have ever purified the soul, let alone the lips...

Forgiven. Loved. Holy.