SERMON. Unclean Lips. May 27, The Reverend Dr. Eric C. Smith
|
|
- Isabella Shavonne McCarthy
- 5 years ago
- Views:
Transcription
1 SERMON Unclean Lips May 27, 2018 The Reverend Dr. Eric C. Smith
2 I d like to ask you to imagine something with me. Imagine that in the 2016 election, Donald Trump was taking over not for Barack Obama, but instead he was taking over for Lyndon B. Johnson, who had become president 52 years earlier. Imagine that LBJ had been president for the past 52 years, and that no one except LBJ had led the nation through all those decades of our national life, and that every person born since 1964 had only ever known a president Johnson. Imagine that it was Johnson who led the nation through Vietnam, but also the first Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imagine LBJ being president through Watergate, Iran Contra, the Challenger explosion, the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and all of the history that has transpired since Imagine then how traumatic would it be when Johnson left office. Imagine how much stronger the emotions around the national election would have been in 2016 if it had been not 8 years of the prior president, but 52 years. Imagine if one party had had control of the presidency not for two four-year terms but for thirteen of them, and suddenly a different party controlled the presidency, and there were people eligible for retirement who could barely remember any other person in the Oval Office. Imagine all of that, and you have some sense of the trauma and uncertainty and upheaval surrounding the prophet Isaiah in this passage. King Uzziah had just died, the king had just died after a 52 year reign, and it seems that Isaiah didn t quite know what to do with himself. In the Hebrew Bible, there are two basic kinds of kings. There are good kings and there are bad kings, and the fate of the nation usually depended on the goodness or the badness of the king. The good kings ushered in periods of prosperity, and the bad ones brought decline and struggle and defeat. The bad kings were sometimes especially bad; the Bible says of those kings that they did what was evil in the sight of the lord, and the nation suffered the consequences of their bad rule. Likewise, of the good kings it was said that they did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and the people prospered. Of all the good kings in the Hebrew Bible, there are a few that stand out as especially good, kings whose reigns were said to have been especially righteous and prosperous. King Uzziah was one of those kings. Uzziah reigned as king of Judah, the southern kingdom, for 52 years, which was a period of extraordinary stability in a time when kings might last a year or two. And in the Bible Uzziah has a reputation for mostly being just and upright. And so it is a big deal that when the prophet Isaiah begins to talk about this vision that he had, he frames it in time, and he marks time with the death of this great and long-reigning king: in 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. In the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah writes, in that tumultuous and perilous time, I had a spiritual vision. It s often said that you should keep your religion and your politics separate, but Isaiah never got that memo. Neither did any of the other prophets of the Hebrew Bible, really. Religion was always political for the prophets, and politics was always religious. The temple and the king were part of a single structure by which the people could have access to God; God worked and spoke through the king, or at least God worked and spoke through the good kings, just like God worked and spoke through the temple and its sacrifices, and through the prophets and their oracles. The king dying after 52 years was a very big deal, but it wasn t just a big political deal. It was a big religious deal. The king s death brought on a crisis of faith. It was a dangerous moment for God s relationship with the people of Israel and the nation of Judah. It was a time when it might have felt to Isaiah and to his compatriots that their special relationship with God was threatened. This is not so different from what you can hear in our own time from all different corners of the American political arena. Lots of people, including a lot of us, are convinced that Barack Obama was the Page 1 of 4
3 most ungodly abomination ever to enter our national politics, and that he was a threat to everything good and true and right about our nation. And most of the rest of the people in the country, including many of us, are convinced that it is actually Donald Trump that is the abomination, the worst thing to ever happen to decency and truth. Before that it was George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush and Reagan and Carter and so on down the line. It seems like we don t just have presidents in this country, we have lightning rods, and for some of us one president is a savior and for others of us that same president is an existential threat. And religion, of course, religion is wrapped up right in the middle of it all. Evangelical Christians get a lot of the blame on this, but they re hardly the only Christians or only religious people who think about politics as a religious exercise and religion as an extension of politics. We are not so different from old Israelite society with its blending of religion and politics, we are just less honest about it. So in the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. Remember, he was shaken, he was reeling, he was afraid, and he saw this vision. And it was a strange vision. The Lord which is the Jewish way of talking about God when they didn t want to use God s proper personal name the Lord, in this vision, was sitting in the throne room, in the temple where God lived, and God was on the throne, and all around God were seraphs. Now if you ve always wanted to know what a seraph is, you have come to the right place, because yours truly is the author of a 7000 word academic article on seraphs and their close cousins the cherubs, in a forthcoming encyclopedia of early Christianity. It promises to be really page-turning reading. But I ll sum it up for you here: seraphs are really weird angel type things, and seraphs exist solely to serve God. So the seraphs were all flying all around God and they were singing this song, Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God s glory. It was a strange vision, and for Isaiah it must have been a deeply spiritual vision, a vision of God in God s temple surrounded by God s attendants and angels, a heavenly liturgy unfolding right there in front of him. And in the middle of all this majesty and strangeness, Isaiah spoke. And I think that what Isaiah had to say in that moment is something we could stand to hear in our moment. I think that Isaiah s words in the midst of that vision are words that we could bear to hear, and maybe even to speak, as we live out our own lives and our own politics and our own religion in our own day. Isaiah said, Woe is me. Woe is me, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Does that sound familiar? Just turn on the news these days and it might sound familiar. Just log into Facebook or Twitter these days and you ll know what Isaiah must have meant. I have a Twitter account, and whenever I open that app I feel like I live among a people of unclean lips. Certainly I live among a people of unclean keyboards. Woe is me, Isaiah says, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. In other words, my country and my people are adrift. We speak unrighteously. We pollute rather than purify. We speak hatred rather than kindness, we speak violence rather than peace, we profane the world with our mouths rather than make the world a better place. Isaiah, he knows the kind of people he lives among, and he knows the kind of world he is living in, there in the wake of this political and religious crisis, and he knows that his world not a godly one. And he acknowledges it, in the presence of God; he says this out loud. The seraph, then, the seraph took a live coal from the altar, and he touched Isaiah with it on the mouth, and with that the seraph cleared away whatever uncleanness and sin was on Isaiah s lips. And then Isaiah heard another voice, and this is the heart of the matter. Isaiah heard another voice. The voice asked a question. Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? The voice that Isaiah heard was God s voice, and the question was exactly the question that the moment required. God s question Page 2 of 4
4 was the one that should be asked at that moment when you realize what a fallen world you live in, when you understand the ways in which your society is broken and in need of healing. God s question was, so what? So what? The text had just spent a long time establishing that there was a crisis, that things were falling apart, that the culture and the society even the church of the day were rotten at the core, and the question from God was, so what? What is anybody going to do about it? What is the practical effect of noticing, as Isaiah had just done, what is the effect of noticing that things were off the rails? What difference was made because Isaiah had realized what kind of broken world he was living in? Whom shall I send, God asked, and who will go for us? I don t need to recite for you all the ways our world is broken, all the ways our politics are broken, all the ways our social fabric is torn. We could all make our own lists of the ways our world is broken, and regardless of our politics probably most of our lists would be pretty similar. But I have some bad news for all of you liberals out there: it didn t all start with Donald Trump. And I have some bad news for all of you conservatives out there too: it didn t start with Barack Obama either. In fact, even if we had just finished a 52-year reign of Lyndon B. Johnson, even if LBJ had been sitting in the Oval Office for all these years, and everything that happened since the 60s had happened on his watch, we still couldn t even blame it all on him. The brokenness in our world does not belong to any person, no matter how powerful. The brokenness in our world is systemic, it is endemic, it has something to do with us, it belongs to us, and all of our hating on this or that politician is just an elaborate ritual that keeps us from having to confront that central truth: that the injustices in our world are injustices that we cause and we allow to keep happening. The inequalities in the world are here because we sanction them, in one way or another. This is not to excuse politics and politicians; there are good kings and there are bad kings, and some of them do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, as the Hebrew Bible says. But Isaiah s vision points us to a bigger truth. In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. In the midst of political trouble and turmoil, in the middle of unsteady days, in a time of uncertainty and fear, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne. And God asked: whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And here is the high point of the story. When God asks whom shall I send, and who will go for us, Isaiah almost jumps out of his seat. Here I am! The NRSV translation says here am I, but that sounds a little silly to me, so I m going to rephrase it. Here I am, Isaiah exclaims. Here I am! Send me! Let me be the one you send. I think I can be the one to make a difference. Let me do it. And that is the call story of Isaiah. That is how Isaiah got to be Isaiah, the great prophet of the Hebrew Bible. It didn t happen because he was the smartest one or the friendliest one or the one with the most resources or the holiest most pious one. It happened because when God asked for someone to go out and speak a good word to the world, Isaiah raised his hand and said, pick me. And God sent him out, and Isaiah became Isaiah. That s a daunting example for us today. That kind of clarity of purpose is rare, where God is literally in front of you asking for volunteers. And that kind of bravery is even rarer, when you re willing to be the one to raise your hand and say yes. But that is how this works. That s how this whole thing works; God calls us, and we answer, or we don t. If we answer, we do the best we can. If we don t answer, then the world keeps on being troubled without the benefit of our doing whatever it is we were called to do. God calls us each and every one, and so, as the saying goes, we are the ones we have been waiting for. It doesn t matter who the president is or for how long, or which king did or did not do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, or how clean or unclean the lips of our people are, we are still called by God to work in this place and bring justice and mercy and love and peace and good news to this world. Page 3 of 4
5 I want to close by offering a concrete suggestion for a direction God might be calling you in, a direction God might be calling us in. I wasn t sure if I should do this, so I texted George and I asked him, and he wrote back, and he said that of course I should do it, because, he said, if he said no it would be denying millennia of biblical witness and the express teachings of Jesus, which is how I feel too. So here it is; if you re wondering in what way God is calling you to minister to the world and to work to leave this place more righteous, godly, just, and life-giving than you found it, I suggest to you the poor people s campaign. If you re looking for a way to do what God has called you to do, consider the poor people s campaign. You don t have to be poor to join, although Jesus did say that it helps. All you have to do is have an awareness that the world is broken and needs fixing, and that it is probably regular folks who are going to do it, not senators or presidents or governors or the pope or the Dalai Lama but regular folks like you and me. The poor people s campaign had its roots in the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr., who never lived to see those ideas through. But in these last few years the idea has been revived, and now a broad coalition of people of faith and no faith, people across all kinds of difference, lots of different kinds of people are joined together to address things like systemic racism, poverty, a war economy that thrives on death and destruction, environmental degradation, and equal protection under the law. It is religious and it is political; it is, as one of its leaders the Rev. Dr. William Barber puts it, it is a national call for moral revival. It is, as George Anastos puts it, in accord with millennia of biblical witness, including every bit of the book of Isaiah, and it is in accord with the express teachings of Jesus. Right now the poor people s campaign is engaged in what it calls 40 days of moral action, including action at state capitals in multiple states on Tuesday, although not in Colorado. On their website you can find ways that you can get involved. Find a way to plug in, to support, to educate yourself, to demand action on the things you hear God calling you to do, to lend your voice to the millions of voices that are gathering to cry out together. Or don t maybe this not your call, maybe you re being called somewhere else. The poor people s campaign is just a suggestion after all. Find your own thing, find where God is calling you, because God is calling you. For we live among a people of unclean lips, that much seems clear now, and God is asking whom shall I send, and who will go for us. You be the one to jump out of your seat. Be the one to raise your hand. Be the one to finds yourself saying, here I am, send me, and let s get to work doing what God has called us to do. Amen. Page 4 of 4
6 SERMON Unclean Lips May 27, 2018 The Reverend Dr. Eric C. Smith
7 I d like to ask you to imagine something with me. Imagine that in the 2016 election, Donald Trump was taking over not for Barack Obama, but instead he was taking over for Lyndon B. Johnson, who had become president 52 years earlier. Imagine that LBJ had been president for the past 52 years, and that no one except LBJ had led the nation through all those decades of our national life, and that every person born since 1964 had only ever known a president Johnson. Imagine that it was Johnson who led the nation through Vietnam, but also the first Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imagine LBJ being president through Watergate, Iran Contra, the Challenger explosion, the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and all of the history that has transpired since Imagine then how traumatic would it be when Johnson left office. Imagine how much stronger the emotions around the national election would have been in 2016 if it had been not 8 years of the prior president, but 52 years. Imagine if one party had had control of the presidency not for two four-year terms but for thirteen of them, and suddenly a different party controlled the presidency, and there were people eligible for retirement who could barely remember any other person in the Oval Office. Imagine all of that, and you have some sense of the trauma and uncertainty and upheaval surrounding the prophet Isaiah in this passage. King Uzziah had just died, the king had just died after a 52 year reign, and it seems that Isaiah didn t quite know what to do with himself. In the Hebrew Bible, there are two basic kinds of kings. There are good kings and there are bad kings, and the fate of the nation usually depended on the goodness or the badness of the king. The good kings ushered in periods of prosperity, and the bad ones brought decline and struggle and defeat. The bad kings were sometimes especially bad; the Bible says of those kings that they did what was evil in the sight of the lord, and the nation suffered the consequences of their bad rule. Likewise, of the good kings it was said that they did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and the people prospered. Of all the good kings in the Hebrew Bible, there are a few that stand out as especially good, kings whose reigns were said to have been especially righteous and prosperous. King Uzziah was one of those kings. Uzziah reigned as king of Judah, the southern kingdom, for 52 years, which was a period of extraordinary stability in a time when kings might last a year or two. And in the Bible Uzziah has a reputation for mostly being just and upright. And so it is a big deal that when the prophet Isaiah begins to talk about this vision that he had, he frames it in time, and he marks time with the death of this great and long-reigning king: in 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. In the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah writes, in that tumultuous and perilous time, I had a spiritual vision. It s often said that you should keep your religion and your politics separate, but Isaiah never got that memo. Neither did any of the other prophets of the Hebrew Bible, really. Religion was always political for the prophets, and politics was always religious. The temple and the king were part of a single structure by which the people could have access to God; God worked and spoke through the king, or at least God worked and spoke through the good kings, just like God worked and spoke through the temple and its sacrifices, and through the prophets and their oracles. The king dying after 52 years was a very big deal, but it wasn t just a big political deal. It was a big religious deal. The king s death brought on a crisis of faith. It was a dangerous moment for God s relationship with the people of Israel and the nation of Judah. It was a time when it might have felt to Isaiah and to his compatriots that their special relationship with God was threatened. This is not so different from what you can hear in our own time from all different corners of the American political arena. Lots of people, including a lot of us, are convinced that Barack Obama was the Page 1 of 4
8 most ungodly abomination ever to enter our national politics, and that he was a threat to everything good and true and right about our nation. And most of the rest of the people in the country, including many of us, are convinced that it is actually Donald Trump that is the abomination, the worst thing to ever happen to decency and truth. Before that it was George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush and Reagan and Carter and so on down the line. It seems like we don t just have presidents in this country, we have lightning rods, and for some of us one president is a savior and for others of us that same president is an existential threat. And religion, of course, religion is wrapped up right in the middle of it all. Evangelical Christians get a lot of the blame on this, but they re hardly the only Christians or only religious people who think about politics as a religious exercise and religion as an extension of politics. We are not so different from old Israelite society with its blending of religion and politics, we are just less honest about it. So in the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. Remember, he was shaken, he was reeling, he was afraid, and he saw this vision. And it was a strange vision. The Lord which is the Jewish way of talking about God when they didn t want to use God s proper personal name the Lord, in this vision, was sitting in the throne room, in the temple where God lived, and God was on the throne, and all around God were seraphs. Now if you ve always wanted to know what a seraph is, you have come to the right place, because yours truly is the author of a 7000 word academic article on seraphs and their close cousins the cherubs, in a forthcoming encyclopedia of early Christianity. It promises to be really page-turning reading. But I ll sum it up for you here: seraphs are really weird angel type things, and seraphs exist solely to serve God. So the seraphs were all flying all around God and they were singing this song, Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God s glory. It was a strange vision, and for Isaiah it must have been a deeply spiritual vision, a vision of God in God s temple surrounded by God s attendants and angels, a heavenly liturgy unfolding right there in front of him. And in the middle of all this majesty and strangeness, Isaiah spoke. And I think that what Isaiah had to say in that moment is something we could stand to hear in our moment. I think that Isaiah s words in the midst of that vision are words that we could bear to hear, and maybe even to speak, as we live out our own lives and our own politics and our own religion in our own day. Isaiah said, Woe is me. Woe is me, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Does that sound familiar? Just turn on the news these days and it might sound familiar. Just log into Facebook or Twitter these days and you ll know what Isaiah must have meant. I have a Twitter account, and whenever I open that app I feel like I live among a people of unclean lips. Certainly I live among a people of unclean keyboards. Woe is me, Isaiah says, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. In other words, my country and my people are adrift. We speak unrighteously. We pollute rather than purify. We speak hatred rather than kindness, we speak violence rather than peace, we profane the world with our mouths rather than make the world a better place. Isaiah, he knows the kind of people he lives among, and he knows the kind of world he is living in, there in the wake of this political and religious crisis, and he knows that his world not a godly one. And he acknowledges it, in the presence of God; he says this out loud. The seraph, then, the seraph took a live coal from the altar, and he touched Isaiah with it on the mouth, and with that the seraph cleared away whatever uncleanness and sin was on Isaiah s lips. And then Isaiah heard another voice, and this is the heart of the matter. Isaiah heard another voice. The voice asked a question. Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? The voice that Isaiah heard was God s voice, and the question was exactly the question that the moment required. God s question Page 2 of 4
9 was the one that should be asked at that moment when you realize what a fallen world you live in, when you understand the ways in which your society is broken and in need of healing. God s question was, so what? So what? The text had just spent a long time establishing that there was a crisis, that things were falling apart, that the culture and the society even the church of the day were rotten at the core, and the question from God was, so what? What is anybody going to do about it? What is the practical effect of noticing, as Isaiah had just done, what is the effect of noticing that things were off the rails? What difference was made because Isaiah had realized what kind of broken world he was living in? Whom shall I send, God asked, and who will go for us? I don t need to recite for you all the ways our world is broken, all the ways our politics are broken, all the ways our social fabric is torn. We could all make our own lists of the ways our world is broken, and regardless of our politics probably most of our lists would be pretty similar. But I have some bad news for all of you liberals out there: it didn t all start with Donald Trump. And I have some bad news for all of you conservatives out there too: it didn t start with Barack Obama either. In fact, even if we had just finished a 52-year reign of Lyndon B. Johnson, even if LBJ had been sitting in the Oval Office for all these years, and everything that happened since the 60s had happened on his watch, we still couldn t even blame it all on him. The brokenness in our world does not belong to any person, no matter how powerful. The brokenness in our world is systemic, it is endemic, it has something to do with us, it belongs to us, and all of our hating on this or that politician is just an elaborate ritual that keeps us from having to confront that central truth: that the injustices in our world are injustices that we cause and we allow to keep happening. The inequalities in the world are here because we sanction them, in one way or another. This is not to excuse politics and politicians; there are good kings and there are bad kings, and some of them do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, as the Hebrew Bible says. But Isaiah s vision points us to a bigger truth. In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. In the midst of political trouble and turmoil, in the middle of unsteady days, in a time of uncertainty and fear, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne. And God asked: whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And here is the high point of the story. When God asks whom shall I send, and who will go for us, Isaiah almost jumps out of his seat. Here I am! The NRSV translation says here am I, but that sounds a little silly to me, so I m going to rephrase it. Here I am, Isaiah exclaims. Here I am! Send me! Let me be the one you send. I think I can be the one to make a difference. Let me do it. And that is the call story of Isaiah. That is how Isaiah got to be Isaiah, the great prophet of the Hebrew Bible. It didn t happen because he was the smartest one or the friendliest one or the one with the most resources or the holiest most pious one. It happened because when God asked for someone to go out and speak a good word to the world, Isaiah raised his hand and said, pick me. And God sent him out, and Isaiah became Isaiah. That s a daunting example for us today. That kind of clarity of purpose is rare, where God is literally in front of you asking for volunteers. And that kind of bravery is even rarer, when you re willing to be the one to raise your hand and say yes. But that is how this works. That s how this whole thing works; God calls us, and we answer, or we don t. If we answer, we do the best we can. If we don t answer, then the world keeps on being troubled without the benefit of our doing whatever it is we were called to do. God calls us each and every one, and so, as the saying goes, we are the ones we have been waiting for. It doesn t matter who the president is or for how long, or which king did or did not do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, or how clean or unclean the lips of our people are, we are still called by God to work in this place and bring justice and mercy and love and peace and good news to this world. Page 3 of 4
10 I want to close by offering a concrete suggestion for a direction God might be calling you in, a direction God might be calling us in. I wasn t sure if I should do this, so I texted George and I asked him, and he wrote back, and he said that of course I should do it, because, he said, if he said no it would be denying millennia of biblical witness and the express teachings of Jesus, which is how I feel too. So here it is; if you re wondering in what way God is calling you to minister to the world and to work to leave this place more righteous, godly, just, and life-giving than you found it, I suggest to you the poor people s campaign. If you re looking for a way to do what God has called you to do, consider the poor people s campaign. You don t have to be poor to join, although Jesus did say that it helps. All you have to do is have an awareness that the world is broken and needs fixing, and that it is probably regular folks who are going to do it, not senators or presidents or governors or the pope or the Dalai Lama but regular folks like you and me. The poor people s campaign had its roots in the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr., who never lived to see those ideas through. But in these last few years the idea has been revived, and now a broad coalition of people of faith and no faith, people across all kinds of difference, lots of different kinds of people are joined together to address things like systemic racism, poverty, a war economy that thrives on death and destruction, environmental degradation, and equal protection under the law. It is religious and it is political; it is, as one of its leaders the Rev. Dr. William Barber puts it, it is a national call for moral revival. It is, as George Anastos puts it, in accord with millennia of biblical witness, including every bit of the book of Isaiah, and it is in accord with the express teachings of Jesus. Right now the poor people s campaign is engaged in what it calls 40 days of moral action, including action at state capitals in multiple states on Tuesday, although not in Colorado. On their website you can find ways that you can get involved. Find a way to plug in, to support, to educate yourself, to demand action on the things you hear God calling you to do, to lend your voice to the millions of voices that are gathering to cry out together. Or don t maybe this not your call, maybe you re being called somewhere else. The poor people s campaign is just a suggestion after all. Find your own thing, find where God is calling you, because God is calling you. For we live among a people of unclean lips, that much seems clear now, and God is asking whom shall I send, and who will go for us. You be the one to jump out of your seat. Be the one to raise your hand. Be the one to finds yourself saying, here I am, send me, and let s get to work doing what God has called us to do. Amen. Page 4 of 4
11 SERMON Unclean Lips May 27, 2018 The Reverend Dr. Eric C. Smith
12 I d like to ask you to imagine something with me. Imagine that in the 2016 election, Donald Trump was taking over not for Barack Obama, but instead he was taking over for Lyndon B. Johnson, who had become president 52 years earlier. Imagine that LBJ had been president for the past 52 years, and that no one except LBJ had led the nation through all those decades of our national life, and that every person born since 1964 had only ever known a president Johnson. Imagine that it was Johnson who led the nation through Vietnam, but also the first Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imagine LBJ being president through Watergate, Iran Contra, the Challenger explosion, the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and all of the history that has transpired since Imagine then how traumatic would it be when Johnson left office. Imagine how much stronger the emotions around the national election would have been in 2016 if it had been not 8 years of the prior president, but 52 years. Imagine if one party had had control of the presidency not for two four-year terms but for thirteen of them, and suddenly a different party controlled the presidency, and there were people eligible for retirement who could barely remember any other person in the Oval Office. Imagine all of that, and you have some sense of the trauma and uncertainty and upheaval surrounding the prophet Isaiah in this passage. King Uzziah had just died, the king had just died after a 52 year reign, and it seems that Isaiah didn t quite know what to do with himself. In the Hebrew Bible, there are two basic kinds of kings. There are good kings and there are bad kings, and the fate of the nation usually depended on the goodness or the badness of the king. The good kings ushered in periods of prosperity, and the bad ones brought decline and struggle and defeat. The bad kings were sometimes especially bad; the Bible says of those kings that they did what was evil in the sight of the lord, and the nation suffered the consequences of their bad rule. Likewise, of the good kings it was said that they did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and the people prospered. Of all the good kings in the Hebrew Bible, there are a few that stand out as especially good, kings whose reigns were said to have been especially righteous and prosperous. King Uzziah was one of those kings. Uzziah reigned as king of Judah, the southern kingdom, for 52 years, which was a period of extraordinary stability in a time when kings might last a year or two. And in the Bible Uzziah has a reputation for mostly being just and upright. And so it is a big deal that when the prophet Isaiah begins to talk about this vision that he had, he frames it in time, and he marks time with the death of this great and long-reigning king: in 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. In the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah writes, in that tumultuous and perilous time, I had a spiritual vision. It s often said that you should keep your religion and your politics separate, but Isaiah never got that memo. Neither did any of the other prophets of the Hebrew Bible, really. Religion was always political for the prophets, and politics was always religious. The temple and the king were part of a single structure by which the people could have access to God; God worked and spoke through the king, or at least God worked and spoke through the good kings, just like God worked and spoke through the temple and its sacrifices, and through the prophets and their oracles. The king dying after 52 years was a very big deal, but it wasn t just a big political deal. It was a big religious deal. The king s death brought on a crisis of faith. It was a dangerous moment for God s relationship with the people of Israel and the nation of Judah. It was a time when it might have felt to Isaiah and to his compatriots that their special relationship with God was threatened. This is not so different from what you can hear in our own time from all different corners of the American political arena. Lots of people, including a lot of us, are convinced that Barack Obama was the Page 1 of 4
13 most ungodly abomination ever to enter our national politics, and that he was a threat to everything good and true and right about our nation. And most of the rest of the people in the country, including many of us, are convinced that it is actually Donald Trump that is the abomination, the worst thing to ever happen to decency and truth. Before that it was George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush and Reagan and Carter and so on down the line. It seems like we don t just have presidents in this country, we have lightning rods, and for some of us one president is a savior and for others of us that same president is an existential threat. And religion, of course, religion is wrapped up right in the middle of it all. Evangelical Christians get a lot of the blame on this, but they re hardly the only Christians or only religious people who think about politics as a religious exercise and religion as an extension of politics. We are not so different from old Israelite society with its blending of religion and politics, we are just less honest about it. So in the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. Remember, he was shaken, he was reeling, he was afraid, and he saw this vision. And it was a strange vision. The Lord which is the Jewish way of talking about God when they didn t want to use God s proper personal name the Lord, in this vision, was sitting in the throne room, in the temple where God lived, and God was on the throne, and all around God were seraphs. Now if you ve always wanted to know what a seraph is, you have come to the right place, because yours truly is the author of a 7000 word academic article on seraphs and their close cousins the cherubs, in a forthcoming encyclopedia of early Christianity. It promises to be really page-turning reading. But I ll sum it up for you here: seraphs are really weird angel type things, and seraphs exist solely to serve God. So the seraphs were all flying all around God and they were singing this song, Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God s glory. It was a strange vision, and for Isaiah it must have been a deeply spiritual vision, a vision of God in God s temple surrounded by God s attendants and angels, a heavenly liturgy unfolding right there in front of him. And in the middle of all this majesty and strangeness, Isaiah spoke. And I think that what Isaiah had to say in that moment is something we could stand to hear in our moment. I think that Isaiah s words in the midst of that vision are words that we could bear to hear, and maybe even to speak, as we live out our own lives and our own politics and our own religion in our own day. Isaiah said, Woe is me. Woe is me, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Does that sound familiar? Just turn on the news these days and it might sound familiar. Just log into Facebook or Twitter these days and you ll know what Isaiah must have meant. I have a Twitter account, and whenever I open that app I feel like I live among a people of unclean lips. Certainly I live among a people of unclean keyboards. Woe is me, Isaiah says, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. In other words, my country and my people are adrift. We speak unrighteously. We pollute rather than purify. We speak hatred rather than kindness, we speak violence rather than peace, we profane the world with our mouths rather than make the world a better place. Isaiah, he knows the kind of people he lives among, and he knows the kind of world he is living in, there in the wake of this political and religious crisis, and he knows that his world not a godly one. And he acknowledges it, in the presence of God; he says this out loud. The seraph, then, the seraph took a live coal from the altar, and he touched Isaiah with it on the mouth, and with that the seraph cleared away whatever uncleanness and sin was on Isaiah s lips. And then Isaiah heard another voice, and this is the heart of the matter. Isaiah heard another voice. The voice asked a question. Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? The voice that Isaiah heard was God s voice, and the question was exactly the question that the moment required. God s question Page 2 of 4
14 was the one that should be asked at that moment when you realize what a fallen world you live in, when you understand the ways in which your society is broken and in need of healing. God s question was, so what? So what? The text had just spent a long time establishing that there was a crisis, that things were falling apart, that the culture and the society even the church of the day were rotten at the core, and the question from God was, so what? What is anybody going to do about it? What is the practical effect of noticing, as Isaiah had just done, what is the effect of noticing that things were off the rails? What difference was made because Isaiah had realized what kind of broken world he was living in? Whom shall I send, God asked, and who will go for us? I don t need to recite for you all the ways our world is broken, all the ways our politics are broken, all the ways our social fabric is torn. We could all make our own lists of the ways our world is broken, and regardless of our politics probably most of our lists would be pretty similar. But I have some bad news for all of you liberals out there: it didn t all start with Donald Trump. And I have some bad news for all of you conservatives out there too: it didn t start with Barack Obama either. In fact, even if we had just finished a 52-year reign of Lyndon B. Johnson, even if LBJ had been sitting in the Oval Office for all these years, and everything that happened since the 60s had happened on his watch, we still couldn t even blame it all on him. The brokenness in our world does not belong to any person, no matter how powerful. The brokenness in our world is systemic, it is endemic, it has something to do with us, it belongs to us, and all of our hating on this or that politician is just an elaborate ritual that keeps us from having to confront that central truth: that the injustices in our world are injustices that we cause and we allow to keep happening. The inequalities in the world are here because we sanction them, in one way or another. This is not to excuse politics and politicians; there are good kings and there are bad kings, and some of them do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, as the Hebrew Bible says. But Isaiah s vision points us to a bigger truth. In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. In the midst of political trouble and turmoil, in the middle of unsteady days, in a time of uncertainty and fear, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne. And God asked: whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And here is the high point of the story. When God asks whom shall I send, and who will go for us, Isaiah almost jumps out of his seat. Here I am! The NRSV translation says here am I, but that sounds a little silly to me, so I m going to rephrase it. Here I am, Isaiah exclaims. Here I am! Send me! Let me be the one you send. I think I can be the one to make a difference. Let me do it. And that is the call story of Isaiah. That is how Isaiah got to be Isaiah, the great prophet of the Hebrew Bible. It didn t happen because he was the smartest one or the friendliest one or the one with the most resources or the holiest most pious one. It happened because when God asked for someone to go out and speak a good word to the world, Isaiah raised his hand and said, pick me. And God sent him out, and Isaiah became Isaiah. That s a daunting example for us today. That kind of clarity of purpose is rare, where God is literally in front of you asking for volunteers. And that kind of bravery is even rarer, when you re willing to be the one to raise your hand and say yes. But that is how this works. That s how this whole thing works; God calls us, and we answer, or we don t. If we answer, we do the best we can. If we don t answer, then the world keeps on being troubled without the benefit of our doing whatever it is we were called to do. God calls us each and every one, and so, as the saying goes, we are the ones we have been waiting for. It doesn t matter who the president is or for how long, or which king did or did not do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, or how clean or unclean the lips of our people are, we are still called by God to work in this place and bring justice and mercy and love and peace and good news to this world. Page 3 of 4
15 I want to close by offering a concrete suggestion for a direction God might be calling you in, a direction God might be calling us in. I wasn t sure if I should do this, so I texted George and I asked him, and he wrote back, and he said that of course I should do it, because, he said, if he said no it would be denying millennia of biblical witness and the express teachings of Jesus, which is how I feel too. So here it is; if you re wondering in what way God is calling you to minister to the world and to work to leave this place more righteous, godly, just, and life-giving than you found it, I suggest to you the poor people s campaign. If you re looking for a way to do what God has called you to do, consider the poor people s campaign. You don t have to be poor to join, although Jesus did say that it helps. All you have to do is have an awareness that the world is broken and needs fixing, and that it is probably regular folks who are going to do it, not senators or presidents or governors or the pope or the Dalai Lama but regular folks like you and me. The poor people s campaign had its roots in the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr., who never lived to see those ideas through. But in these last few years the idea has been revived, and now a broad coalition of people of faith and no faith, people across all kinds of difference, lots of different kinds of people are joined together to address things like systemic racism, poverty, a war economy that thrives on death and destruction, environmental degradation, and equal protection under the law. It is religious and it is political; it is, as one of its leaders the Rev. Dr. William Barber puts it, it is a national call for moral revival. It is, as George Anastos puts it, in accord with millennia of biblical witness, including every bit of the book of Isaiah, and it is in accord with the express teachings of Jesus. Right now the poor people s campaign is engaged in what it calls 40 days of moral action, including action at state capitals in multiple states on Tuesday, although not in Colorado. On their website you can find ways that you can get involved. Find a way to plug in, to support, to educate yourself, to demand action on the things you hear God calling you to do, to lend your voice to the millions of voices that are gathering to cry out together. Or don t maybe this not your call, maybe you re being called somewhere else. The poor people s campaign is just a suggestion after all. Find your own thing, find where God is calling you, because God is calling you. For we live among a people of unclean lips, that much seems clear now, and God is asking whom shall I send, and who will go for us. You be the one to jump out of your seat. Be the one to raise your hand. Be the one to finds yourself saying, here I am, send me, and let s get to work doing what God has called us to do. Amen. Page 4 of 4
16 SERMON Unclean Lips May 27, 2018 The Reverend Dr. Eric C. Smith
17 I d like to ask you to imagine something with me. Imagine that in the 2016 election, Donald Trump was taking over not for Barack Obama, but instead he was taking over for Lyndon B. Johnson, who had become president 52 years earlier. Imagine that LBJ had been president for the past 52 years, and that no one except LBJ had led the nation through all those decades of our national life, and that every person born since 1964 had only ever known a president Johnson. Imagine that it was Johnson who led the nation through Vietnam, but also the first Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imagine LBJ being president through Watergate, Iran Contra, the Challenger explosion, the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and all of the history that has transpired since Imagine then how traumatic would it be when Johnson left office. Imagine how much stronger the emotions around the national election would have been in 2016 if it had been not 8 years of the prior president, but 52 years. Imagine if one party had had control of the presidency not for two four-year terms but for thirteen of them, and suddenly a different party controlled the presidency, and there were people eligible for retirement who could barely remember any other person in the Oval Office. Imagine all of that, and you have some sense of the trauma and uncertainty and upheaval surrounding the prophet Isaiah in this passage. King Uzziah had just died, the king had just died after a 52 year reign, and it seems that Isaiah didn t quite know what to do with himself. In the Hebrew Bible, there are two basic kinds of kings. There are good kings and there are bad kings, and the fate of the nation usually depended on the goodness or the badness of the king. The good kings ushered in periods of prosperity, and the bad ones brought decline and struggle and defeat. The bad kings were sometimes especially bad; the Bible says of those kings that they did what was evil in the sight of the lord, and the nation suffered the consequences of their bad rule. Likewise, of the good kings it was said that they did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and the people prospered. Of all the good kings in the Hebrew Bible, there are a few that stand out as especially good, kings whose reigns were said to have been especially righteous and prosperous. King Uzziah was one of those kings. Uzziah reigned as king of Judah, the southern kingdom, for 52 years, which was a period of extraordinary stability in a time when kings might last a year or two. And in the Bible Uzziah has a reputation for mostly being just and upright. And so it is a big deal that when the prophet Isaiah begins to talk about this vision that he had, he frames it in time, and he marks time with the death of this great and long-reigning king: in 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. In the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah writes, in that tumultuous and perilous time, I had a spiritual vision. It s often said that you should keep your religion and your politics separate, but Isaiah never got that memo. Neither did any of the other prophets of the Hebrew Bible, really. Religion was always political for the prophets, and politics was always religious. The temple and the king were part of a single structure by which the people could have access to God; God worked and spoke through the king, or at least God worked and spoke through the good kings, just like God worked and spoke through the temple and its sacrifices, and through the prophets and their oracles. The king dying after 52 years was a very big deal, but it wasn t just a big political deal. It was a big religious deal. The king s death brought on a crisis of faith. It was a dangerous moment for God s relationship with the people of Israel and the nation of Judah. It was a time when it might have felt to Isaiah and to his compatriots that their special relationship with God was threatened. This is not so different from what you can hear in our own time from all different corners of the American political arena. Lots of people, including a lot of us, are convinced that Barack Obama was the Page 1 of 4
Turning Points Isaiah 6:1-8 A Sermon by Rev. Bob Kells
Turning Points Isaiah 6:1-8 A Sermon by Rev. Bob Kells My message this morning is about turning points. By turning point, I mean something that happens that marks a dramatic change in our world. All of
More informationLeader DEVOTIONAL. Unit 13 Session 4: God Called Isaiah Club 345 Small Groups October 9, 2016
UNIT 13 Session 4 Leader DEVOTIONAL Leaders: this is just for you! Read ahead of time to engage with the Bible story on an adult level and prepare your heart to teach on Sunday. King Uzziah s death marked
More informationThe Story Ascended and Seated Two weeks ago we talked about the importance of the crucifixion. We pointed out that Jesus died on the cross as the
The Story Ascended and Seated Two weeks ago we talked about the importance of the crucifixion. We pointed out that Jesus died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. His life was the ransom paid that
More informationSermon and Scripture for Sunday, May 31, Isaiah 6:1-8
Sermon and Scripture for Sunday, May 31, 2015 Isaiah 6:1-8 In 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. Seraphs were
More informationSeptember 11, God Called Isaiah. Leader BIBLE STUDY. Large Group Bible study (25 30 minutes) Page 60. Small Group activities
September 11, 2016 God Called Isaiah UNIT 13 Session 4 Bible Passage: Isaiah 6 Main Point: Isaiah saw the holy God in His glory. Key Passage: Hebrews 1:1-2 Big Picture Question: How many gods are there?
More informationIsaiah 6:1. In the year of King Uzziah s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple.
Isaiah 6:1-8 Isaiah 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:2 Winged creatures were stationed around
More informationThe Night Shepherds Became Missionaries. Luke 2:7-18
The Night Shepherds Became Missionaries Luke 2:7-18 I. That Night (v.8) A. The first announcement of Christ s birth was at night. B. How fitting that Christ should be born at night! Matthew 4:14-16 that
More informationIsaiah 6 Upward, Inward, & Outward
Isaiah 6 Upward, Inward, & Outward Introduction Isaiah s name literally means Salvation of the LORD. And salvation is definitely the overwhelming theme throughout messages communicated through him by God.
More informationIsaiah 6:1-8 No: 1 Week: 327 Monday 7/11/11. Prayers. Bible Study. Opening prayer. Prayer Suggestions. Meditation. Bible passage Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah 6:1-8 No: 1 Week: 327 Monday 7/11/11 Opening prayer Prayers In gentleness, Lord Jesus Christ, You came to earth and gave Yourself to the task given You by the Father. Thank You for Your obedience
More informationIsaiah 6:
Isaiah 6:1-8 31.05.15 1 Holiness and reverence In the year that King Uzziah died Thus begins our reading from the prophet Isaiah this morning, as Isaiah enters the great edifice of the Jerusalem temple
More informationThe Gospel According to Peter Jack Carmody, Director of Youth Ministries Sunday, April 22, Sermon Text: John 21:1-19
1 Sermon Text: John 21:1-19 Each week after Easter, we ve been focusing on different accounts of people that who have come into contact with the risen Christ. Each week, we ve seen that when someone comes
More informationThe Chastisement that Brought Us Peace: 5 Reasons Jesus Died. Part 1
The Chastisement that Brought Us Peace: 5 Reasons Jesus Died Part 1 Introduction Called the First Gospel (Matthew being the 2 nd ) The clearest description of the Vicarious Substitutionary Atonement in
More informationLutheran Church of the Holy Spirit
Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit 3461 Cedar Crest Blvd. EMAIL Info@holyspirit-emmaus.org Emmaus, PA 18049-1599 www.lchsemmaus.org PHONE 610.967.2220 www.facebook.com/lchsemmaus FAX 610.966.3021 www.twitter.com/lchsemmaus
More informationI Saw the King
I Saw the King 7.25.18 Isaiah Series Isaiah 6:1-13 1. In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the King. A. Uzziah was a great king. 1. He was considered one of the greatest kings Israel ever had. 2. He restored
More informationTRINITY - RCL YEAR B MAY The Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8. Reader: A Reading from the Book of Isaiah.
TRINITY - RCL YEAR B MAY 27 2018 The Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8 Reader: A Reading from the Book of Isaiah. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the
More informationHere am I Meditation on Isaiah 6:1-8 May 27, 2018 Merritt Island Presbyterian Church
Here am I Meditation on Isaiah 6:1-8 May 27, 2018 Merritt Island Presbyterian Church In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled
More informationGOD, HIGH AND LIFTED UP ISAIAH 6:1-13
1 GOD, HIGH AND LIFTED UP ISAIAH 6:1-13 2 Text: Isaiah 6:1-13, GOD, HIGH AND LIFTED UP 1. In the year of King Uzziah s death, I saw the sovereign master seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his
More information(Isaiah 6:1) In the year of King Uzziah s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Isaiah 6:1-8 New American Standard Bible July 9, 2017 The International Bible Lesson (Uniform Sunday School Lessons Series) for Sunday, July 9, 2017, is from Isaiah 6:1-8. Questions for Discussion and
More informationGolden Text: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. (Isaiah 6:8).
Sunday, July 9, 2017 Lesson: Isaiah 6:1-8; Time of Action: between 740 and 739 B.C.; Place of Action: Jerusalem Golden Text: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will
More informationOsceola Sermon / Passionate Worship August 2 nd, 2009 Pastor Bob Vale
Osceola Sermon / Passionate Worship August 2 nd, 2009 Pastor Bob Vale Biblical Focus: Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 6:1 In
More informationHOW LONG IS TOO LONG? Habakkuk 1:1-11 April 6, 2008 Grace Covenant Baptist Church
How Long Is Too Long? 1 HOW LONG IS TOO LONG? Habakkuk 1:1-11 April 6, 2008 Grace Covenant Baptist Church Where do you turn when you doubt? Not just doubt, but some trial or circumstance leads you to doubt
More informationSERMON OUTLINE. September 25th October 4th Holy, Holy, Holy 1. ASTONISHMENT. Isaiah 6: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. ATONEMENT
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY September 25th October 4th Holy, Holy, Holy SERMON OUTLINE Isaiah 6:1 8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe
More informationFood for the Journey: Worship GPPC Isaiah 6:1-8, Revelation 4:1-11. This morning we begin a five-week summer sermon series entitled,
Food for the Journey: Worship GPPC 7-10-16 Isaiah 6:1-8, Revelation 4:1-11 1 This morning we begin a five-week summer sermon series entitled, Food for the Journey. With the overarching metaphor of life
More informationPeter s Perspective on Persecution Confidence in the Divine Revelation. Passages: 2 Peter 1:12 21 Matthew 17:1-13
1 Peter s Perspective on Persecution Confidence in the Divine Revelation Passages: 2 Peter 1:12 21 Matthew 17:1-13 Peter begins today s section of this second letter by writing about death his own death.
More informationLeader DEVOTIONAL. UNIT 13 Session 4
UNIT 13 Session 4 Leader DEVOTIONAL Leaders: this is just for you! Read ahead of time to engage with the Bible story on an adult level and prepare your heart to teach on Sunday. King Uzziah s death marked
More informationHOLY, HOLY, HOLY ISAIAH 6:1-7
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY ISAIAH 6:1-7 Isaiah s Vision of the Lord 6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above
More informationPrayer Focus for our Nation Pastor Eddie Turner Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Prayer Focus for our Nation Pastor Eddie Turner Wednesday, May 2, 2018 2 Chron.7:14(NIV)- if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
More informationIsaiah 6:1-8. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isaiah 6:1-8 6 In 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. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings:
More informationTrinity Sunday The Collect Year B RCL
Trinity Sunday The Collect Year B RCL Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in
More informationThe Church: God s Idea Part V
The Church: God s Idea Part V Acts 2:42-47 Romans 12:1 Isaiah 6:1-8 You don t come to worship; you do worship. What makes worship is when you and I set the atmosphere of our spirit man to properly allow
More information12/3/2006 Coming Attractions Isaiah 11:1-5 Kevin Saxton, Brewster Baptist Church
12/3/2006 Coming Attractions Isaiah 11:1-5 Kevin Saxton, Brewster Baptist Church For the past several months we ve been going through the bible one book each week, starting in Genesis. We ve moved through
More informationLuke 7:1-10 The Centurion s Faith
Luke 7:1-10 The Centurion s Faith Parkdale Grace Fellowship Sunday AM, November 9, 2014 Jesus has painted a pretty bleak picture for those who are rich in this world with some pretty strong warnings and
More informationWorship Plan for Sunday, May 27, 2018 Holy Trinity The Holy Trinity 1st Sunday after Pentecost ELW Holy Communion Setting One Sunday, May 27, 2018
Worship Plan for Sunday, May 27, 2018 Holy Trinity The Holy Trinity 1st Sunday after Pentecost ELW Holy Communion Setting One Sunday, May 27, 2018 Introduction to the day When we say God is the triune
More informationTHE BOOK OF JUDGES ISRAEL IN THE TIME OF THE JUDGES B.C.
THE BOOK OF JUDGES ISRAEL IN THE TIME OF THE JUDGES 1380-1050 B.C. JUDGES CHAPTER 6:1-24 Media Reference Number WN-457 - - May 16, 2007 THE TITLE OF THE MESSAGE: "Let a Man Arise" Part 2 Israel during
More informationTHE LORD SENDS FORGIVEN MEN TO REVEAL FORGIVENESS TO OTHERS
Charles St-Onge Epiphany 5C February 4, 2007 Forgiven Men Preaching Forgiveness to Men Isaiah 6:1-13 Isaiah 6:1-13 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
More informationPoor People s Campaign
Poor People s Campaign Disciples Liturgical Tool Kit Trinity Sunday First Sunday After Pentecost May 27, 2018 A group of Disciples are working together to provide liturgical resources for our congregations
More informationDr. Goodluck Ofoegbu Prof. Oby Ofoegbu Banking Blessings Ministry San Antonio, Texas USA
Dr. Goodluck Ofoegbu Prof. Oby Ofoegbu Banking Blessings Ministry San Antonio, Texas USA What We Will Learn God calls Samuel to prophecy A lesson on parent child relationships Messaging child through parent
More information1. Holiness 2. Holiness_NH_1920px
!!"!#"##;%& 1. Holiness 2. Holiness_NH_1920px God reveals himself to us in two foundational ways: God is love: He is full of grace and forgiveness. In Christ, he loves us and is close to us and is proud
More informationThe angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7
Fear the Lord The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7 Personal Intro love Reality SB, God used the planting of this church to call us to SB, began serving
More informationAN ENCOUNTER WITH A HOLY GOD. Rev. Robert T. Woodyard First Christian Reformed Church, Lynden, WA September 13, 2015, 10:30AM
AN ENCOUNTER WITH A HOLY GOD. Rev. Robert T. Woodyard First Christian Reformed Church, Lynden, WA September 13, 2015, 10:30AM Text for the Sermon: Isaiah 6:1-8; Colossians 3:5-13 Introduction. In India
More informationISAIAH S PROPHECY SESSION 1. The Point. The Passage. The Bible Meets Life. The Setting
SESSION 1 ISAIAH S PROPHECY The Point The birth of Jesus was no mere circumstance. It was planned by God. The Passage Isaiah 7:10-14; 9:6-7; 11:1-5 The Bible Meets Life When I took my sons to their first
More informationTRINITY SUNDAY, Year B
TRINITY SUNDAY, Year B June 2/3, 2012 Rosemary and Bill Hallinan ANNOUNCEMENTS: SHARING JOYS AND CONCERNS CALL TO WORSHIP Lord God, Father/Mother, Son, and Holy Spirit, We come before you to give you thanks
More informationCORNERSTONES: THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WHO IS GOD?
CORNERSTONES APRIL 21, 2013 CORNERSTONES: THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WHO IS GOD? THERE ARE NUMEROUS ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION "WHO IS GOD?" 1. An impersonal, all-pervasive, (life-) force that s Pantheism. 2. A
More informationAUTHENTIC HOLINESS ISAIAH 6:1-8
AUTHENTIC HOLINESS ISAIAH 6:1-8 Introduction We live in a Photoshop society. What does that mean? We live in a time where magazines, billboards, computer ads, TV commercials, and even personal photos attempt
More informationSermon by Bob Bradley
Sermon by Bob Bradley COPYRIGHT 2017 CAMPBELL CHAPEL FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH 1709 Campbell Drive * Ironton, OH 45638 Pray to God and Receive His Direction Wednesday, December 27, 2017 Bob Bradley Psalms
More informationSTOPPING THE HEMORRHAGING. Last week Jesus was travelling from the west shore of the Sea of Galilee the Jewish
Pentecost 5 (Proper 8B) June 28, 2015 The Rev. Warren E. Crews St. Barnabas, Florissant, MO STOPPING THE HEMORRHAGING Last week Jesus was travelling from the west shore of the Sea of Galilee the Jewish
More informationNot Slow in Keeping His Promises, 2 Peter 3:1-10 (August 7, 2016)
Not Slow in Keeping His Promises, 2 Peter 3:1-10 (August 7, 2016) This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
More informationHabakkuk. Trusting the Sovereignty of God In a Broken World. Logos Community Church
Habakkuk Trusting the Sovereignty of God In a Broken World Logos Community Church Introduction Don t let the brevity of this book fool you. The Old Testament book of Habakkuk has a very important message,
More informationConfession and Repentance
Confession and Repentance Review In the last session we spent time learning the practice of gazing upon Christ. Have you been able to incorporate gazing upon Christ into your time with God? How did that
More informationTrinity Sunday Holy Baptism & Holy Eucharist
Trinity Sunday Holy Baptism & Holy Eucharist 8:00 A.M. Rite I: begins on page 323 (red book) 10:30 A.M. Prelude It Is Well with My Soul, arr. L. Larson Opening Hymn I bind unto myself 370 (blue book) Standing,
More informationIf It s Not About Love, Then It s Not About God
If It s Not About Love, Then It s Not About God A Sermon Preached by the Rev. Sean Lanigan Trinity Sunday~May 27, 2018 Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
More informationMalachi. 1:1 An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.
Malachi 1:1 An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi. 1:2 I have loved you, says Yahweh. Yet you say, How have you loved us? Wasn t Esau Jacob s brother? says Yahweh, Yet I loved Jacob; 1:3 but
More informationNEVERTHELESS (Luke 23: 32-43) Now that the election is over, and I am no longer in danger of violating
1 NEVERTHELESS (Luke 23: 32-43) Now that the election is over, and I am no longer in danger of violating our 501c3 status as a non-profit organization by being accused of trying to sway people s vote against
More informationGo and Tell. What. A look call, Heroes. of the Faith. Who. When. Present. Wear (Props) sunglasses. Why. How. Skippy. a separate piece.
by Grant Medford What Who When Wear (Props) Why How Time A look at God s question Whom shall I send and a challenge to answer the call. Themes: Elisha, Isaiah, Evangelism, Commitment, Witnessing, Serving,
More information8-Day Mission Trip Devotional By Seth Tan
1. The Great Commission Passage: Matt 28:16-20 8-Day Mission Trip Devotional By Seth Tan 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw
More informationService of Holy Communion & Prayers for Healing & Anointing with Oils Fifth Sunday of the Epiphany February 10, 2019
Service of Holy Communion & Prayers for Healing & Anointing with Oils Fifth Sunday of the Epiphany February 10, 2019 Loving, Living & Sharing Christ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School 99 Central
More informationEpiphany Two B - 1/15/12 Grace St. Paul s. The Word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not
Epiphany Two B - 1/15/12 Grace St. Paul s The Word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. It is one of the greatest understatements in all of the Bible. When the author of the book
More informationThrough the Divided Kingdom 5
Through the Divided Kingdom 5 SUNDAY SCHOOL SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 Epoch Years Title Key People 1 4000+ Pre History Adam, Enoch Noah 2 2165 1870 BC Patriarchs Abraham Joseph, Job 3 1460 BC Exodus & Judges Moses,
More informationWorship the Holy God (Isaiah 6:1-9)
Click on the link below to listen to sermon Worship the Holy God (Isaiah 6:1-9) Dr. Sidney Yuan (swyuan@ucla.edu) Preached at Hillside Community Church of the Nazarene 2804 S. Fullerton Rd, Rowland Heights,
More information... Daily Devotions. Devotions May 10-16, 2015 Members of Bethel Lutheran Church Menominee, MI
.... Daily Devotions Devotions May 10-16, 2015 Members of Bethel Lutheran Church Menominee, MI On seven consecutive Monday evenings in January and February of this year, I led a Bible study for the Menominee
More information78 Stand Up: how to fight injustice
Stand Up: How to Fight Injustice 78 Stand Up: how to fight injustice God chooses to work through ordinary people. We live in a world where injustice thrives. Over twenty million people worldwide are victims
More informationTheSkitGuys.com the Call of Christmas Shepherds: A Call to Praise Luke 2:1-20
12-18-16 the Call of Christmas Shepherds: A Call to Praise Luke 2:1-20 Have you ever been faced with something in your sight lines that took your breath away? Maybe you are one of the millions who have
More informationThe Throne and the Altar.
STEM Publishing: The writings of C. H. Mackintosh: The Throne and the Altar. The Throne and the Altar. Isaiah 6: 1-8. C. H. Mackintosh. In this sublime passage of Scripture we notice two prominent objects,
More informationRevelation Last Days Living
Revelation Last Days Living Getting Ready for Him! - Part 3 Revelation 3:1-13 Message #7 of 26 S733 Sermon given on April 2, 2017 Sunday Morning Service Pastor Rick Lancaster Getting Ready for Him! - Part
More informationIn Heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the. possession of life everlasting, an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor
Through a precious friend of mine, who was in the last stages of cancer, I was led to ponder on the next stage of her eternal journey. It occurred to me that before we make a life changing journey in this
More informationThe Third Way The Tripod of the Gospel: Part I Kevin Haah September 20, 2015
Happy 7th Anniversary! [Slide 1] Seven years ago, God gave a group of people a vision of planting a multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic church in the heart of downtown to create a community that is not only
More informationRoute 66 Understanding Isaiah. Dr. Stephen Rummage, Senior Pastor Bell Shoals Baptist Church May 18, 2016
1 Route 66 Understanding Isaiah Dr. Stephen Rummage, Senior Pastor Bell Shoals Baptist Church May 18, 2016 Isaiah 6:1 (ESV) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
More informationListen for the Pain Sermon: Hilltop United Methodist Church November 13, 2016 Reverend Doctor C. Dennis Shaw
Listen for the Pain Sermon: Hilltop United Methodist Church November 13, 2016 Reverend Doctor C. Dennis Shaw This was not the sermon I had planned to deliver on November 13, 2016. That said, I had more
More informationHoliness of God. Roxborough Bible Chapel March 4, 2018
Holiness of God Roxborough Bible Chapel March 4, 2018 Outline Why study the characteristics of God? Holiness is just one of these characteristics Holiness Definition Exodus 3:1-6 Exodus 19:10-25 Isaiah
More informationIsaiah The Rule of God the King One of the things I notice over and over again in my life is the fact that I like to be in charge.
1 Isaiah 31-32 The Rule of God the King One of the things I notice over and over again in my life is the fact that I like to be in charge. I like to be the one making the calls. I like to do what I want
More informationToday we are wrapping up our series on Family Matters. We hope it s been helpful
1 Today we are wrapping up our series on Family Matters. We hope it s been helpful to you to look at the family and understand again the importance that God places on the family and that even in 2018 family
More informationMeeting With Christ WOE TO YOU HYPOCRITES (2) Woe #5. Matthew 23: This is what Jesus says in woe #5. Matthew 23:25-26.
Meeting With Christ Practical and Exegetical Studies on the Words of Jesus Christ Yves I-Bing Cheng, M.D., M.A. Based on sermons of Pasteur Eric Chang www.meetingwithchrist.com WOE TO YOU HYPOCRITES (2)
More informationGATEWAY CHURCH NORTHUMBERLAND Psalm 3 Joss Bray So today we are carrying on with our series looking at the Psalms. You may remember I ve
GATEWAY CHURCH NORTHUMBERLAND Psalm 3 Joss Bray 17.9.17 So today we are carrying on with our series looking at the Psalms. You may remember I ve talked about Psalm 1 and 2 and surprise, surprise - we are
More informationCAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH July 5, The Last Days Series. Will God Bless America? Genesis 12:1-3
CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH July 5, 2015 SERMON NOTES PASTOR BILL HAKEN 1. God will bless those who bless Israel The Last Days Series Will God Bless America? Genesis 12:1-3 Gen. 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram,
More informationThe American Presidency Requirements: Grading:
The American Presidency Professor Paul Herron Brandeis University, Spring 2015 pherron@brandeis.edu Office: Olin Sang 122 Office hours: Tuesday 12-1:00, Friday 11-1:00 and by appt. The presidency has made
More informationEsther The Providence of God
I. Introduction to Esther Esther A. The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the providence of God 1. Providence from the Latin videre ; means to see before. Speaks of God s divine intervention in the
More informationWAR OF THE WORLDVIEWS #31. What is Man? Part 2. Review
WAR OF THE WORLDVIEWS #31 What is Man? Part 2 Review We are spiritual battle; our enemies are not flesh and blood; we call this a War of the Worldviews Worldviews answer the most important questions of
More informationstanding before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white
All Saints Day/November 4, 2018 Rev 7:9-13/What is the Communion of Saints? Holy Spirit Lutheran Church Pastor Jerry Stobaugh standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes Saint,
More informationThe Mind of Christ What Did Jesus Teach About God - Part One
(Mind of Christ 11a What Did Jesus Teach About God Part One) 1 The Mind of Christ What Did Jesus Teach About God - Part One INTRODUCTION: I. When Jesus began His work of preaching and teaching, His message
More informationCHRISTMAS ADVENT DEVOTIONAL. hope peace joy love
CHRISTMAS ADVENT DEVOTIONAL hope peace joy love Christmas Advent Devotional 2 We re excited for you to join us on our Christmas Advent Devotional. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we ll explore the
More informationRUNDOWN INTRO WHILE VERSES IN GREEN ARE CITED.
RUNDOWN INTRO WHILE VERSES IN GREEN ARE CITED. 6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim,
More informationLuke 5:1-11 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Heavenly Father and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. The text is from the Gospel:
1-30-11 Luke 5:1-11 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Heavenly Father and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. The text is from the Gospel: 4 AND WHEN HE HAD FINISHED SPEAKING, HE SAID TO SIMON, LAUNCH
More informationLESSON THIRTEEN THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
LESSON THIRTEEN THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same
More informationThe Text That Saved My Life. By: Jackie Boratyn. State University watching the all-state theater performance of some musical; a show that even to
The Text That Saved My Life By: Jackie Boratyn I was 16 he was 16 this had to be a dream. There I was sitting in the theater of Illinois State University watching the all-state theater performance of some
More informationCommissioned. Isaiah 6
Commissioned Isaiah 6 Commissioned Introduction Commissioned Introduction We are at a stressful time in the history of Israel and Judah. King Uzziah has died after a long a prosperous reign. His son Jotham
More informationNorth/West Lower Michigan Synod Assembly 2018 Closing Worship 11:00AM. Lansing Center, Lansing, MI Assembly Guide
North/West Lower Michigan Synod Assembly 2018 Closing Worship 11:00AM Lansing Center, Lansing, MI Assembly Guide GATHERING CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS The assembly stands. All may make the sign of the cross,
More informationBiblical Evangelism. Luke 24:
Biblical Evangelism Luke 24:44-49 44 Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
More informationRomans 6 Understanding Grace
Romans 6 Understanding Grace We want to look into Romans 6, but first let s look at Romans 5:2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
More informationA CHRISTIAN AND AN AMERICAN
A CHRISTIAN AND AN AMERICAN (A Call To Respond) By: Phillip Hayes If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will
More informationBig, BIG Shoulders Isaiah 9:6
Big, BIG Shoulders Isaiah 9:6 At the end of the eighth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet describes the horrible plight of God s people who had either turned their backs on the Lord or stuck their fists in
More informationGod Claims Us All A Biblical Study for Epiphany 2016
THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF WEST TEXAS God Claims Us All A Biblical Study for Epiphany 2016 Week Three: Listening for God s Call Opening Prayer Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light
More informationSo two main components in my message today. First, let s consider what John saw, and then consider what it means for us today.
Apokalypsis The Throne Room Text: Revelation 4-5 Theme: The Book of Revelation, End times, prophecy, Apocalyptic Literature Chapter 4 begins the largest section of Revelation that has to do with the things
More informationThe Yale Divinity School Bible Study New Canaan, Connecticut Fall, Second Isaiah. I: Isaiah 6:1-9:21 The Prophetic Messenger and his Message
The Yale Divinity School Bible Study New Canaan, Connecticut Fall, 2009 Second Isaiah I: Isaiah 6:1-9:21 The Prophetic Messenger and his Message This early section of the Book of Isaiah opens with a spectacular
More informationGospel of Matthew Matthew 6:9-13
Gospel of Matthew Matthew 6:9-13 The King s Sermon Praying to Our Father in Heaven After Jesus taught His disciples to avoid praying like the hypocrites (6:5) and like the heathen (6:7-8), He taught them
More informationBorn from Above. May 26, 2018 Trinity B
1 Born from Above May 26, 2018 Trinity B Laura Smith Conrad Fort Hill Presbyterian Church Isaiah 6:1-8 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the
More informationSunday, May 27, 2018 The Holy Trinity 1 st Sunday after Pentecost Service of the Word
Sunday, May 27, 2018 The Holy Trinity 1 st Sunday after Pentecost Service of the Word THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Joined to Christ
More informationA Pilgrimage of Prayer
Chapter 21 All God s People Want to Pray A Pilgrimage of Prayer It wasn't a matter of making them pray or praying for them, it was all about letting them pray. My pilgrimage of prayer began when my father
More informationRevelation: Unveiling Reality The Ultimate Plot Twist Revelation 5 Kevin Haah. May 15, Turn on Timer!
Turn on Timer! [Slide 1] We are in a middle of a series entitled, Revelation: Unveiling Reality. The Greek word that is translated as revelation is the word Apocalypse which means unveiling. Revelation
More informationWhose Neighbor Am I? Rev. Eric. S. Corbin First Presbyterian Church, Champaign, Illinois July 10, 2016
Whose Neighbor Am I? Rev. Eric. S. Corbin First Presbyterian Church, Champaign, Illinois July 10, 2016 Luke 10:25 37 This parable just might be the best known parable of Jesus. Pretty much everyone knows
More informationRCIA Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
RCIA Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Death & Afterlife Opening Prayer Death Be Happy! Our Life On Earth In Perspective Our life on earth is not an end in itself. It is a mean to an end. To attain
More information