Isaiah 6 recounts the vision of Isaiah where he sees the Lord high and lifted up. In his presence are angels covering themselves with their wings and singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth is full of his Glory.” Isaiah’s response to this scene is to recognize his own unworthiness and sinfulness as well as the sinfulness of the nation. He says, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” These are verses most Christians are quite familiar with, Isaiah is one of the most popular prophets for us to read from in the old testament and this is one of the favorite passages from the book bearing his name. However G.K. Chesterton wrote, “If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe. If you look at it the 1,000th time, you are in frightful danger of seeing it for the first time.” I noticed two things I had never noticed before.
The first thing that struck me was the the Angels were not singing of God’s glory in heaven or in and of himself, but his glory on earth. This reveals the truth that the earth is a stage for the glory of the Lord to be displayed. And on that stage there are certain players who have been given roles to carry out, small acts which appear for a short time upon the stage that give others a glimpse of the wonder and marvel of God. This is the role of the Christian in the world. To declare God’s glory in word, in their actions towards the poor and downtrodden, in their forgiveness towards those who harm them, in their lives characterized by love and obedience towards God and kindness and service towards their neighbors. Some Christians think that this world matters very little, but this is a lie. This world matters because in it the glory of God has, is, and will be displayed.
The realized the second new thing while I was meditating on a truth I heard from a preacher. He spoke about how Isaiah was convicted about something that we rarely feel any guilt about, the things we say. His point was that in the presence of God, even the slightest of sins becomes an unbearable and condemning offense. We excuse ourselves for cursing in traffic, gossiping about our friends, demeaning others, without even thinking about it. We have no remorse, no guilt, no shame about the ways we misuse our lips. But once in the presence of God and his purity, the revulsion of the sin becomes unbearable. While thinking of this, I tried to figure out why the particular sin of the lips bothered Isaiah so much. He may have been a very good man, but I doubt his only failings were in the things he said. I think the answer lies in what Isaiah witnessed. He witnessed the angels in heaven declaring the attributes of God. He saw worship as it was intended to be. He saw lips performing their proper function of praise. When he came in contact with that, the conviction of how he had misused his own lips, his own words, his own voice, became apparent. The lips that were intended to praise God had been used to slander other, they had uttered lies, they had been misused and abused.
So this leads us to the question, “when we come into the presence of God, What will convict us?” When we see how we should have used our hands, our eyes, our ears, our lips, how will they condemn us? Are we seeking to glorify in our bodies the God who entrusted us with our bodies? But before we can answer these questions we must do something, to realize our failings, to realize our purpose… we must first draw into the presence of God. It is there that all things come to light. It is in his presence that the desire for Holiness grows, it is in His presence that we worship, it is in His presence that our sins are exposed. Seek His presence.
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