“Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:1-8)

2 Chronicles 26
Isaiah 6:1-8

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 30, 2021

It was the year that King Uzziah died. We learn from 2 Chronicles chapter 26 that King Uzziah became king when he was 16, was a good king, fortified the walls and watchtowers, and loved agriculture. But his downfall was pride. Uzziah is not a priest. But his ego gets the best of him. He enters the temple and begins to offer incense at the altar. 80 priests rush in to confront him and admonish him to leave. Instead, he becomes angry. And the Lord strikes him with leprosy. For the rest of his life, Uzziah is unable to enter the Temple. According to the Law, no one with leprosy is permitted to enter the Temple. Lepers are ritually unclean. 

Isaiah’s vision brings closure and greater clarity to this whole story. Instead of entering the Temple to project his own greatness and ego, Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on his throne. The Lord is high and lofty. The hem of his robe fills the temple. In other words, the Lord stands so tall he barely fits into the temple. Those mysterious creatures—the seraphim—fly with one of their three sets of wings. They worship and proclaim the uniqueness, grandeur, and wonder of the Lord: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 

Holy, holy, holy—three times because the holiness of God transcends our language, understanding, and human experience. “Holy” means unique, special, unlike anything else—sacred—set apart from all that is of this world. Isaiah is in the very presence of God and sees him in all his glory. Isaiah is never the same. In fact, no one who sees God is supposed to be able to physically withstand the experience and live to tell about it. To see God, or be in his presence, is a near-death experience. It began with our first parents Adam and Eve.

You’ll remember that God said the day they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would die. They ate. Their eyes were opened. They heard the Lord walking in the Garden of Eden. They hid themselves in shame and fear wondering what God might do—probably expecting immediate death. Instead, they were promised a Son who would one day undo the curse of death (Gen 3). You’ll remember Jacob who feared for his life and spent the night in prayer wrestling with a Man who later identified himself as the Lord. He survived with a dislocated hip. Jacob called the place “The Face of God” and says, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved” (Gen 31). You’ll remember Moses who wanted to see the Lord’s glory. God put him into the cleft of a rock to protect him and gives him this warning: “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live” (Exod 33). 

That is why Isaiah talks about his own demise and the demise of his people when he sees the Lord. “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah confesses that his lips and his peoples’ lips are unclean. They all failed to please God by their words. Isaiah’s lips and his peoples’ lips are what caused Isaiah to see their own sinfulness and their own mortality. God says in Isaiah chapter 29 that his people “honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (v. 13). 

This Holy Trinity Sunday, we still cannot fully understand the mystery and grandeur of Triune God—three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and one God. His holiness and perfection accentuates our lack of holiness and perfection. Like Isaiah, we also carry the burden of uncleanliness in our lives. We began this service with the words, “Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean.” There may be a particular area of our lives that constantly reminds us of our brokenness, frailty, mortality, and sinful condition as human beings. For Isaiah, it was his lips. Our lips, our thoughts, and our deeds have not furthered the Kingdom but stained it with our action and inaction.

When King Uzziah sins, God strikes him with leprosy—on the forehead. Perhaps it is a sign that his thoughts are unclean—pride had filled and swelled his head. And so it is fitting that God would answer Isaiah’s faithful confession of unclean lips by meeting him exactly where he needed it. He sends one of the seraphs to the altar—the place where animals were sacrificed and burned for the forgiveness of sins—he takes a burning coal and touches Isaiah’s lips with it. He says as he singes Isaiah’s lips, “You’re guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” God brings forgiveness exactly where Isaiah feels he and his people need it the most. He is now ready to serve as God’s prophet and use those same lips for the glory of God and the edification of God’s people. He says, “Here am I send me.” 

And so we stand before Almighty God today. We have confessed our unclean thoughts, words, and deeds. And instead of crushing us and our turning to ash, God brings us grace from his Altar just as he did Isaiah—not a red-hot burning coal but bread and wine that touches our lips, enters our mouths, and delivers forgiveness. It’s not animal sacrifice but the Body and Blood of Jesus—the second Person of the Holy Trinity who gave himself on the Cross of Calvary for the life of the world.  So we are also ready to be sent out as his ambassadors of grace—not with burning coals but tongues set afire by the Holy Spirit. The Father sends us out to proclaim his love, forgiveness, and eternal life through his eternal Son.

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And make our hearts Your place of rest;
Come with Your grace and heav’nly aid,
And fill the hearts which You have made.

Your light to ev’ry thought impart,
And shed Your love in ev’ry heart;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.
          (“Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest” LSB 498, vv. 2 & 4)

“Too deep for words” (Romans 8:22-27)

Romans 8:22-27

Acts 2:1-21

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 23, 2021

In our reading from Romans, Paul reminds us that all creation groans for redemption. God hears the howl of the wind through the pines, the waves against the rock, the growl of bear, the song of the mourning dove.  All creation groans because there are no words to express the sadness and grief of a beautiful but broken world. As the people of God, we groan for redemption. We  long for God to intervene in this world. We yearn for Jesus to come in the power of the Holy Spirit to right every wrong and make all things new. We sigh and groan. There are no words. 

As human beings, we often distinguish ourselves from other living things great and small that God created. We like to think of ourselves as being far more intelligent, creative, and with superior linguistic abilities.  The latest edition of Websters Dictionary has 470,000 words. It seems we have a word for everything. But sometimes there is a nameless feeling that haunts us. Or there are no words to describe what eludes us. We yearn and hope for that which cannot be spelled out or articulated by the human tongue. There are words that describe those from all around the world who gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost: bewildered, amazed, astonished, and perplexed. All these words describe people who do not have the words—even in their dozens of languages—they have no words to articulate their spiritual journey.

We all have a limited capacity to hear and to speak even what is deeply stirring in the core of our souls. It can be overwhelming. It can be a lonely place to be—not to be able to share what is weighing so heavily on our hearts. We may feel trapped in the pool of our own emotions and struggles. We may feel that no one can understand because we cannot explain. We may have feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy because we do not have the ability to put our feelings, needs, and yearnings into intelligible speech. 

The day of Pentecost is a gathering of Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism from all over the known world. They are bringing back what the Tower of Babel created—the confusion of tongues—a cacophony of prayer, worship, and yearnings from different tribes, nations, peoples, and tongues. The great miracle of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit who takes away this curse of not being understood and the confusion that plagues us. The Holy Spirit gives the Galilean disciples the supernatural ability to speak in a diversity of languages. And the effect is clear: who they are is validated. They are intimately known by God. The are profoundly understood. And now they can hear the fulness of the good news of Jesus—the might acts of God through his eternal Son.

What Paul reminds us of is that this miracle extends to us every day. Who we are is validated by God who calls us each fearfully and wonderfully made. He knows the number of our days, the hairs on our heads, and the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Holy Spirit is completely fluent in our murmurs, groans, and sighs. Not even we ourselves may understand what we are experiencing, suffering, or yearning for. Thanks be to God that the Holy Spirit knows us more profoundly than we know ourselves. As Paul says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” 

God knows us to the very core of our immaterial being. We do not need to agonize or have any pressure to put our prayers into flowery speech. Our whimpers, gasping, and unarticulated breathe is more than enough. We are known so intimately that God does not need for us to articulate our condition or yearning. Even our groans without words are received by God as prayer. The Holy Spirit‘s work in our lives transcends our inability to speak different languages and even to utter words at all. 

The Holy Spirit hears and answers our unintended, wordless prayers. As Jesus says in our Gospel, the Holy Spirit is our advocate—our translator—our heart-reader who helps guide us in our life in Christ. He helps us speak to God. He helps us to be known and understood by God. He helps us listen and understand the height, the depth, the width, and the length of the love of Christ— love that surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:18, 19). We are intimately known. And we begin to know that which transcends knowledge—that which cannot be known by mere human understanding. As Psalm 34 (v. 7) says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Our scripture today invites us to be amazed and pray. Pray—even if the words are babel, groans, or sighs—no, especially if they are breaths and sounds too profound to be put into words. 

Come, holy Fire, comfort true,
Grant us the will Your work to do
And in Your service to abide;
Let trials turn us not aside.
Lord, by Your power prepare each heart,
And to our weakness strength impart
That bravely here we may contend,
Thru life and death to You, our Lord, ascend.
Alleluia, alleluia!
          (“Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord” LSB 497, v. 3)

“Ascending Reign” (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11)

Luke 24:44-53

Acts 1:1-11

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 16, 2021

Jesus made the bold confession before Pontius Pilate that he is the King. But he tells Pilate that his Kingdom is not of this world. His reign extends beyond the borders of Israel. Jesus’ domain is over heaven and earth. They mocked Jesus by putting the sign, “Jesus, King of the Jews” over him when they crucified him. But God gets the last laugh when he conquers death and rises from the dead. And now it is time to establish his dominion. Jesus spends his entire earthly ministry explaining the Kingdom of God. He teaches the meaning and nature of his reign through parables, stories, and illustrations.

Jesus gives us a vision of the Kingdom of God—a Kingdom without fear, violence, sadness, or death—a Kingdom of peace—a Kingdom whose reign extends from Jerusalem—to everywhere on the face of the earth—a Kingdom without political corruption, favoritism, racism, and ethnic distinction—a Kingdom with one anointed King who will rule from generation to generation forever—a kingdom of restored relationships, forgiveness, and life.

Now the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus gathers them outside of Jerusalem—the earthly kingdom’s capitol city—it only seems natural to ask when he will finally ascend the throne—“Lord, is now the time?” “When are you finally going to enter Jerusalem and remove the Roman occupation, Jesus? How long will people suffer injustice, hunger, and violence? When will you begin to establish permanent peace and justice for all humanity?” they wonder.

This is the same question many of us ask—in one way or another—all over the world. When will there be an end to conflict between the nations and peoples? When will senseless shootings stop? When will this global pandemic be over? When will natural disasters stop happening? When will Jesus make all things new—in heaven and on earth? When will we finally be healed of all diseases and even death itself? There is within all of us a deep yearning for a world of order, harmony, peace, and health. This yearning is a universal recognition that the world is not what it should be—that we live in a broken and sinful world that needs healing and renewal.

This is what God has promised in the Kingdom of God—that we will right every wrong and wipe the tears from all our eyes. The disciples want that world to be now. They want Jesus to ascend to the throne of that Kingdom now.  Jesus does not challenge our desire for the Kingdom of God. In fact, that is how he teaches us to pray: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus does not challenge our desire for a renewed and better world. He challenges us to be a part of its renewal. He invites us to extend his reign.

“It’s not for you to know times and periods…” Jesus says, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In other words, in response to their question—“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?—Jesus’ answer is, “No, this is not the time when I will restore the kingdom to Israel. This is the time when you will join with me in extending the kingdom to the world.”

The ascension is about Jesus taking his place at right hand of God the Father. He is with us and creation in greater way. The ascension is also about taking our place to help extend his Kingdom to the whole world. He calls us to be his witnesses. He says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” We are his witnesses by his grace. We are his Kingdom ambassadors by his strength. We are part of the ministry of the King by the Holy Spirit who extends his Kingdom reign everywhere. We have the privilege—as citizens of a heavenly Kingdom to extend his reign over all the earth. Jesus does not ascend into Jerusalem to restore the greatness of this city or nation alone. Jesus ascends to the Father to restore the whole world—to bring the Kingdom to Jerusalem, yes, but also to the surrounding region of Judea, the neighboring country of Samaria, and to all nations and peoples. 

The Ascension of our Lord is also not about Jesus leaving the earth and going to heaven. It is about Jesus ascending his rightful place where he rules over both heaven and earth. Jesus is as close as ever. He says as he ascends, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” It’s from that position of authority that he extends his loving reign to all the world. And so we proclaim Jesus’ victory over guilt, condemnation, death, and the grave. We have witnessed restored relationships, forgiveness, and eternal life. The ascended King works to extend these Kingdom realities and gifts to us and to the whole world now—one person at a time.

“Love and Friendship” (John 15:9-17)

John 15:9-17

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 9, 2021

In recent weeks we have heard a lot about love in the Scripture readings—especially John’s Gospel. “For God so loved the world he sent his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” You’ll remember the great commandment: “To love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” The second is like it, “To love your neighbor as yourself—to love one another as Christ loved us.” And today: “No one has greater love than this than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends.”  “You are my friends,” Jesus says. “You did not choose me but I chose you.” “We love because he first loved us.” In other words, we befriend Jesus and other people because Jesus befriended us first. The best way to make friends is to be a friend first. Instead of trying to find a friend—be a friend to those around you. This is Jesus’ example. What was an insult from religious leaders is a badge of honor to Jesus: “I am a friend of sinners,” Jesus says. “You are my friends.”

There were a few jaw-dropping moments while I was in seminary. One was when one of my professors said, “You believe that Jesus loves you, died for you, and rose again for you. But many of you don’t believe Jesus likes you.” It almost comes as a shock to hear that God not only loves us but that he likes us. I believe this is the effect Jesus wants to have on us. So much talk of love to fulfill the law, it would be easy for us to think that Jesus loves us out of obligation. No, Jesus says with his words today, “I love you and I like you.”

In our Scripture today, Jesus says he wants our joy to be complete. He wants us to be assured that we are not just the bride of Christ; we are the friend of Christ. He loves us. And he likes us. That is Jesus’ challenge: do not just love others in word only. Be friends to them from the heart and in action. Do not let your love be a theological abstraction but a joyful and authentic expression of friendship. Jesus reminds us that the greatest expression of love is to lay one’s life down for our friends. True friendship is sacrificial. It’s giving of one’s self for the benefit of another. When we are true friends, we are not fixated on ourselves. The proverb says, “A person of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother or sister” (18:24). This is who Jesus wants us to be—such genuine friends to one another that we are family. Jesus says, “You did not choose me. I chose you.” As we think about what it means to be a Christian, we may think that love is an obligation. We have to love. We have be loving, saith the Lord.  “I have to love you,” we might think, “but I do not need to like you.” 

No, Jesus wants our joy to be whole and complete. He wants us to cultivate love in our whole being. Christ-like friendship does not begin by our being drawn to a person because of their magnetic personality or perks from the relationship. Christ-like friendship begins by being a friend to that person first. It means listening. It means learning about the other person. It means finding ways we can be a support, an encouragement, and a companion. Authentic friendship says, “I choose you. I will take the risk of being a friend to you without any expectation or anything in return.”  We accept others as they are just as Jesus accepts us as we are. We befriend others without expecting anything in return just as Jesus befriended us when we did nothing to earn or deserve such authentic love. True friendship is rare because it is a risky. We may be rejected. We may get burned. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and a winner of souls is wise.” It is wisdom to make friends.

Jesus’ powerful reminder to us today is that you and I are worth the risk. Jesus put himself out there. He showed interest in those around him. No one was invisible to him. He cared about the struggles, pain, and death he witnessed around him. On the other hand, all the disciples were fair-weather friends to Jesus, their master. They all ran away when he was arrested. He was mocked. His reputation was attacked. He was crucified.  And yet, Jesus kept extending the hand of friendship to them and to the world. As a faithful friend he prays, “Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” Even as he died for us, he paves the way for reconciliation and authentic friendship.

Jesus wants us to learn how he is a friend to us first. He wants us to learn how to be friends to each other. And he wants us to be friends to him.  Are you growing in your love for Jesus? Are you growing in your like of Jesus? He wants us to learn about him and cultivate an affection for him just as we do one another. The more we learn and understand about Jesus, the more we will be in awe of him and the more we like him. That’s what we’re doing when we listen to his Word, receive him and commune with him at the Table, and enjoy true Christian fellowship in the body of Christ. This is what Jesus wants for you and me: for our joy to be full—for our love and friendships to be fulfilling.

“The Vinegrower,” (John 15:1-8)

John 15:1-8

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 2, 2021

In our reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus compares God growing the Church to a vinegrower growing grapes. This is a recurring image in the Old Testament. God compares his people  collectively to a vine or a vineyard. God is the farmer who wants us—the vine—to be healthy, grow, and bear fruit. The vinegrower works toward this horticultural goal which is to maximize fruit production. Jesus says God the Father is the Vinegrower. And his goal is also to maximize fruit production. The vinegrower plants the seed. It draws moisture and nutrients from the soil and grows roots and a stem. The sap travels up through the roots, stem, and grows branches. Sap delivers the lifeblood needed to bud, flower, and bear fruit.

The vine is a solar-powered organism. It is designed to collect the energy of the sun and nutrients from the soil. It puts those resources together and somehow it wondrously, beautifully, and deliciously produces fruit. Jesus says he is that Organism. He has planted his roots into the soil of humanity in the incarnation—the Word has become flesh. He is the Light of the world that powers the plant. His is the lifeblood of the plant that gives life and strength to the branches, stems, leaves, and fruit.  Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. We are members of Christ. We do not sustain ourselves. We do not feed ourselves. We do not live by ourselves. Our lives, our being, our nourishment, and our strength are in him. 

That is why Jesus says, “The branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.” And, “apart from me you can do nothing.” And so, Jesus calls out to us to abide in him—to draw close, to be rooted in him, let the sap of his life fill our veins, to be in relationship with him. This is an invitation to remain and cherish where we have been planted in our baptism. It is a gracious call to find our strength in the Gospel daily—just as we pray for him to give us our daily bread. Jesus is pretty descriptive about what happens when we do not abide in him. We become unproductive and fruitless. As a caring Teacher and Shepherd of our souls he wants us to know what life is truly like without him.

God the Vinegrower does not threaten or punish the vine when he prunes it. He disciplines the vine. He makes it healthy. He cuts the things out of our lives that are not producing godly fruit. He does that so that the sap will be more efficiently channeled to the healthy branches of our lives. The overall health of the vine is what is at stake. God wants us to be healthy and whole. He is actively nurturing, caring, and pruning us as individuals and as a community—as the vine and body of Christ. The call is for us to abide in the vine. We are the ones who grow distant and drift away. Like the Isaiah text the Ethiopian eunuch was reading, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his and her own way.” We are the ones who pull away from the vine. We are only cheating ourselves from what God gives us. When separation occurs from God and our lives in Christ, that is the very definition of death—separation from God who is our light and our life. Pride will keep us from growing dependent on God or on the life in community of the vine. We are vulnerable outside the vine. When we grow in humility we agree with Jesus that we need the life-giving sap of God’s Word and the rich heavenly food flowing into our souls day by day.

“You have already been cleansed by the Word that I have spoken to you.” That is what I love about this Scripture. Jesus is saying that his grace is followed by even more grace. As our epistle so clearly says, “We love because he first loved us.”  We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. The sap of God’s grace flows into our lives. The fruit we bear is the natural result of lives rooted in God’s grace. That means God bears fruit through our lives together in Christ—for his glory. “We do not live by bread alone but every Word that flows from the mouth of God.” Scripture is the nutritious sap that we need to continually flow through every artery, vein, and capillary of our being. 

It begins at our Baptism when we are grafted into the Vine Jesus by the Water, Word, and Holy Spirit. To abide in Jesus means that we continue to plug ourselves into the life of worship, prayer, and Scripture. His Word goes out like rain and snow and does not return to him void but accomplishes all the life-giving work he intends for it to do.  The lifeblood of the Vine is also the Body and Blood of Jesus. Here at this Altar—at the Lord’s Table—Jesus gives us himself as heavenly food. Here he calls out to you and to me, “Take, eat. Drink of it, all of you.” “Abide in me as I abide in you.” God the Vinegrower invites us to draw close as he has drawn close to us.  Here at the Altar, the sap of life flows from his pierced side of the Vine into the cup of the New Testament for the forgiveness of our sins. His nutritious Body is broken and given for you to strengthen you and preserve you to life everlasting.

At the Lamb’s high feast we sing

Praise to our victorious King,

Who has washed us in the tide

Flowing from His piercèd side.

Alleluia. 

          “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sin” (LSB 833, vv. 7 & 8)