High & Exalted

High & Exalted

Isaiah 6:1-8

Large, grandiose buildings are common place in our world today. Skyscrapers fill the skyline of our big cities... and 100,000 seat stadiums are the norm, at least in the SEC.

But for most of the history of Christianity, churches were the largest and most revered building in town. Even today, if you visit Savannah... the tallest building is the Independent Presbyterian Church. And in many smaller towns that’s still the case. A church is often the most prominent building.

Have you ever been to a cathedral? An actual cathedral? Tammy and I had the opportunity a few years ago now, to visit the National Cathedral in Washington DC. Of course, it’s the church that (at least in modern times) has hosted the funerals of Presidents.

The thing that strikes you about a cathedral, is the sheer size of the thing. With vaulted ceilings, enormous stain glass windows, oversized pulpits... our entire sanctuary would fit in the Narthex of some of these huge cathedrals. The grandeur and enormity of a cathedral makes it difficult to take everything in.

They’re awe inspiring structures - and they were intended to be.

I imagine this is kind of the way Isaiah felt when he had his experience with God in the temple. The Temple was awe inspiring... it was the largest building in Jerusalem.

Try to imagine being in Isaiah‘s shoes. Standing in the temple, awe inspiring on its own, when you look up and you see God sitting on his throne. And he is so Gigantic, that the hem of his robe fills the entirety of the temple.

All the while, flying around God are these creatures with six wings. With two they’re covering their faces with who they’re covering the feet, and with two they’re flying! And even though it’s their job to glorify God, to praise him… they hide their faces, their feet in respect... shamed by their very existence before the majesty and splendor and holiness of God. In fact, they’re crying out to one another: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of host. The whole earth is full of his glory!” Their voice is shaking the very foundation of the temple. “Holy” is the only attribute of God that’s so inexplicable, that it’s necessary to communicate it in triplicate.

It was an amazing vision to say the least. It was a revelation of God’s glory that was so spectacular that it caused Isaiah to fall prostrate and cry out in repentance, “woe is me! I am lost, I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among the people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of host.” Isaiah certainly felt his tininess, his insignificance, as he humbled himself before the immense presence of his Creator.

This story from God’s word poses a question for us. And that question is as simple as it is profound. How big is our God? Not in dimensions. But rather, in our lives… in our hearts, and minds... in our belief and faith? How big is our God? How much space does God occupy in our lives.

We’re all guilty of trying to give God just enough. Kinda like when my kids were in school. The goal was to do just enough to keep dad off their backs! And, truthfully, we tend to treat God the same.

Of course, it’s also true, that at times we seem to want to put limits on what God can do, and what God can’t do. Or maybe more realistically, those of us who follow Christ, like to suppose (or determine) what God is willing to do, and what God is not willing to do.

Or maybe, sometimes we’re guilty of thinking there are things that are even too big for God to handle. Wars... disasters... problems, griefs, pain, circumstances of this life, that for one reason or another, we declare outside of God’s purview. We allow ourselves to think that God is either too busy, too unconcerned, or too weak, to do anything about the problem at hand.

We think this way because we’re all fallen... we’re all sinful. We think this way... not because God is too small… but because our faith is lacking. I didn’t say our faith is too small, because the size of our faith isn’t the issue. If you have faith as tiny as a mustard seed you can move mountains! We have plenty of faith! The problem is WE ARE TOO SMALL to actually utilize and trust God with the faith we have! To trust God fully... to comprehend the vastness, the transcendent glory of this God, is often beyond us.

When Isaiah had his experience before God, he thought he was done for. He cried out “woe is me! I’m a man of unclean lips.” A sinner, in other words. And how could a sinner stand before God and not be undone?!

Yet God responded in grace to Isaiah’s repentance. And one of those six winged angels, took a hot coal from the altar… and cleansed Isaiah‘s lips.

In that simple act of grace… God’s greatness was on full display. God had every right, to at best, ignore Isaiah… at worst to destroy Isaiah. But instead, he forgave Isaiah… and commissioned him to be his servant… carrying God’s word to a people who desperately needed to hear it.

He has done the same for you and for me! The good news is that God sent Christ, to become the propitiation for our sins… The sacrifice that made us once and for all clean before God… in order that we might be his servants, “glorifying God and enjoying him forever” as we share His good news with a world that desperately needs it.

I think there are times when we all try to put God in a box. We say there’s no way God can do this or that. We think that our problems are too big… Our difficulties, too difficult. We begin to think that our problems are beyond God‘s influence; be our marriage, our finances, our jobs. Sometimes we think the disease is greater than God! The condition of the world itself is beyond repair… beyond God‘s grace.

My friends, nothing could be further from the truth.

Open your heart and mind to what God is doing in your life. Step out of the way, surrender, fall prostrate before His greatness... and let God be God. Lay all of your problems down before him, all of your worries, all of your concerns… He’s definitely big enough to redeem and restore any situation… any sin, any despair in this life.

The fact is... when you’re willing to lay it all down before him, you’ll begin to see just how big God really is. Amen.

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