I Saw the Lord
Isaiah 6:1-11
May 31, 2026 anno Domini
In the year the King Uzziah died. That’s how the text begins. It teaches us that God cares about what is happening on earth. The Bible is filled with time and place markers – think of Jesus birth – in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus … when Quirinius was governor of Syria. God does not stay distant from His creation. He does not stay outside of time and space. He gets down in the mud of Eden to craft Adam and from Adam’s rib He creates Eve. He speaks to Noah, appears to Moses in a burning bush and has lunch with Abraham, and ultimately takes on flesh to meet us face to face in Jesus, and by the work of the Spirit He is here today for you in His Word and under the bread and wine of His Supper.
In the year that King Uzziah died. Uzziah reigned for 52 years over Judah. You can read about him in 2 Chronicles 26. His reign started wonderfully – he built great towers in Jerusalem, was given praise by foreigners, had a great army of over 300,000 soldiers. His men invented new weaponry to defend the city. But then, he became proud. He tried to go into the temple to burn incense on the altar. When the priests stopped him he became enraged, and suddenly leprosy broke out on his head. The priests rushed him out of the temple because he was unclean. For the rest of his life, he had to live alone and he was excluded from the Lord’s house. At his funeral none of his great works were mentioned. According to the Bible the sum of his obituary was “He was a leper.”
In the year that King Uzziah died – that’s 740 B.C. His death marked a downward spiral for God’s Old Testament people. Israel would be carried into exile just 18 years later in 722. Then Judah would decline into sin and unbelief until she was taken captive in 586.
In the year that King Uzziah died. Learn from Uzziah and the history that followed him not to trust in kings or princes, presidents or governors. Uzziah would be considered among the greatest of the Kings of Judah, with one of the longest most prosperous reigns. He might be a Washington or a Lincoln or a Reagan, but what does the Psalmist say? “It is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to trust in princes.”
In the year the King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. Uzziah’s reign had ended, but Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. What does that remind you? That the Son of God sits at God’s right hand, ruling all things for the sake of His people. But God is also sitting in Isaiah’s vision because He is making Himself visible to Isaiah. He has sat down. He is accommodating Himself in some way, making Himself small enough, contained enough so that Isaiah could see Him. How can this be? that God who has no body can be seen, that God who is Spirit can sit – it is a mystery that points ahead to Jesus, to God in the flesh, who was seen by thousands, who sat down with sinners and ate with them.
Above Him stood the Seraphim. Each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew, and one called to another.” Whenever I pictured Isaiah’s vision, I always imagined a whole host of seraphim. By the way this is the only passage in Scripture that refers to Seraphim. It is a particular rank of angel and their name might mean fiery or glowing. I imagined thousands of angels singing “holy, holy, holy.” So, I was surprised that there is a debate about the number of Seraphim with most of the early church fathers thinking there were only two angels – they read the text as one said to another one – one plus one is two. So you’ve got two angels, each with six pair of wings – that’s 2 times 12. Can you think of two 12’s in Scripture? The 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, the 12 apostles in the New. The angels are messengers and they stand there declaring what the Old and New Testaments declare – that the true and living God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the holy Trinity.
One called to another and said, “holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.” The Seraphim repeat holy three times, but speak of a singular Lord. That’s the Trinity – three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet only one Lord, one God. And His glory fills the earth – the Father’s glory is seen in creation, in the magnificent colors in an Oriole or the abundance of cucumbers that come from a few seeds in your garden, to the amazing beauty and order of planet earth and how it supports our lives. The glory of the Son is seen in His saving work – He died for sin of the whole world, not just the good people, but for you and your worst sin. The glory of the Spirit is seen wherever there is a Christian congregation – for where God’s Word is preached in truth and the Sacraments are being administered according to Christ’s Word – there Christ’s gifts will be given and faith will be created and dying sinners will be made into living Saints. What is more glorious than the Trinity’s work among us?
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of uncleans lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah’s vision seems to be similar to Mount Sinai when Moses received the Law – there too smoke filled the air and the mountain trembled, as the Lord descended on it in a fire. There at Sinai the Lord warned Moses to tell the people not to come near, lest they see Him and die. Now you know why Isaiah confesses, “Woe is me!” He had just been brought into the presence of the Holy Trinity and he was a man of unclean lips. He confesses, “I am lost.” The literal translation of that phrase is “I am silent.” That either means Isaiah doesn’t have any excuse for his sin, or that may have been his sin – he did not speak when he should have spoken. Could you confess the same? Do you have any excuse for what you have said to your husband or wife or about your neighbor, your enemy, or your governor? Have you remained silent in the face of a lie for your own peace and comfort. Woe is you. Woe is me.
What happens when Isaiah stands in the presence of the Lord? He’s pretty sure what will happen – He’s a dead man. That’s what God told Moses would happen in Exodus 33, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” God is holy. Isaiah is not. You are not. A sinner cannot stand in the presence of the Holy God. If Isaiah is dead then so are you.
But God does something as mysterious as He is, more mysterious than being three persons in one God. He makes Isaiah holy. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The angel took a burning coal from the heavenly altar, touched Isaiah’s lips and made him clean. This burning coal took Isaiah’s guilt away and atoned for his sin. The Lord appeared in visible form and sent His angels, His messengers with a burning coal and His Word to do what only the Lord could do for Isaiah – remove his guilt and pay for His sin. That’s the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth – He is God in the flesh, so you could see God, and He did for you at the cross what only God could do – take away your guilt and atone for your sin.
I am no angel, but I am God’s called and ordained messenger. And this morning from the Lord’s altar I will take not a burning coal, but bread and wine. Like that burning coal which was wood joined with fire, the bread is joined with Christ’s body and the wine with Christ’s blood. And this is Jesus promise when it touches your lips, “This is for the forgiveness of your sins.“
Three persons yet only one God. The Son of God takes on human flesh, descends from heaven, and becomes a man that He might sit down with us. He does for us what only He can do – He takes our guilt upon Himself and by His sacrifice on the cross He atones for our sins. Then He sends His messengers – His men – apostles then pastors – to touch our bodies with the water of Holy Baptism, to preach into our ears the Holy Word, to place on our lips the Holy Body and Blood of Jesus – that we might be holy, confidently standing in His presence now and on the last day. These are the holy mysteries of the Holy Christian faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.