Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

February 9th, 2025
Atonement Lutheran Church
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C
Text: Isaiah 6:1–8

In the Name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The king is dead, and the kingdom is in moral decline. King Uzziah reigned for 52 years, and by all accounts was a good king “and he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD”. (2 Kings 15:3) Under his rule, the Kingdom of Judah prospered, was successful in battle against its enemies (even exacting tribute from the Ammonites), and expanded its borders. The kingdom was at its height in both power and prestige. All of this is attributed to King Uzziah's faithfulness to God.

Though the kingdom prospered, it was in a state of moral decay. The people were still making sacrifices and offerings at High Places. High Places were religious sites of worship that God did not sanction or approve and were often used to worship false gods. And now King Uzziah, who once did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, has died. Stricken with leprosy by God. King Uzziah’s pride of self-worth led him to claim for himself the same authority as the priests of God by entering the temple of the Lord and attempting to burn incense to God, a right specifically reserved for the priests of God.

And this is where we find Isaiah today in our text. In a kingdom whose people have turned away from God. Whose very king, who once was famed for his faithfulness to God, has died because he was unfaithful to the Lord his God.

Let us look at the text.

Isaiah 6:1–2 “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. 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.”

Isaiah recalls his vision of the Lord with the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up with the train of his robe filling the temple; giving us this image of a King above all kings whose glory and majesty is overwhelming and beyond any earthly ruler. With the Lord are two seraphim who stood above him and whose wings are covering their face and feet, emphasizing that the Lord’s glory is beyond our ability to see or stand next to.

Isaiah 6:3–4 “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.”

It is important to note that angles called the Lord holy three times. Does this mean that the Lord is set apart three-fold times? Yes, for there is nothing like the Lord, nothing can compare to the Lord, and the Lord is infinitely set apart and above all things. Here the angles also emphasize the triune nature of God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For God the Father is holy, God the Son is holy, and God the Holy Spirit is holy. And the earth shook at this mere proclamation of God's holiness and triune nature, not out of fear but of jubilation. As Jesus spoke of his disciples during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Luke 19:40 “He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.””

Isaiah 6:5 “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 a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!””

Isaiah realizes his inadequacies, and his unworthiness to be in the presence of God. He is confronted with his sins and realizes that he does not measure up to God's standards. He is in total despair and fear of God's judgment and wrath. There is nothing he can say or do to make himself right with God. He is without hope.

St. Peter understands this fear and despair when confronted by God. In Luke 5, we read Jesus calling his first disciple, Peter. Jesus needing a better spot to teach the crowd around him, gets into Peter's fishing boat and asks to be taken out a little way from the shore so Jesus can teach the crowd. After teaching the people about the Kingdom of God, Jesus instructs Peter to cast out his net. Peter is an experienced and successful fisherman and knows the right time to fish and the right time not to fish and knows that there will be no fish to catch. Out of humoring Jesus or the sense that he had nothing to lose, St. Peter cast out his net as Jesus instructed.

It is a miracle, not only did St. Peter catch some fish, when he knew that there would be no fish to catch, but he caught enough fish to fill two boats full. “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.””. Out of fear and despair, St. Peter realizes, just like Isiah, his unworthiness and his unrighteousness before the Holy and righteous God.

Like Isaiah and St. Peter, we too are unrighteous before the Holy and Righteous God. We too are confronted with our inadequacies, our guilt, and our sins. We too want God to depart from us for we fear the Holy and Righteous judgment of God. God loves us too much to leave us in our despair and sin.

Isaiah 6:6–7 “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 gulf between man and God is beyond our understanding. We are so unworthy to be in the presence of our God, that we cower before Him and fear the righteous punishment for our sins. God though does not abandon us to our sin, guilt, and despair. He does not administer the righteous punishment that we so deserve.

Instead, God comes to us. Though we are unrighteous before Him. God does not abandon us to our sin, guilt, and despair. He did not leave us without hope, mercy, or grace. God gives us His unmeasurable love in the form of Jesus Christ, who bridges the gulf between man and God.

Christ lived a righteous and perfect life for us because we are unable to live a righteous and perfect life. Christ taught and showed us the right way to live towards God because sin has distorted our way of living and thinking of and toward God. And Christ has restored, redeemed us back to God, through the His work on the cross. On the cross, Christ sacrificed Himself to pay for, to atone for our sins. It is through Christ atoning sacrifice on the cross that we are made right with God and through His resurrection we have the promise of everlasting life with God in heaven.

Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.””

Sens Christ has bridged the gulf between man and God. God has sent His Holy Spirit into our lives to give us the gift of faith. And if we do not reject His gift of faith, the Holy Spirit will work within us, to transform us, to do the good works that God has prepared for us. Through the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are now able to respond to God's gift of faith. We respond by reading the Bible, coming to church to worship God, praying to God, and doing those good works that God has prepared for us to do.

Through the Holy Spirit, God has called us to be a witness of God's love and mercy to others in this world. We are given the task of spreading the Gospel message to all places and to all people. This does not mean that everyone is called to preach the Word of God or to go out and evangelize to people. God has seen fit to equip different people for different tasks.

Whatever God has called you to do, be it a father, husband, mechanic, schoolteacher, etc., you are there as a witness of God. “do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)

Amen.