The Details Matter :: Isaiah 6:1-7
Behold, this touched your lips and your iniquity is removed; your sin is atoned (v. 7).
Details, details, details. Iron out the details. Get down to the details. Pay attention to details. Details matter. Paying attention to detail might seem like an obvious skill to highlight when you’re looking for a job, but surprisingly it’s one many ignore. The same can be said about confessing being a Christian.
So today, we celebrate Trinity Sunday. Because details matter. Today is one set aside specifically to help us confess important details of who God really is. The details matter.
It’s difficult to preach on a day like today because it’s intimidating trying to explain a word as imperfect as Trinity. Fortunately, we have the Athanasian Creed to help us. We should use this creed far more often because it’s a concise yet detailed expression of the Gospel. Sadly, though, too many people think it’s too onerous to use regularly. They think it’s intimidating. It reminds us that if you don’t believe these details that you aren’t a Christian ... that you cannot therefore be saved. But the detail here is important for us to believe, teach, and confess. No detail in it is too small. These show us who, what, when, where, how, and why of the forgiveness of sins.
We aren’t the only church body that confesses the details of the Athanasian creed. This is a catholic creed ... that is, a universal or all-embracing creed. That’s what the word catholic really means. This catholic creed is ecumenical because every true Christian church either uses it, or at least believes and confesses all its details. We don’t begrudge those who don’t actually recite it. But we do boldly declare that those churches that don’t confess the details of this Triune creed are heterodox ... that is, as Paul says in Galatians (1:6-7): They teach another Gospel, not that there is one. No matter how much they talk about Jesus ... no matter how they live their lives ... no matter what they say ... they are, in fact, apostate church bodies ... they don’t recognize True God. That is one important detail you need to know today.
1. Another important detail is that it’s backed by scripture, most notably, our Old Testament reading.
Isaiah describes the One True God, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the creator of all things, the Word made flesh. He is high and lifted up ... exalted. He is on his throne. The majesty of his robe fills the temple. At the same time, angels with six wings are seen flying to and fro, attending to the Lord. And they are singing the altar song they gave us.
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth (LSB 195).
Then comes the voice of God that shakes the foundation. There’s no detail that is too small.
It was sometime in the year during which Uzziah died that God showed himself to Isaiah in this way (v. 1). That’s significant detail. It’s a historical marker. Under Uzziah, the kingdom of Judah flourished. He was a good king. He loved the land. He brought peace, prosperity, growth, and beauty to the land and people. But sometime during his 52 year reign he saw himself being next to God (2 Chr 26:16). In other words, idolatry got the better of him, and Judah sank to a spiritual low. So God called Isaiah. Tell the people what you see and hear. The detail matters.
2. Today, we hear the all important detail that the Father is Holy; the Son is Holy; the Holy Spirit is Holy. Yet there are not three holies but one holy.
This is what Isaiah saw. He saw our Triune God. He is holy, holy, holy. He is the Word Made Flesh, and he sits on a throne. Now note the robe, the bodily appearance. Note that he is seated in the temple. From this divine form, the divine glory shone forth in overwhelming splendor.
Upon hearing this, we are inclined to take this as meaning simply that God is sinless which is true, but is too narrow of a definition. The basic idea of the Hebrew word for holy ... קָדוֹשׁ ... is separateness, an important detail. He is separate from creation because he is the Creator. He exists in absolute independence (separateness) from sinful men. He not only possesses perfect independence, but perfect power, wisdom, knowledge, timelessness, goodness, love.
Yes, he is quite perfect ... Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. And it reminds me that I am quite imperfect ... that Woe is me! He is living. I am dying. He is life. I am dead in sin.
Sadly, most people don’t recognize this truth. They deny the Triune nature of God.
The details you have confessed were hammered out the hard way ... by theological debate ... by correcting false teachers who pretend to speak God’s word. They reduce Jesus into nothing more than a good man with a good word about good living. They separate the Father from the Son. They reduce the Spirit into some impersonal force. Instead, listen to your Triune creeds. The Father almighty is the maker of heaven and earth. And the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life. And as we just confessed ... It is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man. He is God and he is Man. He lived, suffered, died, descended, rose again. He ascended and is seated on his throne, and He is coming again to make you whole.
That’s important detail. The Trinity is fundamental to this Gospel. You can talk about the cross and resurrection without accepting the Trinity, but it’s like going to a museum and seeing displays that look realistic until you get up close and notice the imperfect detail that was all man-made. If you don’t have the Trinity, you lose the important detail.
3. So what is the important detail in Isaiah chapter 6?
To see and hear it, first he brings us to repentance.
As Isaiah cries out, Woe is me, for I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth ... you know, the LORD of hosts (v 5). When confronted by the holiness of God, everyone who has faith is utterly dismayed by their own sinfulness! No man can see God and live. Holy, Holy, Holy is he (v 3). But in repentance ... faith and contrition ... we live.
Then something marvelous happened to Isaiah. As he said, one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven (vv 6-7).
4. And there it is: the Most Important Detail.
The angel flew to the altar in heaven ... the real thing of which makes all earthly altars pale copies. Then the angel used tongs to pick up a burning coal, which he pressed against the lips of Isaiah. He then pronounced absolution ... that your iniquity is taken away ... that your sin is forgiven (v 7).
What an amazing picture! The burning coal was taken from the altar. There, on that altar, a sacrifice for sin was made. And then an angel delivered the message. Angels are literally messengers. The message is this ...
THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL IS THE ALL-CONSUMING SACRIFICE OF CHRIST
Your sins are forgiven on account of our Triune God. This is Isaiah’s message.
The burning coal reflects the sacrifice of God himself. The Father sent his Son to die for your sins. Jesus was sacrificed on the altar of the cross for you. He suffered and died for you. He made atonement for you, shedding his blood for you.
Because of his all-availing sacrifice on the cross we will find the burning coals on the altar in heaven. There, the burning coals tell us that before God the Father, the sacrifice of His Son has been made ... and your iniquity is taken away ... your sin forgiven ... consumed by the fire of God. More than that, your sin was washed away by the Holy Spirit in baptism, which united you on the death and resurrection of Christ. God’s plan has been accomplished. The Father then poured out the Holy Spirit upon you so that you will rejoice in this message.
5. Which brings us back to the important detail for Holy Trinity Sunday.
You can’t separate the Trinity from the Gospel. Nor can you separate the Gospel from the Sacraments. They all go together.
We have the altar of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the angel ... literally the “messenger” ... who conveys the forgiveness from the altar to us. We have the Holy Ghost, the one who sanctifies us ... who makes us holy. He brings us the same good news each week. You hear it in the absolution. You hear it in the proclamation of the Gospel. You receive it in the water of baptism and by the mouth, just as Isaiah did, in the Sacrament of the Altar.
Are you beginning to hear and see why we should have the Lord’s supper every week? As often as we eat his bread and drink his cup we proclaim his death until he comes. Jesus has prepared for you this meal which has no end. He longs to deliver it to you ... if only you will believe it. He longs to nourish your faith ... to press the bread and wine to your mouth, to forgive your sins, and take away your guilt, and to enable you to stand before the living God without terror or danger ... thanking the Lord and singing his praise.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the entire account of Isaiah is true, and it’s vitally important to believe this truth because it shows that the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation come from God ... that is the most important detail. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever (Rm 11:36) ... in the name of Jesus.