Isaiah 6: 1-8 and John 3:17
Isaiah had a vision of heaven which has shaped the worship of the church for thousands of years. It is a vision of God as King who rules for ever, unlike King Uzziah who died.
In a few minutes we will repeat the words of the Sanctus. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. We will repeat the words that Isaiah heard the angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven say in his vision.
Holy, holy, holy. Three holys. The church has speculated that this is also a vision of the Trinity, which is why we have this reading on Trinity Sunday.
Isaiah cries out when he sees God in heaven. Woe is me. I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips.
But the point is that he knows his lips are unclean. And so he is purified with the hot coals brought to his lips by a seraph using tongs. Isaiah is penitent and then he is forgiven.
And then God asks who shall I send? And Isaiah says send me.
We too, this morning, have been penitent. We too have said woe are we, our lips are unclean. And we too have been forgiven. And we too will hear the call at the end of the service. Who shall I send?
Jesus told Nicodemus, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’
Isaiah was sent. And Jesus was sent. Isaiah prefigures Jesus in this vision.
Jesus was sent to save the world by showing us how to live. This is part of his role in the Holy Trinity. He shows us how to live among people of unclean lips. He shows us we are forgiven. And pointing at the example of Jesus, the Holy Spirit gently asks us if we too will answer the call to be sent with the words that Isaiah uttered, ‘Send me!’
And if we feel unworthy or inadequate or unclean, the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, represented here today by the consecrated bread and wine, his body and his blood, is brought from the altar and touches our lips like the live coal that the seraph brought to Isaiah using tongs.
It purifies us. It reminds us that because of the sacrifice made for us, we can stand before God and we can answer his call.