And [Isaiah] 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!”
Vulgarity and four-letter words have become part of our daily vocabulary. They’re heard in the songs we listen to and the TV and movies we watch. We hear them so much, we get used to them. We don’t think they do serious damage. We don’t believe that saying something hateful to someone or about someone is on the same level as actually assaulting them. But our sinful words are serious. They harm our relationships, and not only that, they separate us from God; keeping us from coming into His presence.
There was a time, not too long ago, that if a young boy was caught saying four-letter words or telling a crude joke a nearby adult would rebuke him saying, “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” There’s a bit of humor in that stinging question, but at its core, it speaks the truth. Words of affection can’t come from the same lips that speak words of filth. No mother wants to be kissed by a son who speaks that way.
But it’s not just about filthy jokes and four-letter words. The sinful words that cross our lips are all the unholy things we say: words that lie, words that speak and spread gossip, words that degrade and harm others, words that insult, words spoken to tear others down instead of buildup. They’re words that participate in false worship, words that refuse to speak truth, words that take our Lord’s name in vain, words that reveal our fear, love, and trust in anything and everything else but God. Sinful words and faithful praise can’t come from the same lips. The prophet Isaiah knew this.
At the time of Isaiah’s commissioning, he saw a vision of the Lord. God was sitting upon His throne, His kingly robe filling the temple. Above the Lord flew the seraphim angels, and they were singing the very same song of praise that we still sing today in the Sanctus as we come into Christ’s presence in Holy Communion. Seeing all of this, Isaiah feared. “Woe is me!” Isaiah knew couldn’t rightly stand in the presence of the Lord because he was a sinner who spoke sinful words.
St. Peter realized this very same thing too. Witnessing that miraculous catch of fish, Peter knew he was in the presence of God, and he was afraid. The first thing he said was “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk 5:8). Because he was a sinner, he knew he couldn’t safely stand in the presence of the holy righteous God. Because he was a man of unclean lips, Isaiah knew he couldn’t safely stand in the presence of the holy righteous God; and neither can we.
Because we’re sinners, we can’t safely stand in the presence of the holy and righteous God. Because of our sin, it’s right to fear being in the Lord’s presence, because our sin deserves to be punished. This is what Luther teaches us in the Small Catechism as he explains the Commandments. Every explanation starts with, “We should fear and love God….”
We rightly deserve the punishment of death because of our sin, including the sinful words that cross our lips and the sinful words that we don’t say but still think. Following the example of Isaiah and Peter, it’s right for us to fear our sin; it’s right for us to confess our sin; and it’s right to trust in God’s cleansing of our sin. The Lord didn’t leave His prophet and disciple in their fear. He didn’t keep them away from His presence. He cleansed them of their sin and invited them to come to Him.
There’s a scene in the movie A Christmas Story where Ralphie, the main character, says a four-letter word and his mother hears it. Immediately, she marches him to the bathroom in order to wash that filthy language from his mouth by putting a bar of soap in his mouth. The whole purpose of that bar of soap was to make Ralphie suffer. It was to make him remember that awful taste so that he would think twice before before saying those kinds of words. That soap was punishment, but it couldn’t completely cleanse Ralphie’s mouth. He may not have said that word again, but he was quick to lie, saying he heard that word from a friend. He still spoke sinful words. The only way for our lips to be cleansed is for the Lord to do it.
For Isaiah, God sent one of His seraphim angels to touch his lips with a burning coal from the altar. In that action, the Lord promised that Isaiah’s guilt was taken away and his sin was atoned for. This action foreshadowed how the Lord cleans your lips.
The altars and sacrificial system of the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ our Savior. All that blood, all that death, all of it pointed to the cross where Jesus died for you, where He sacrificed Himself for you, where He shed His blood to atone for your sin and to cleanse you from it, to take your guilt away. The sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood, His very body and blood that touches your lips as you eat and drink the Lord’s Supper, by that sacrifice your lips are cleansed; your heart is cleansed, and you are brought into God’s presence.
Not only did the Lord cleanse Isaiah of his sin, He called him to proclaim His name. Jesus called Peter to follow Him and become a fisher of men. With clean lips, and clean hearts, these men went out to praise God’s name. They went out and shared the forgiveness of Christ…and we get to do the same thing.
The Lord invites us into His presence. He cleanses our hearts and our lips so that we can faithfully praise His name, so that we can faithfully speak and share the forgiveness of Christ to others. This doesn’t mean that Jesus is calling every single one of us to go out and Isaiah and Peter did. But it does mean that we get to speak and share the forgiveness of Christ with those around us in our current vocations in life. We get to praise our Lord’s name amongst our family and friends, neighbors and co-workers. We get to speak a good confession with our deeds and our words. The Lord has cleansed our lips, so let us rightly use them.
Separated by almost 8 centuries, Isaiah and Peter had the same reaction when they found themselves in the presence of the Lord. Knowing their sin, they feared. But God invited them into His presence. He cleansed them of their sin, and called them to speak His forgiveness. Christ does the same exact thing for you. He takes your quilt away and has made atonement for your sin. His body and blood cleanses your lips. And He invites you into His eternal presence where you get to praise His name forever. In Jesus’ name…Amen.
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