Trading up. We think about it all the time.
· Arby’s – will I trade up from small sized to medium or large?
· Golf clubs – isn’t it about time to trade up from my 20 yr old golf club (which somebody gave me)…to a new set which will vastly improve my game?
· iPhone – pressure to trade up to the 5s
Trading up is the great American past time. It is how we pursue the American Dream.
· The American Dream is at its core “upward social mobility”…ever more prosperous, ever more successful. It is a constant movement upward, a constant state of trading up.
o cars, homes, vacations, clothes, food , technology
· We are bred from our earliest days to trade up to bigger and better…to value the material above all else…to define ourselves by that which we possess
Trading up occupies a huge portion of our thought lives…and I want you to think about it even more for the next 5 weeks.
But…I want you to think about trading up in a vastly different way. I want you to consider trading up from self-interest to God’s interests; from puny desires to dynamic destiny…
Through the month of October I want you to see something more energizing, more inspiring, more fulfilling than the American Dream. I want to convince you that there is another dream worthy of your passions and aspirations…
…the dream of contributing the very best of who you are and who you were made to be in such a way that lives are changed and generations feel your impact.
…the dream of investing in the most ambitious enterprise ever launched
I want to convince you it is time to trade up from “Me to Mission”
Now, To get us to make that trade isn’t easy when we are so laser locked on the American Dream.
But fortunately I’ve got a guy, with quite a story, his story and his writings are going to get up in our heads about this business of trading up to the missional life. His name is Isaiah…and he wrote some of the most compelling material in the whole bible about engaging in the kingdom of God.
Isaiah 6: 1
Isaiah lived in Jerusalem roughly 700 B.C. He was well educated. He Heknew history, literature, and politics and theology. And we think he was pretty connected with the big shots and royal family of the day.
Isaiah, his wife and two kids, were living the high life…livin’ the dream…until one fateful day.
And in that moment his whole life was radically reoriented and he traded away his privileged life for that of a peculiar prophet of God.
He traded away a mainstream existence for that of a guy on the edge. I think if he were here today he would tell you he traded up from Me to Mission.
For the next 5 weeks we’re going to look into his writings. This book, named after him, is an anthology, a collection of his sermons, his musings and his visions of the future. He wrote about what he saw happening in his day and even speculated on what would happen hundreds of years in the future.
But, today we’re going to look at the life altering moment that changed not only his own life but has since then had an impact on billions of people including you and me.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:1-8
What was this? …A dream? …an out of body experience? We have no idea about its essence but we know about its effect On Isaiah. It completely undid him and reoriented him.
If I could summarize and synthesize this moment and its impact let me suggest that …
When you see God…really see him…and you begin to grasp his desires for this world, you will be left with only one proper response. Here am I. Send me!
Let’s try to get into Isaiah’s brain and see what he saw….experience what he experienced that led him to jump into the mission of God with both feet…
1. Isaiah experienced the royalty God.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Everything about this scene shouted royalty, authority and power
· the timing of it around the death of the earthly king
· the location – not the Temple but the palace – lit. big house
· the name given to God = Adonai = sovereign master
· The throne which was physically raised way above everything else
· This strange phrase about the train of his robe (hem?) filling the temple
All of this says – royalty, authority and power
This had a profound effect on his later writings...You can hear Isaiah reflect on this authority in the rest of his writings:
In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Isaiah 2:2
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. This is the plan determined for the whole world. Isaiah 14:24, 26
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. Isaiah 46:10
Isaiah felt the royalty, felt power, felt the authority… and it changed him.
· God is the King. He is the supreme sovereign. God is the world-wide monarch. He rules. He reigns.
· His is an international dynasty. A global empire. His is the Kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Amen.
And if you believe that, then your first response should be “Here am I. Send me!”
2. Isaiah experienced the holiness of God.
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Holy = when you hear that word you might think of moral purity. And that would be accurate. but that's what the word has come to mean...what it originally meant was someone or something that was totally set apart from everything else...other than.. completely unique, utterly distinct
· That is even more greatly enhanced by the triple effect
· And it is enhanced by the bizarre scene:
o Seraphs - literally = the fiery or burning ones
§ faces covered – could not look upon God
§ feet covered – perhaps in deference to God
o The earthquake – doorposts shaking
o The smoke
o The song: holy holy holy…
All of this says mystical, supernatural, bizarre, peculiar and awesome…captured perfectly in the word HOLY.
· lately we’ve been singing a song around here – the Great I Am. And there is something about that song that in a very small way captures the feeling of this moment with Isaiah. I find myself moved, I feel my heart pumping, I feel my courage swelling…
· Now imagine Isaiah seeing it firsthand – no wonder he said “Here am I send me!”
3. Isaiah experienced the fear of God
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Isaiah is suddenly brutally aware of himself. He feels unclean (lips = an expression of the heart).
He is ill equipped to be there. And is fearful for his life. I think we need a little bit of that.
For too long you have lived with a swagger before God.
For too long you have been trying to conceal an ugly truth.
For too long you have snuck in here lugging your pack of nastiness.
You cheating on your spouse? Better beware.
You abusing people in your life? Be forewarned.
You playing fast and loose with your finances? I’m given you a heads up.
You claim to be a follower of Jesus but live like a moral midget? Better look out.
The God of the universe does not play. He is deadly serious about his mission in this world. Better you get a dose of the fear of God and say “Here Am I. Send me!”
Finally and fortunately…
4. Isaiah experienced the forgiveness of God
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
The altar was the place of animal sacrifice. The coal may have even been the charred remains of a sacrifice…a sacrifice that covered over the sin of the one who offered it.
This was an incredible act of mercy and grace by God.
· I forgive you…I atone for your sins…you are OK…you are worthy
…think about this…the powerful God of the universe instead of squashing Isaiah like a bug (and he deserved it) forgave him, cleared him of guilt.
Reminds me of:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
This is the offer to all of us. No matter how sinful, no matter how messed up. We all are offered a second chance…a chance at shame removal…a chance at worthiness.
A newly forgiven person is beyond grateful for the freedom from guilt and shame…and is ready to charge into the world newly free – Here am I. Send me!
IL - Brene’ Brown – sociologist – The Power of Vulnerability, TED talk
· The effect of shame vs. worthiness
o shame – leads to numbing, perfecting, pretending, blaming
o worthiness leads to compassion connection, vulnerability and courage.
I’ve seen it play out over and over through my life and in my life…when I feel forgiven, sense God’s grace and mercy and know I am worthy – I grow courageous…I become and activist….Here am I. Send me!
· I’ve seen too many long-time followers of Jesus who have forgotten the forgiveness, forgotten he grace of God…and maybe even slipped back into old patterns of shame and have become impotent in the world.
· If that’s you feel the burning coal of mercy on your lips…feel the grace descend, the shame lift and the courage return to your heart,
Isaiah experienced the royalty of God, the holiness of God, the fear of God and the forgiveness of God.
His reaction then make sense:
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:1-8
When you see God…really see him…and you begin to grasp his desires for this world, you will be left with only one proper response. Here am I. Send me!
My friends, it’s time for you to trade up…from a life of shame and sin and materialism to a life of courage, significance, mission and impact.
Prayer…
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:1-8