Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Isaiah’s
overwhelming fright at the realization that he was in the presence of the God
of his ancestors, the one called Yahweh, the one, true, living God, was
overwhelming. His first thought was I’m doomed! His second thought
was: It’s that stream of blue speak from my own lips, and the whole culture
around me; we’re filthy, and standing naked before the God who sees and hears
everything.
God’s
first reaction to this honest, unfiltered confession was to have an angel
cleanse the sinner, and then challenge the sinner to go forward with cleansed
lips. Those lips would not turn the air blue with his words anymore, but fill
the air with words of purity, white as the driven snow, cleansed with crimson,
like the blood of a lamb. It was similar
to what Jesus said to the adulterous woman the Pharisees brought to him for
judgment and punishment. They wanted
blood on the woman, and a stain on Jesus’ record. But Jesus said to start throwing stones if
they had no sin in them. They left
one-by-one, and, once alone with the woman, Jesus said: There’s nobody left
to accuse you…go…and remember to live like you’ve been forgiven…because you
have.[1]
Isaiah
first impeached himself about the “unclean lips” thing. But he got down to the rest of us
quickly. He said he lived in the middle
of the rest of humanity that was just as vile.
It wasn’t just some false humility, or an aw-shucks momentary blush to lessen his own
guilt. He wasn’t saying I’m no worse
than all these other people. He was
saying just the opposite…I’m NOT O.K.…and NEITHER are YOU. If
Isaiah were preaching that today, he’d have a hard time getting a hearing. It seems like turning the air blue has gone viral. As
a culture, we’re not even civil
anymore, we’re polarized and hurling insult, curse, and blame across the divding
line. It seems Isaiah had it right about
his view of all humanity…we’re doomed!
And
then…enter the Christ into the throne room of Heaven just days after the cross
and tomb, carrying the hot, cleansing coal of his own blood, forgiving the guilt
of “blue-speak”. It’s not just our words,
all the hate-stuff, and speech-bombs – it’s the source of our words, driven-out of our lips by the
corruptness of our inner sinfulness. And
that’s been working endlessly at separating us from God, our Creator. Today’s culture is a reflection of that blue
streak of vitriol and violence. And
without Jesus, we are truly doomed!
For You Today
As Paul reminds us in his letter to the Roman believers, we must not copy the customs (or blue-streak-lip-language) of this generation…disciples of Jesus Christ are rather to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.[2]
That is
what is right and pleasing in God’s eyes (and ears)!
[1] Title image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
