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CELEBRATING OUR IDENTITY:
CREATED FOR WORSHIP

Isaiah 6:1-8

Introduction

So did you survive this week? No, I don't mean, Did you survive the job? or Did you survive school? I mean, Did you survive that great challenge that we face dozens of times a day--that ever so subtle while at the same time "in your face" bombardment from every direction telling you what you need, what you want, and what you've just got to have. You know what I mean, it sounds something like: "Four out of five recommend . . ." or "In tests, Brand A outlasts Brand B 9 out of 10 times" or "Why settle for less, when you can have . . ." or "Wear Brand A clothes, and everybody will like you" or "It's all about you." Did you successfully survive the consumer trap this week? Or did you succumb?

All you have to do is listen to the radio for a moment, hear the latest poll, drive past a few billboards, or walk by the newspaper stand and give a passing glance, and there will be absolutely no doubt that we live in a consumer-driven society. The question for both the marketplace and the government, or even on a smaller scale the question for friendships and families is "What will sell?" Driven by public opinion polls, perceived needs, and consumer desires, the focus of life so quickly becomes, What do I want? What do I need? What do I like? What suits my tastes? The conclusion then becomes, If I can find that which fits me best, then all of life will be good. Therefore, we listen to the polls, watch the ads, evaluate the commercials, and shop around. Finally, when we discover what fits us best, what satisfies our desires, what makes us feels good, and what gives us most but costs us least, we make the purchase. As consumers, shopping becomes our lifestyle--whether it be for food, clothes, appliances, a career, an education, or even a God.

Move One--The Dilemma of the Text: Where Is Our Focus?

It is here--shopping for a God--that the people of God face a great dilemma. What kind of God fits us? satisfies us? makes us feel good? gives us most but costs us least? After shopping around the different "brands" of God, we then settle in and, like every other purchase that a consumer makes, we "buy into" God. Soon, collections of consumers searching for the same brand of God come together so that the identity of God's people is based on that particular group's wants, needs, likes, and tastes.

Lest we think that this is a new problem for the people of God, we have repeatedly faced this dilemma throughout our history. In fact, our biblical ancestors faced this situation over and over again. When they were in the wilderness, they desired a God who would suit their every appetite. When they were facing the threat of an enemy nation, they desired a God who would destroy their enemy and exalt them. When they were in famine, they desired a God who could be manipulated into making it rain. And when they became a nation, they desired a God or should we say a king who could fight all their battles and win all their wars for them.

I guess if a consumer poll had been taken during the reign of King Uzziah, the satisfaction of the people would have reached an all-time high. He just seemed to fit their desires and expectations. Economic prosperity abounded; everything was peaceful; life was good. The people's hope and future were bound up with this king whom they had come to trust so deeply. In fact, everything was so good that when Uzziah contracted leprosy, he continued to reign. Not following the usual custom of putting the leper outside of the community, the people allowed him to rule alongside his son. Why upset the apple cart when all of your needs are being met?

Into the midst of this consumer-driven society where all was good came the most devastating news--Uzziah was dead! One can only imagine the great mourning and sense of utter loss when Uzziah died. Hope gave way to despair; security gave way to fear. Consumer confidence must have plummeted. What is a consumer-driven people to do when the one who has successfully delivered all their wants, hopes, and desires is gone? Perhaps the logical answer would be to rally to the new king; he may also deliver the goods.

Move Two--The Answer in the Text: It's All About Him

But as we have so often come to expect, the kingdom of God sees life so different from what the world sees it. The logical answer in the Kingdom would seem so illogical to the world. What is the answer when the consumer-driven, successful reign of Uzziah comes to an end? Isaiah says it this way, "I saw the Lord."

In this season of utter loss, when the trustworthy and reliable ruler had died and in the time when consumer confidence and public opinion polls plummeted, Isaiah says, "When the ruler died, I saw the ruler--the Master, the One who is ultimately in charge." When everyone else thought that maintenance of the kingdom had come to an end, I saw the One who continued, actively, to oversee the kingdom. He was actively sitting, reigning, on His throne. His great robe continually was filling the inner sanctuary of the Temple. The echoing calls of His attendants bounced from one wall to another and back to the other: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:3).* At the time when all of society had thought the "glory of Israel--the splendid king Uzziah" had faded, Isaiah hears the choir sing about this One who continues to reign, "The whole earth is full of his glory" (v. 3). This King that Isaiah encounters is so exalted, so unique, that even the attendants could not bear to look upon Him, nor did they wish for Him to look upon them. All they could do was continue to sing, "Holy! Holy! Holy!"--holiness, exaltation, kingship to the highest degree.

When the rest of society is consumer-driven: What will we do now? Where will we go? Who will we select? Isaiah provides the counteranswer of the Kingdom: It's not about me . . . it's not about a king . . . it's all about the King. When consumers worry, the people of God worship. When consumers look down, the people of God look up.
The prophet's very identity is grounded and shaped in worship. As the prophet sees God, he comes more clearly to see himself, the people among whom he lives, his mission, and the situations in which he will find himself. However, he does not begin with himself, his people, or the situation; he begins with God--the king of glory! No wonder, in the midst of future battles, plagues, and disasters, while a consumer-driven society will either look for the latest fad or the newest quick fix, Isaiah will consistently declare, "Do not be afraid; trust the Lord." Why can he say this? Because he knows who the real king is.

In this face-to-face encounter with the One who is continually seated upon the throne and whose robe continually is filling the Temple, the prophet comes to understand himself, his people, and his prophetic task. While the dominant culture has seen Uzziah as "the king," Isaiah sees the King. Uzziahs are mortal; the Lord is holy. A king dies, but the King continues to reign--and Isaiah's identity is not based upon a king; it is grounded in the King.

Move Three--The Challenge of the Text: Called to Worship

The world hasn't really changed all that much in 2,700 years, has it? Questions still seem to revolve around finding the right king to make life peaceful and prosperous, the right program to make us productive and fruitful, the right commercial to make products sell, the right style to make us get to the top. The focus continues to be what sells: What do I want, what do I need, what do I like, what suits my tastes, and what will make me happy? You would think that in 2,700 years we might figure it out, but over and over again, our Uzziahs die. Our programs falter; our commercials grow old; our styles run dry. We continue to look for the next Uzziah, hoping, dreaming, longing for the newest king, the latest fad, the brightest commercial.

As we mourn the death of Uzziah, as consumer confidence rises and falls, and programs come and go, and as many long for the next king, the next commercial, the next program, the Lord, as He has always been so faithful to do in His grace and mercy, appears. We don't create Him in our songs, our prayers, our sermons. He simply appears--the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

Could it be that in this season, just as in the season of Uzziah's death, God is looking for an Isaiah church--a church that understands that its identity is grounded not in kings, programs, and commercials but in worship. Could it be that when consumer confidence, even in the church, wanes, God is calling Isaiah-like communities who will not first look to a new Uzziah but who will look to the One who is seated on the throne, high and exalted? Could it be that when the dominant world around is basing its identity on consumer needs, wants, likes, and tastes, God is calling forth a community whose identity is based on Him?

Perhaps one the deepest needs the people of God have always had is to see God for who He is and to worship Him simply for who He is--the King, the Lord of Hosts! As we come to see Him as the One who is "holy, holy, holy," we indeed will come to see ourselves for who we are and how we are in all of our uncleanness. And we will be enabled to say with Isaiah, "I am a man of unclean lips" (v. 5), and in that confession we will know the gracious touch of the hot coals upon our lives and hear Him say, "Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" (v. 7). As we come to confess Him as the One who is "holy, holy, holy," we indeed will come to the deep awareness and conviction like Isaiah that will acknowledge, "I live among a people of unclean lips" (v. 5). As Kingdom people stand in His presence and hear Him declare, "Whom shall I send? And who will go . . . ?" we will respond to the King, "Here am I; send me!" (v. 8). Our deepest need is not to discover a new king, a new program, a new commercial. Our deepest need as the people of the King is to see the King! Recognizing that we are not consumers who seek a product but worshipers who seek the face of God, we come to recognize that in our worship of God we are shaped and that our identity as Kingdom people is restored. This is not the kingdom of Uzziah; it is the kingdom of the Lord of hosts. We are not consumers; we are worshipers.

Conclusion

On this Sabbath day, how are we to respond? In the midst of a world that promotes the consumer as the very center of society--where wants, desires, and tastes determine our every decision--how are we to respond? When the dominant world in which we live bombards us with "It's all about you" and "Have it your way," how are we to respond? On this day that we recognize this is not Uzziah's kingdom, it is God's; we are not consumers, but worshippers; it's not all about me, it's all about Him, how are we to respond?

When the King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, the One who is high and exalted appears, is there any other way to respond but to cry out in His presence with the seraphim--"Holy, holy, holy"? My friends, we were created for worship. We are shaped through worship. We acknowledge who the King is and who we are through worship. Today, we are called to worship! We are called to join our hearts and our voices with the hosts of heaven as they declare:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. . . . You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. . . . Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! . . . To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! . . . Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! . . . The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 4:8, 11; 5:11, 13; 7:12; 11:15).
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*Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.