The Year That King Uzziah Died

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

“In the year that King Uzziah died.”

What did it mean to the people of ancient Israel, or of any ancient kingdom, when their king died?

-         Queen Elizabeth II

-         King George VI (died February 6, 1952)

-         Minority Government 2006, 2008

-         First ever NDP as official opposition

-         9/11

Put all of that together and you might get close to being able to imagine the year that King Uzziah died.  Everything that gave their world stability was gone.  Not only was the king dead, but for some time before he died, he was isolated because of a serious illness said to be punishment by God for his pride.  So the people were left in limbo, in a time of extreme uncertainty as their king lay dying and out of favour with God.

In the middle of all of this confusion, Isaiah saw a vision.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Does this sound familiar?

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

These words, adapted from Isaiah’s vision, are the oldest part of the liturgy that we use every Sunday.  They were first used as early as the first century and they were being used as part of the Eucharist as early as the sixth century.

When we say these words we are transported into the throne room of God’s presence as the divisions created by time and space crumble away and as the false divisions of our human brokenness as the church are transcended. These words thus act as a symbol of our unity as God’s people and with all those divine and earthly who offer praise to God.

They are words not only of praise but of hope. Hope in the unity that we long for and hope that in the face of whatever we might be experiencing God is being worshipped and adored.

These words should remind us that whatever the event occurring, the death of King Uzziah, war, terrorism, economic meltdown, ecological crises, the death of someone we love, the terminal prognosis, the anxiety and depression that afflicts us, or whatever trial we may be experiencing God is being praised and is worthy of such praise.

So Isaiah says: “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.”

As human beings our lives appear to be plagued by many problems, some or most of which we make for ourselves.  Exposed in the light of God’s glory we confess that we are an imperfect people who need God’s help and the good news is that God offers us such help.

For Isaiah it comes in the form of a burning coal borne by angel’s wings and touched upon his lips but ultimately it comes to whole world as it is born from above.

The good news found in the story from the Gospel of John is that God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but in order that it might be saved through him.

It is God’s work to transform us, by sending the Son and the Spirit to renew us in our relationships as people with one another and with God.

As Jesus points out to Nicodemus believing in Jesus because he does cool miracles is not enough, in fact believing in Jesus for any reason is not enough!  It is the work of God’s Spirit giving birth to us from above that transforms who we are into who we are made and called to be as people.

When we baptize someone, it is not just about giving them a personal connection with God.  Every time someone is baptized, God sends Christ into the world all over again so that everyone can be saved through him and share in God’s love.

Can anyone tell me what a paradox is?  (Two or more contradictory things that are true at the same time)

The paradox of our Christian existence is that while we are born from above, while signs of the kingdom do break in, while we do with one voice praise God with the sanctus, we live in the tension of still having unclean lips.  We harm one another, in pride we compete for power and position, we neglect the cry of our brothers and sisters who do not even have the basic necessities of life.  We carry a message of love and hope yet struggle to be all that we are called to be, even to those whom we love most dearly.

We are the world for whom Christ died; we have been saved, we have been made whole.  We are constantly being renewed by his love as we continue to enter his presence to have our lips touch by the burning coal and like Isaiah, like Nicodemus, we are given an opportunity to respond, saying ‘Here I am send me’, even when the message we carry is a difficult one to understand, live by and proclaim to a world that wants to ignore it.

(Adapted from Peter Lockhart, http://revplockhart.blogspot.ca/2012/05/year-king-uzziah-died.html)