In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I 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!” (Isaiah 6:1-5 ESV)
Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and I have come to find myself in the presence of the Lord… I have seen God and now I must die…
What other way is there for me to continue? To look upon the face of God means death. When God passed by Moses for him to see God, Moses had to see the back side of God. Even Moses who spent time with God on the mountain did not see God’s face… So Isaiah has looked upon the face of God, and so have we…
“When did I look upon the face of God?” you might be asking yourself or me…
This morning when you looked in the mirror, when you looked at the faces of your children (I know sometime you wonder about this but it is true!), when you looked at your spouse, the stranger that cut you off in traffic, who have you seen today? Upon looking at the face of another you are looking upon a child of God, one who is inhabited by the Holy Spirit and is the dwelling place of God, and is therefore the face of God. So you have seen the face of God and therefore you must die…
Thankfully through, as Isaiah discovers, that may not be the case… Isaiah in the following verses is cleansed, and so are we. The one who makes us the face of God is the one who allows us to see the face of God and live, Jesus, cleansed you and made you able to stand before God!
So go and be the face of God to the world, just remember later when you are cut off in traffic or pushed out of place at the coffee shop, that is also one who bears the face of God…
aSacredRebel 