Howdy! And a quick note of gratitude to Luke who is our lead singer and rhythm
guitarist who is going to be getting married next week. So congratulations.
All right I'm looking for that better be some delicious cake okay I'm just
saying. All right but I wanted to talk with you all today a bit about our Isaiah
passage. Twenty years ago there was a Ukrainian election for president and
there were two people that were main candidates for this particular election.
One of them was a candidate who wanted Ukraine to be more closely tied to Russia
that they had originally been a part of and the other one wanted to be more
closely connected to the West US and NATO. The second candidate was named Victor
Yushchenko and after a conflicted election and the Supreme Court getting
involved and everything else is that Yushchenko ended up winning that
election but at the same time Yushchenko was also poisoned. It's debated whether
or not the poison might have been put into his soup that he was eating one
night for dinner but what it was was a dioxin and if you don't know what a
dioxin is it's what is in the San Jacinto Bay. It's the reason why you
cannot go fishing there because paper mill its pulp that's been there for
several decades has deposited dioxins in there for a while and it was only
recently getting cleaned up when the EPA forced them to do so. So the dioxin was
in his food and ended up becoming toxic into his body but what especially made
it obvious was not just his body trying to expel it in whichever way it could we
will leave that unspoken but also what was showing up on his face. His face
developed lesions, giant crags, wrinkles, pock marks all over and what was
happening was actually his body was trying its best to save his life because
it turned out that the skin on his face was being transformed into a different
kind of organ. His body in trying to fight the dioxin poisoning was actually
turning the skin on his face into a second liver. It was actually trying to
create another body part so that he could detoxify and his body could survive
and later he was finally able to get into a hospital when they discovered
what was happening and they were able to save his life but everything that was
happening inside of him became clear and obvious on the outside. Now the Russian
fact-finders claimed that the whole thing was fake news to blame Putin and
claiming it to be a cosmetics issue despite the fact that international
doctors and scientists confirmed it and studied it because it was giving an
easy answer to the Russian people so that they could ignore what was happening
right in front of them and that's where we want to look at the first of three
lessons that I want to make sure that we have realized from our lesson for today.
The first of these lessons is that what happens on the inside will reveal itself
on the outside. What happens on the inside reveals itself on the outside and I
need to talk a little bit about King Uzziah. Now in our Isaiah passage it
starts off by saying that King Uzziah had just died. Now if you're reading this
passage you probably just kind of skim past that part but it turns out that
that's actually important for understanding what was happening. See Uzziah's
father Amaziah they didn't have fun names like Chuck or Ted back then but
instead Amaziah his father he had been what was considered a good king exactly
but what you'll notice is that it would say not like his father David. Even though
Amaziah had been a king that typically did what God wanted it makes a note that
he was not like David. Why was that important? Because David didn't just do
things that on the outside seemed like what God wanted. David cared on the
inside what God wanted. He was a man after God's own heart. David would
genuinely repent when someone showed him that he had done something wrong. David
would genuinely go to God and ask what God wanted him to see and do on the inside
David cared but Amaziah didn't have the same heart. He was very prideful and went
to Israel in the north and he was from Judah and was trying to say hey let's
make treaties with each other and the king of Israel said you're kind of small
I don't really need you and they went to battle with each other and because of
Amaziah's pride he got captured and Jerusalem was ransacked by Israel and
to the point where Amaziah became so unpopular that assassins chased him to
Lekish and he had to spend years in exile before he was finally murdered and
while he was in exile his 16 year old son Uzziah also named Azariah became king
they had to be king together for it to be legal but Uzziah Azariah becomes king
and he ends up being like his father but it's important to remember that like his
father he also wasn't like David you see that's the thing about this is there's
another note that comes up when looking at the kings is that it says that they
did not take down the high places now you're gonna hear this a lot okay and I
want to make sure you understand what this is about you see even though I
Uzziah he had all these great building projects and did all this farming and
everything and he had a huge military it makes a note that he did not take down
the high places because all of these little altars existed all throughout the
land you may be wondering why was it such a big deal to not have other little
places to worship God all throughout the land why was that such a big deal why
did you have to go to Jerusalem well the reason is because in Jerusalem was
where the priests who had studied and knew how to proclaim God's presence who
knew what God wanted that's where they were at in all these other locations the
priests didn't actually know what God was expecting they came up with all sorts
of ideas and they might have all sorts of other practices in these other places
they might not be sacrificing the animals that God wanted or they might not
even be sacrificing animals at all sometimes even children or in these
places throughout the land is that they might sell their bodies in exchange for
a worship service or there might be times where they're not even at an altar
but instead are worshiping in front of a tree and to realize that all these
things going on throughout the whole land but why would the king not stop
those things because each one of these little altars was usually supported by
a wealthy or important person in the area and they might actually be making
money from it so instead of offending the wealthy influential people the king
might just leave it alone and let them do whatever they were going to do but
the problem for Uzziah is that he himself started acting the same way and
what we find out is that as much as he did so many things that would have been
pleasing to God then he comes to the temple and decides that he wants to
make the sacrifice himself so even though he was the government and that
there were the religious priests that were supposed to take care of this and
there was a separation between the two he wanted to cross over and he wanted to
do it himself he felt that he was important enough that he could walk into
the presence of God and make the sacrifice so God gave him leprosy
leprosy could mean any number of things but this was the serious kind where you
were no longer allowed to be in the presence of other people for the rest
of his life and see that's the thing about this is that that was the downfall
of Uzziah and so as Isaiah is talking that he has passed he now has to deal
with this question of Uzziah was not worthy to be in the presence of God and
now Isaiah has to see how could he be worthy in the presence of God so in
looking at this understanding it what we would then know is this question of
humility and trying to understand how it is that even though Uzziah had been
disgraced and wasn't even able to be buried with the other kings what was
going to happen for Isaiah or even more than that Judah as a whole you see Uzziah
was larger than life captured everybody's attention but he was brought
well so now asking the question what about the people but Isaiah also asking
what about himself but Isaiah knew something Isaiah knew who the true king
was the king ultimately was not Uzziah or his son Jotham or anybody else the
true king was God and so knowing that is Isaiah does not fall into the same
levels of pride and arrogance as Uzziah he's humble and he knows that he needs
to be humble in being in the presence of God and that's something to deal with is
that Isaiah began with repentance Isaiah began in a place of repentance see
instead of starting off with the idea of I am worthy with God Isaiah did the
opposite see Isaiah acknowledged his own unworthiness so in acknowledging his
unworthiness he was able to then go to God and what was God able to do God was
able to make him worthy but how what was needed and that's important to
realize is that the purification that Isaiah has to go through it wasn't easy
see that's the thing about when we are purified when God is working in our life
it is not easy it's not supposed to be but rather is to realize that oftentimes
it has to require pain it has to require time see the thing is is that
purification it's not easy but even being painful it may just take time to
get there but even more than looking at the repentance of Isaiah is instead
also asking what about the people what about the people themselves because
here's the thing is that Uzziah had been showing the people how to not follow God
a leader will show people by their character what they're meant to do and
Uzziah had shown them pride and arrogance so now what's going to happen to
the people of Judah when Uzziah has passed away and so I want to point out
a second point what is clearly and obviously established can still be
denied when we want to what is obvious can still be something that we deny just
because we want to see the thing is is that oftentimes we can ignore what's
right in front of us I have to tell you confess something back when I was in
California I was a pastor there a few years and I had been up in the balcony
and the organ there was up in the balcony as well and it had all the pipes
that were like around in a circle and there were these two little kids that
were there and and I saw one of my said hey you know there's a goblin in the
organ thank you that's that that's really the best response is a little bit of
laughter there oh pastors being silly but I'm like I'm in my 20s and you know
when you're in your 20s you know you don't know what you're doing but with it
though is to realize that I wanted to convince them so I kept saying no no no
look look look closer see there's a guy I'm looking right at him I can see the
goblin oh my goodness I swear I blame this on my dad I swear this must I must
have gotten it from him okay but I'm pointing and I'm pointing until one of
the kids says I think I see him and then I realized at that moment what I had
done and I went to his mother immediately and confessed what I had done in
the hopes that she would help her son to get back in touch with reality which
their pastor had just damaged for him because as much as I wish I could say I
didn't know that was a part of me that knew what I was doing but I was able to
convince him of something that should have been obvious that there was it
should have been obvious there's nothing in there but I was so convincing that
somehow he believed me but the thing is is that that's also what we sometimes do
with our passage in Isaiah see there's a part of it that makes it sound as if God
didn't want the people to confess as if there were people that he wanted to stay
stuck in their sins it sounds almost as if that there were people that God wanted
to never repent and never come to know now we know that that's not true because
God's word repeatedly shows times that he has made salvation for everybody and
that he keeps giving his word to everybody and it says he wants all to
come to know him and yet there are still so many churches and teachers that
will take this and keep saying no this is God predestining people for hell
that's what he wants and after a while we sometimes listen but when we see the
character of God we realize that there's more to this than that because in reality
is that stubborn people sometimes just don't listen when there's an easy way to
fix things you see that's the difficulty is that if God were to allow it to be
really easy and quick just make it so that Judah will say they're sorry change
things up and everything what are they gonna do they're gonna go right back to
it right away it's like oh yeah God that was bad oops sorry my bad and not
actually realize how bad it really is sometimes God has to let us wallow
in our stubbornness sometimes he has to let the consequences play out and just
let us get stuck in it because the real consequences have to actually be revealed
sometimes as much as he loves us he has to leave us in it and let us go through
the consequences of what we've been pursuing but Isaiah he knew he still
had to go and proclaim God's word could you imagine what that is that Isaiah
knows that the people are going to still be stubborn and are going to reject what
he says and he still has to go and tell them see that's the thing about this is
that we are oftentimes finding ourselves so hard-hearted but so does the world and
yet we're still meant to hear and proclaim God's word even when we know it
may fall on deaf ears but here's the thing and this is the third point I want
you to catch is that the process of recovery is long and hard but it's
necessary see Uzziah was blessed as a king all these things are going on but
the blessing distracted from what was happening in his heart the blessing
doesn't always reveal that we're actually right with God the blessing may be a
distraction and in reality is that sometimes God wants us to go through
the fire so we can actually come closer to him because as Uzziah as Isaiah had
the coal placed to his lips a coal a hot stone whatever it was it burned that
was what was needed that he could be God's person and that's the thing is
that the only way to deal with what was happening in Judah the fact that they
were worshiping in other ways it wasn't just to make it easy and fall back into
the same pattern of oh we're sorry God but let's do it again but he had to let
the poison damage the outside of their country and send them into exile
Yushenko it took many months years for him to recover but it had to take the
time to pull out the toxin and the outside it had to be damaged to help
what was happening on the inside and the truth be is that even at the times
whenever we wish that we could be blessed we sometimes have to just deal
with what's happening because that's the only way that we can actually get
better we may not always want to deal with what's actually happening on the
inside we may want to reject what is obvious we may want to be the Russian
fact-finder just trying to find an easy answer we may just want to protect
ourselves from what we really need see the only true way to be restored though
is for God to humble us and to let the pain do what he will because the
children of God they needed to be convicted we need to be convicted but
it doesn't mean we always respond but God continues to want to call us back to
himself and that's the thing about this is that even as the chemo may have to
damage the body it is ultimately the only way to kill the cancer inside and
God had to use a cross to kill his son and his son's body to save the souls of
all mankind and the thing is is that God may be doing something in your life
that he wished he'd stop but maybe it's needed so that we would come back to
trusting in him and to be willing to listen because repenting starts with us
even when it hurts so I don't know what God may be doing in your life and I
don't know how hard it may be and I may not know how long it's going to take or
even if you're still going downward before it's going to turn around but I do
know that God's grace is still there speaking and I do know that he wants us
to willingly trust him and let him break our hearts the same way he did for
David the same way he did for Isaiah so that we too can follow him in spirit as
well as in truth so may God use everything even and especially the painful
parts to bring us into his presence that he can cleanse us even as he has called
us to be his children out of love and out of grace may God be merciful now and
always Amen