Then
one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had
taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold,
this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
(Isaiah 6:6-7 ESV)
George Whitefield, the 18th
century itinerant preacher and evangelist was once recorded telling this – “I’ll tell you a
story. The Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 was acquainted with Mr.
Butterton the [actor]. One day the Archbishop . . . said to Butterton . . .
‘pray inform me Mr. Butterton, what is the reason you actors on stage can
affect your congregations with speaking of things imaginary, as if they were
real, while we in church speak of things real, which our congregations only receive
as if they were imaginary?’ ‘Why my Lord,’ says Butterton, ‘the reason is very
plain. We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and
you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.’” It’s amazing to me that a story from hundreds of years
ago can still be so relevant today. We walk around questioning the authenticity
of people’s stories including our own because as we examine our lives and those
around us we aren’t convinced by what we see. While the Christian confession
may be leaving our lips, the heartfelt conviction in our hearts and lives don’t
seem to line up. We aren’t good actors. We seem to be speaking and living as if
the real things of the gospel are just imaginary.
From the
moment of our conversion there is an understanding of 3 different things – the
holiness of God, the sinfulness of our hearts, and the work of Jesus on the
cross to bridge that gap. As we grow in Christ all of these pieces should be growing
in our hearts. A greater understanding of the holiness of God should lead us to
a greater understanding of our sin, which should expand the gap the cross of
Christ spans. This leads us to pursue this God who has loved us so greatly, and
in our pursuit of Him we discover more of His holiness and so the process above
continues. Our understanding of the gospel should be ever increasing, and so
our lives should be ever increasing in thanksgiving and praise to a God who
saved us. The gospel should be enhancing the reality in which we, and those
around us, live, but for many it still seems imaginary.
In his
study, The Gospel-Centered Life, Bob Thune gives some insight into why
it seems imaginary sometimes. He says that often times we either try to pretend
or perform. As we grow in our understanding of the gospel we are given the most
realistic picture of our sinfulness, and so rather than let people see that we
are unbelievably broken we pretend
that everything is good. We pretend that we have it all together. Our growth in
the gospel also leads us to see God’s holiness, but instead of seeing it as
something that has been given to us through Jesus, we change it into standard
God has set for us to reach through our own performance.
Thune says we end up, “living life on a treadmill, trying to gain God’s favor
by living up to His expectations (or our mistaken view of them).” But all of
this acting drastically shrinks the cross.
When we try
to pretend we have it all together, we are trying to make everyone think that
you aren’t as sinful as you actually are, and when you try to perform for God
you minimize the holiness of God by thinking that you can impress Him with your
“right living.” Either way you shrink the gap that the cross must cover to make
you acceptable in the sight of God. No wonder the world and everyone around us
often thinks that what we believe is imaginary. The story we are trying to sell
and act for them is! When in reality we are actually more sinful than we could
ever imagine, but we are also more loved than we could ever dream.
As we come
to Isaiah in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 6 we don’t find a man who is pretending
that he has it all together or who is trying to perform to show his
righteousness. What we find is a man who is at this moment fully aware of the
holiness of his God and his utter sinfulness before Him, and that is what makes
these verses so beautiful. The reality is that at this moment Isaiah should
have been utterly wiped from the face of the earth before such a just and
righteous God, but instead our God is a merciful and gracious God who atones
for Isaiah’s sin. God’s angel goes to the altar, the place of sacrifice, and
takes from it this holy coal to touch Isaiah and so show him that his sins were
atoned for. He was forgiven.
As
Christians, we have come face to face with the reality of the holiness of our
great God and our woeful sinfulness, but like Isaiah we don’t face wrath for
our sin. Instead we get atonement. The holy coal from the altar did not harm
Isaiah but it healed him. In the same way, from the sacrifice of Jesus at the altar
of God, the Holy Spirit has come and touched our hearts and healed us. How
amazing! How incredible! We have been forgiven. We have been shown love, grace,
and mercy. Our sins have been atoned for!
Our story
and our lives as Christians should be the most real and convincing story around
and every Sunday should be a new climax in that story as the wonder and beauty
of the gospel continues to increase. We gather every week to proclaim and
praise the excellences and mercies of our God because we no longer have to
pretend or perform. The gospel has come to remove the mask not to put it on.
Sunday should be the most real of days as we and all of our brothers and
sisters gather around us with no acting or façade, but rather authentic
adoration and praise for the God who has saved us all. We don’t have to
convince anyone of our greatness;
instead we get to invite everyone to behold His.
Stop pretending. Stop performing, and instead come and praise!
