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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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We are riding this wave of 500th anniversaries.

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Of course, it all started in 2017,

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when we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation

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itself.

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Then in 2021, we were celebrating

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the 500th anniversary of Worms.

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Then shortly thereafter, we were celebrating

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the 500th anniversary of Luther's translation

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of the New Testament into German.

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We've got more coming down the pike, obviously.

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We're going to be in a few years.

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In 2029, we'll be celebrating the 500th anniversary

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of the Catechism.

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Then a year later, it will be the presentation

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of the Augsburg Confession.

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Now, those are not a surprise in the least.

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Of course, we're going to celebrate those.

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I suggest that we integrate a few more celebrations that

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maybe aren't quite as apparent.

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For example, I have in mind a specific incident

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that involves a member of the Radical Reformation.

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This one was specifically an Amsterdam Anabaptist,

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who upon reading Isaiah chapter 6,

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was convinced that the Lord would do for him

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what he had done for Isaiah.

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So he used some tongs to get a burning coal

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and placed it to his lips.

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And it would be more than two weeks

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before he would be preaching again.

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Now, I appreciate this account for a couple of reasons.

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Number one is it's a good reminder

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about the difference between a descriptive text

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and a prescriptive text.

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Isaiah 6 here is describing what the Lord did specifically

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for Isaiah.

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It is not prescribing how he's going to cleanse our lips.

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But the second reason I appreciate it

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is this, that Radical Reformer got something very right.

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The most prominent part of a prophet is his lips.

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Through the lips of Isaiah would pass the very word of Yahweh.

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Now, how glorious is that?

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Because the grass is going to wither,

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the flower is going to fade, but the word of Yahweh

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that passes through Isaiah's lips will stand forever.

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And notice what it will even do for Isaiah.

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It is such a glorious and beautiful word

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that it will make Isaiah's feet beautiful.

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How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of him

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who proclaims good news, who says, your God reigns.

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The beautiful words coming out of the lips

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make the lips beautiful and down to the feet

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and everything in between.

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And it's not only that it makes them beautiful,

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that Word does stuff.

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After all, it's not going to return to the Lord void,

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but it will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it

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just as the snow comes down and waters the earth.

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That's also a bit troubling.

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Because though Isaiah's lips are going

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to deliver the word of Yahweh, if we

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would continue our reading a little bit further,

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the very next thing we'd be hearing

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is the Lord telling Isaiah that you're going to go to a people,

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you're going to deliver my word, and though they hear my word,

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they will not understand it.

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Now, how frustrating is that?

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You speak the word of the Lord and people don't get it.

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They don't respond.

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And then the natural question becomes,

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what is wrong with my lips?

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The problem isn't the word of the Lord.

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It must be my lips that aren't getting it right.

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As distressing as that's going to be for Isaiah,

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even more troubling for him is the discrepancy

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between his lips and the words that come forth from them.

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He's given to proclaim the pure word of Yahweh,

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and yet what does he know?

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Woe is me, for I am undone because I

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am a man of unclean lips and I am

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among a people of unclean lips.

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And so are we.

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There is a stark contrast between how the seraphim

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handled the name of the Lord and how

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it's treated by those among whom we live.

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Kedosh, Kedosh, Kedosh, Yahweh, Sabaoth, holy, holy, holy,

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Yahweh, Sabaoth.

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His name is holy, saturated in goodness and in beauty.

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And then your ears are stained by those

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who treat it as profane, dripping in evil and ugliness.

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So how do you respond when the name that is above all names

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is used as an expletive?

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Yara Zavida has taught me that one of the best things you

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can do is just simply pause and reverence the name,

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even when it's being treated as unholy,

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because it is holy in and of itself.

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My wife will simply ask, do you kiss your mother

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with those lips?

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It is a poverty, but it's not surprising to hear the name

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mishandled in our age.

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The far greater poverty is what we, who name Jesus as Lord,

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what we do with our lips.

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Now, we've been formed so that our lips are not

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going to treat his name as a throwaway word.

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We will treat it with the gravity that it bears.

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But then the name of a brother or sister in Christ

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will pass through our lips as if passing through daggers.

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The issue is not that we disagree with one another

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and that we will debate with one another over whatever

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it may be.

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The trouble is the ad hominem attack

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that sullies the name of one who bears the name of Christ,

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rather than engaging in a thoughtful discussion

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about the issue at hand.

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That is our corporate shame.

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Woe is me, for I am among a people of unclean lips.

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And the shame isn't just corporate.

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It's personal and individual.

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I am a man of unclean lips.

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Now, I believe in the importance of a pastor knowing

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when he ought to be quiet, and that

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includes in the midst of the divine service at times.

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The pastor needs to silence his lips

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so that the congregation has a voice.

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For example, when pastor delivers the collect,

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it's then good for him to silence his lips

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so that the congregation gets their amen,

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by which they take ownership of the prayer.

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But there is one point always in the liturgy where Kevin's voice

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is loud and distinct.

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The pastoral office, after all, is holy,

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but Kevin has unclean lips.

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So his voice is distinct during the confession.

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There is that, again, that worrisome discrepancy

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that faced Isaiah.

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How can these unclean lips be used by the Lord

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to deliver his pure word?

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My lips need to be burned clean, and there is not

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a burning coal up to the task.

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But the Word of Yahweh is up to the task.

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For Isaiah, Yahweh attached his word of absolution

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specifically to a burning coal.

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For me, for you, he delivers his word of absolution

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directly into our ears through the pastor.

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LSB 292, the rite of private confession and absolution,

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includes this glorious exchange between pastor and penitent.

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Do you believe that my forgiveness

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is God's forgiveness?

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Yes.

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Let it be done for you as you believe.

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In this stead and by the command of my Lord and Savior Jesus

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Christ, I forgive you all your sin.

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

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and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

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And so lips are cleansed.

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Feet are made beautiful and everything between them.

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No more shame.

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Only the honor of lips that are made worthy to join with angels

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and archangels and the whole company of heaven

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in proclaiming, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Yahweh, sabaoth.

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Holy, holy, holy, Yahweh, sabaoth.

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All because the word of Yahweh does not return to him void.

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It accomplishes exactly what he sent it out to do.

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From the lips to the heart and on to the rest of your members,

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His Word cleanses you.

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Lips cleansed and hallowed to proclaim the good news

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that your God reigns.

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Reigning with words of honor and not of shame.

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Words that pour forth from Him to you

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and then on to one another.

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Lips cleansed and hallowed to deliver balm to a brother

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or sister whose name has been wounded.

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Oh, Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son

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and of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.