Community Church Sermons

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 8, 2004

“Hot Lips”

Isaiah 6:1-13

 

Hot Lips! That’s the title of today’s sermon.

 

You might think we were talking about Hot Lips Houlihan, the shapely blond consort of Major Frank Burns in the hit TV series MASH. I still watch re-runs of MASH – one of my favorite shows of all time, with unforgettable characters – Hawkeye, Trapper John, Radar, Colonel Blake, Maxwell Klinger – and, of course, Hot Lips.

 

What a name! I suppose it was kind of a double entendre because Hot Lips evoked a kind of steamy sexuality that captured the hearts of young men all across America. And she expressed a lot of heat with her sharp tongue that always had something provocative to say.

 

Hot Lips!

 

You know, we have one of those in the Bible, too! In today’s reading, a young man named Isaiah is called to the prophetic ministry. And this is how it happens: Isaiah has a vision in which he sees the Lord! And what a fantastic vision it is – God’s glory filling the temple in Jerusalem, surrounded by many heavenly beings singing songs of praise! The Lord is so pure and beautiful and glorious that Isaiah becomes aware of his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of his nation. “Woe is me!” Isaiah moans, “I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips!” And in that moment of confession, one of the heavenly beings – a six-winged creature called a seraph – flies over to Isaiah carrying a burning coal.

 

The seraph reaches out with the red-hot ember…and touches Isaiah’s lips!

 

Ssssss! Hot lips!

 

It is a sign that Isaiah has been made clean, and that he has been given God’s word to speak to the people.

 

Hot lips! The Bible actually contains several “Hot Lips” stories! In fact, all the major prophets – Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah – were commissioned to the prophetic ministry when their LIPS were touched by God! Jeremiah 1:9: “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.” Hot lips! And Ezekiel 2:10: “…I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll…on both sides of it were written words of lament, mourning, and woe. And he said to me, ‘…eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.” Hot lips!

 

Our faith is full of hot lips!

 

You may remember that last week we discovered through the prophet Jeremiah that God knew us before the day we were born. God knows us completely and loves us completely. And that’s an important fact of our lives. But God’s knowing us doesn’t dwell there in the experience of simply being known. It is a knowing that also sees a purpose for our lives. So in Jeremiah 1 we read that, beyond God knowing Jeremiah, God also consecrates and appoints Jeremiah to an important job – he is to speak God’s Word to the people of Israel through the hot lips of faith! So is Isaiah! So also Ezekiel!

 

And so are you and I!

 

Now many of us are uncomfortable with the idea of talking about religion. We are taught from early ages that the two things we should never talk about in public are religion and politics. Not only that, but we all know some people in our lives who are obnoxious when they talk about faith, and we don’t want to become like them. Amen! Don’t become like them!

 

And yet, we are called as people and as a church to give voice to the Word of God. We would be unfaithful if we were to remain silent.

 

You see, there is danger in silence!

 

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the husband and wife who were having some problems at home. They had argued and now they were giving each other the silent treatment. Does that ever happen in your marriage? I see heads nodding! Well, this icy cold silence lasted all weekend long.

 

On Monday, the husband had an important appointment and had to be at the airport on time to catch a flight. However, he didn't want to be the first to break the silence. He was just too stubborn to do that. But he needed his wife's help to make sure he woke up on time. So, instead of speaking to her, he finally wrote a note, "Please wake me up at 5.00 a.m." Well, the next morning the man woke up, looked at the clock and discovered it was 9 o’clock! He completely missed his flight! He was furious! And he was about to hunt down his wife and read her the riot act for not waking him up. But then he noticed a piece of paper there on her side of the bed. He picked it up and read. In his wife’s handwriting it said, "Its 5.00 A.M., wake up!"

 

Silence can be dangerous!

 

In the days of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, dangerous things were happening in the life of Israel. If left unchecked, these things would be the undoing of the nation. The goodness of life under God would fall apart.

 

So God sends these hot-lipped prophets to give voice to God’s Word. And today, in the face of our world as it really is, God touches our lips, and sends us to give voice to the Word of God.

 

What do you suppose God wants to say to the world today?

 

Before you answer that, I need to tell you something important about the prophets. In the Bible, prophets are not sent to the world in general. Prophets are sent to speak to the people of God. The concern of the prophets is never the world of sinners and unbelievers “out there”. The concern of the prophets is always the unfaithfulness of the people of God “in here”. Prophets are always sent to the Church!

 

What do you suppose God wants to say to the Church today?

 

I think one prophetic word for the church today is this: “Change, or die.”

 

Now that may sound pretty bleak. So let me put it a better way: “Change, and live!”

 

Brian McLaren writes of a friend who recently visited China. This is the scene the friend describes which, in many ways, describes the world in which we live: “a busy city, bustling cars, whirring bicycle wheels. Slowly down the street rumbles a single oxcart full of produce, led by an old man in a standard navyblue cotton jacket. The man reaches into his jacket and pulls out…a cell phone!”

 

Welcome to the 21^st century!

 

McLaren observes that under our feet, the earth is moving. Literally. The continents upon which we live are sliding around on large fractured plates of the earth’s inner crust, and every once in awhile, at the edges where two plates meet, enormous pressures build up that bring visible movement and shaking that we call earthquakes. Well, in a similar way, human history moves, and today, we are living at the edge of a human earthquake. The world as we know it is changing. And if you are a Christian of any kind – or even if you’re not a Christian – you realize that this earthquake is shaking the Church. And the dilemma we face is this: on the one hand the world is crying out for God, and yet, on the other, organized religions – including Christianity – have lost the power to satisfy this spiritual hunger. The Church has become either ingrown, tired, petty, crotchety and out of touch – or it has become manic, wild-eyed and lunatic.

 

So here we are, in this brave new world, and we’re not sure how to face it. Some Christians believe that the way to survive in the new world is by denying it exists and trying to re-create the world of the 1950’s, or – more commonly – the world of the late 1800’s. Some churches are thriving today by creating time warps where the past is preserved so folks can hide from the realities of the present day. And people flock to them! Some of the most superficially successful churches we see, are churches that are trying to get back to a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

 

But there is another way, a better way. Some churches today have decided to move with the change into the new world, transforming themselves along the way into churches who minister Jesus Christ to the people who live in this new world. They have heard a prophetic word: if you have a new world, you need a new Church!

 

Well, we have a new world!

 

The new churches that are emerging on the other side of all this social change are churches that have some important characteristics. Let me share a few of them with you. One is that they are communities that focus on helping people find a living relationship with the living God.

 

I remember when I was 16-years old and about to get my driver’s license. I had to go down to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to take the written test, and as I walked several city blocks to the office, I happened to pass by a big stone Episcopal Church. Now I don’t know what it was that day – whether I was overwhelmed by the idea that I would soon be behind the wheel of a lethal weapon, or if I was just going through one of those lonely times in life. Whatever it was, I found myself drawn to the open door of that church’s chapel.

 

It was just a little place, dark and mysterious. But it had the feel of the sacred. I went inside and slipped into a seat. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed a number of other people there, either sitting or kneeling. There was an older lady wearing a black hat and a veil. There was a scruffy-looking street person. There was a well-dressed businessman. There was a guy wearing mechanics overalls, looking like he might be on his lunch break. And there was me.

 

Not a word was spoken between us. Each one was focused on the altar and the cross. Each had our own reason for being there.

 

But we were all looking for God.

 

That experience has become a parable for me. You see, up and down that street, there are many churches, but only that one was open. Perhaps the other churches didn’t know that walking along the street that day would be people who really needed an encounter with the living God.

 

On Christmas Eve, we had huge crowds here at Tellico. Multitudes were here to celebrate the holiday and gather with families. As Sandy and I stood and greeted people at the door, a young woman came by. She had tears in her eyes. She said, “I’ve never been moved by a church service like I was moved tonight!”

 

I wonder if there were others here that night who stopped by our “chapel” in search of the living God.

 

The Church on the other side of this monumental change must be a church that recognizes the deep spiritual yearning of human beings. It must take very seriously the mission of helping people find God in the midst of this changing world.

 

A second characteristic of this Church on the other side is that it has to embrace faith not as a way of KNOWING, but as a way of LEARNING.

 

The Church must be a safe place where people can freely explore the world of God.

 

I think the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had in ministry are those of being with groups of people who are given the freedom to ask questions, express doubts, offer opinions, and boldly explore the world of faith. It is not always a comfortable thing to experience, but its tremendously rewarding.  I would much rather be with a group of strugglers having a hard time getting their arms around the God-thing than with a group of people who already have God by the scruff of the neck! Why? Because the doubters learn! The strugglers find! The questioners discover wonderful things! And faith grows!

 

The Church does not always welcome people who think, and doubt, and ask questions. BUT GOD DOES!

 

In the months ahead, we’re going to provide some more opportunities for people to get together and just talk. Talk about God. About life. About what we believe. And what we don’t. God loves thoughtful people, and the Church has to carve out spaces where people can be free to explore. You know, when I was a kid, I somehow came to believe that if you ever asked a question, expressed a doubt, or just plain got ticked off with God, you’d get struck down by a lightning bolt. Well, I’m here to tell you today it’s not true!

 

God intends the Church to be a safe place where people can freely think and explore the world of faith.

 

And then one more characteristic of this church on the other side.

 

It has to stop trying to be Amazon.com, and start being a storefront mission again.

 

What do I mean by that? Well, so often in the church today, we seem to have become sort of like a big web site. Surf over to the church, and find any product you need to improve your life. Books, tapes, videos, sermons about how you can be a successful person. Groups, activities, programs, retreats – all sorts of things designed to help you and your family have a really great life. The Church in so many ways tries to mimic the secular consumer culture all around us. We are no longer content for the church to be the Church. Instead, we want it to be a religious version of something like Wal-Mart – a big full-service establishment where we are the customers and the church is nothing more than a warehouse full of products that will make our lives better. Isn’t it interesting that, when we describe our own wanderings from church to church, we often use the term “Church shopping”?

 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it can’t remain that way if the Church is to survive through the 21^st century.

 

I was touched recently to read the mission statement of a relatively new experimental church called Solomon’s Porch. It’s located up in Minneapolis, and this is what the mission statement says:

 

“Our belief is that God intends Christianity be a way of life which sends us into the world to serve God and our neighbors, so that God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. The church is never to be the withdrawn or isolated end user of the gospel of Jesus; rather, we receive it so that we may be equipped and sent into the world to love our neighbors and serve "the least of these." In this sense, Solomon's Porch doesn't have a mission; it is mission.”

 

If you are coming to our church to get something for yourself, you can probably get more somewhere else. But if you’ve come here because you sense some claim on your life to be God’s partner in bringing Christ’s love to people in this changing world, then you’ve come to the right place!

 

Over and over again in the books of the prophets, the Church is warned that if it forgets the widows, orphans and immigrants among them, the Church will die. All around us in this changing world are vulnerable people who are being left behind as the rich get richer and the strong get stronger. And there is no one to advocate for them…except GOD…

 

…and those who are willing to give voice to God’s concern for the poor.

 

Can we be such a voice?

 

I’m wondering today if we have some hot-lipped people here today. Some Isaiah’s, and Jeremiah’s, and Ezekiel’s – people who are willing to let God touch their lips with the red hot coals of God’s Word, and speak to the Church today.

 

We have a new world. We need a new Church.

 

It’s time to step into the future!