"In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, an awesome AMEN!"

Isaiah 6:3–5 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  ⁴And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵And 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!”

          We are not to look at God in His full glory which is God in heaven.  If we did look at God we would not live.  In fact, Moses did not look at the face of God, rather Moses only saw the back of God.  Though Moses came down from the mountain with his face all a glow, he actually did not see the face of God.  You would have to be perfect as God to look at His face.

Exodus 33:20-23 ESV ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

          Isaiah a prophet chosen by God to be a messenger of His word, both law and gospel, saw himself in the light of our Lord and Savior.  What Isaiah saw himself as, was not a person who was worthy of God's calling.  Isaiah saw himself as lost and unclean, a sinner in need of a savior.

          Lost, what is it to be lost?  We could look at being lost as a person who needs to find their way to what is familiar, but that does not take us to where we belong.  We could compare this to a lost child that can't find their way back and needs someone to find them and lead them back to where they belong.  That actually would be more like it.  When we sin we are lost to God.  Like the song, "lost but now I'm found."

          Unclean, what is unclean? One who is lost in the wilderness after awhile is certainly unclean, as they have collected dirt trying to find their way back.  But that seems to be the problem, that is, when we try to find our way back we pick up dirt on our way, and sometimes not realizing that we have.  When we sin we are unclean and we are in need of cleansing.

Isaiah 6:6–7⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

          Yes, Isaiah realized he was lost and unclean and that he could not lead himself back to where he belongs or even make himself clean because the dirt he picked up while being lost was the sin in his heart.  Like us, Isaiah needed help being found and cleansed, and the only help that would work can only come from our Lord and Savior.

          1 Corinthians 3:13-15 ESV ¹³ each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

          Isaiah's sins were consumed by the coal that was taken from the cleansing fire of our Lord. (Baptism by fire)  Isaiah was cleansed and his reward is he is no longer lost but found.  Now that Isaiah is found and his sins atoned for his reward is eternal life and everlasting relationship with God.

          Jesus is that fired coal taken to be placed on our lips as we are baptized by the cleansing fire and lead by the Holy Spirit to confess Christ as our savior.  Christ atoned for our sins and through His resurrection we are no longer lost.  We are no longer lost, we are found to be the children of God, Yahweh.  And!  Being the children of God we have eternal life and everlasting relationship with our Lord.  And this is God speaking to us as we realize that we are indeed not lost to death but saved to life.  Through our joy and excitement we say...

Isaiah 6: 8-9 ⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

          Do you see?  Do you hear?  Do you now have faith?  Our Lord has saved us to be His forever and ever, Amen.  Wow! An awesome Amen!  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, an awesome AMEN!