“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!” Isaiah 6:5
I was a clean cut, and rather naive, 11-year-old the first time I saw Star Wars on the big screen, and I remember it well. My memories, however, do not revolve around the characters of Luke Skywalker or Han Solo; nor are the campy graphics of the Starfighter shooting at the Death Star foremost on my mind. Oh no. What I remember most about that day was the crowd that was waiting outside for the midnight movie to start.
As my dad and I were coming out of the 10 p.m. showing of Star Wars there was a long line of the strangest people you ever saw. Many of those in line were creepy men dressed like women, donning black lady’s undergarments, leggings and bright red lipstick. Others wore vampire make-up and most were just plain scary. I noticed they were smoking some very funny looking cigarettes as well.
I asked my dad, “What is wrong with those people?” He pointed to the movie marquee that flashed, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and he said, “They are dressing up like freaks because they are waiting to see that rotten movie.” I asked, “What is that movie about?” He looked at me and said, “Well Chris…(pause)…don’t worry about it…what I read about it is that it is loaded with a bunch of smutty trash. I can’t understand why parents would let their kids dress up like fools and stay up all night watching such filth?”
I never thought about that movie again until last Sunday as I was watching Detroit Lions football on Fox. An advertisement came on the television promoting a new remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again.” I did a little research on it and found out that it is a musical about a straight-laced couple who stumbles upon a transsexual transvestite conference in Transylvania. Sounds like a good one, doesn’t it? Apparently the producers of “High School Musical” wanted to revisit the “playful debauchery” that was featured in this perverted 1970’s cult classic. They even enlisted the squeaky clean Victorious Justice from Nickelodeon fame “Victorious” to play the coming of age character who happens upon the shameless queer conference.
The New York Time’s review of this remake says, “It is bone dry…used up…disappointing….and a chore.” However, in one telling line, the writer remarks, “It speaks to the cultural distance between 1975 and 2016: What’s shocking anymore, even if you’re pretending to be shocked?”
Great question: What’s shocking anymore?
A show that once was watched because it was an in your face, clenched-fist, declaration of late-night teen rebellion in the ’70s is now to be considered an acceptable story-line for prime-time family television viewing. Now that’s what I call progress! Don’t you think? There is nothing more American than a good old-fashioned transsexual transvestite musical?
Reminds me of our political climate: As we are getting ready in a matter of weeks to vote for our next President, we aren’t talking about real issues, we are talking about raunchy sex. Who cares if our budget is teeter-tottering over a cliff of bankruptcy, or ISIS is infiltrating our local suburbs, or Putin is snubbing his nose at our military – – what matters most to Americans is which candidate is less depraved. Or at least we seem to be voting for the person who is better at getting away with their perverted exploits.
In Isaiah 6, God was looking for someone to send to warn the world of his holiness. And when he came upon a man named Isaiah, Isaiah cried out, “Woe to me! I am ruined.” When he saw God he knew he was in trouble, so much so he expected to die. And here is why…
“For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.”
Isaiah’s self-assessment may be the best description of where our current culture finds itself. When we celebrate transsexuals and seemingly only have sexual predators to pick from for public office, something is desperately wrong. But what I think is even worse than that, most of us seem very comfortable talking about our candidate’s sick proclivities. We joke about it, and love getting our fill of all the harrowing details. We are swimming in filth.
I have also found, many of us who claim Christ have no problem wallowing in smut with the best of ’em. We can also laugh with the same snide cruel laugh of evil. We think laughing at adult humor is a sign you are an adult. Sorry, it is a sign you have a taste for sewage. Whatever happened to thinking about, “whatever is right, noble, beautiful, pure and true?” (Philippians 4:8)
In the late ’70s my dad could freely call the fans of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” fools and freaks. But no longer – – we are supposed to see this kind of behavior as courageous self-expression and proof of cultural progress. We have become like dogs in heat, living with only one thing on our mind, sex. How can that be dignified? Glorying in shame (Philippians 3:19) is supposed to be shameful…but not anymore.
If you continue to read Isaiah 6, in verses 6-7 a very strange thing happens. An angel is sent from heaven and he has a pair of tongs holding a live coal that came from the altar of God. It says he touched Isaiah’s mouth with it and he says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Atonement: That means what was once dirty, diseased and deserving of judgment has been made clean. And the person who was once unable to stand before God’s holiness can now live in peace before him. Maybe you have never seen God as Holy? Maybe you think he is just fine with your foolishness?
If you think he is, I have a very serious question that you must consider: “Why then did he allow his Son to die?”
In Revelation 18:5 an angel warns the people of earth that God and his Holiness is not to be trifled with, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities.” That is a pretty severe verse, especially the idea that the stench of sin is reaching God. How do you think our election smells these days?
So ask yourself, “What do you laugh at?” This will tell you a lot about how clean your lips really are.
