¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

  ²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

  ²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

  ²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

I miss Batman: The Animated Series.

That show rocked!

Now, think back to the early 1990's.  Tim Burton had just released his live action rendition of Batman in theaters.  I wasn't exactly a huge fan of the Burton movies, but they did at least try to take the Dark Knight aspect of Batman's character seriously, unlike the old Adam West show I grew up with.  He was a complex character, driven by an overwhelming sense of duty and a desire for vengeance, not some campy Caped Crusader with a utility belt with a Bat Alphabet Soup Container.

But I couldn't help but sneer at the second Burton movie.  Mostly because, where his first movie was a few steps in the right direction, the second one seemed to me a few steps backwards.  For one thing, he took two of Batman's oldest and most well known foes - Cat Woman and the Penguin - and did strange things with them.  How do I describe it?  You know how in some movies or works of literature, the author might take something mystical and mysterious and explain it too much, so that it is no longer weird and mystical anymore (yeah, I'm looking at you, George Lucas!)?  Here, Burton did the opposite.  From what I remember, Cat Woman was just an ordinary burglar, incredibly skilled and with a prevailing cat motif, but still an ordinary woman.  And the Penguin was just an incredibly charismatic and intelligent criminal mastermind, who went with more of a high-class style and something of a bird motif, but still just an ordinary man.  What does Burton do with them?  Cat Woman was a secretary who dies and is resurrected by cats, and the Penguin is a mutant who lives in the sewers and controls birds with his mind.  Ooookaaaay!  :S

The point is, in my mind, even though Burton seemed to try to push the Batman franchise into a more serious direction, it still had that camp that I remembered from the 1960's Adam West show and the 1970's cartoon shows (which includes not only the Batman and Robin show, but also The Super Friends and Scooby Doo).

Then along came the Animated Series.  And of course, at first, I sneered at it, too.  If I wasn't that keen on the Burton movies, what would possibly appeal to me about this version presented in yet another kids' cartoon?

Boy, was I in for a surprise!

This show was amazing!  Basically, it took Burton's work and perfected it.  The show was dark, and its imagery definitely inspired by the visuals from the Burton movies (even the Penguin's deformed character design).  Gotham City was in fact just that:  GOTHIC!  While it takes many of its visual queues from the movies, its animation style was quite unique: the best way to describe it would be 1940's retro.  It doesn't try overly hard to be realistic, but rather adopts its own unique visual feel, so to speak.  This, of course, was before most kids' action cartoons started trying to copy Japanese manga style animation.

And the titular character himself?  No more reliance on Bat Alphabet Soup Containers and Bat Shark Repellent and Bat Dry Martini Stirrers.  This Batman was just one butt-kicking machine!  True, he did occasionally resort to some simplified gadgetry - like his famous grappling hook gun - but he relied on his strength, fighting skills, and intelligence to get the job done.  And when he threw a punch, villains hit the ground, without all the brightly colored words flying out the TV screen.  He kicked butt, and that's all there was to it.

And what's more, this show had some excellent writing.  Very few of the stories weren't highly engaging to the viewer.  Just let me see if I can sum up some of my favorite and most memorable episodes:

In one, Batman needs the help of one particular gangster to bring down one of Gotham's biggest crime lords.  But to convince this gangster to help him, he has to confront him with the effects of his sins and help him to find redemption.  The climax of the story is when he takes him to see his brother, a priest who lost his leg trying to save his wayward brother when they were little boys.  I know, my brief summary doesn't do justice to the sheer emotional scope of the episode, but it is one well worth watching.  In the end, the gangster learns that the best things in life can't be gotten by power, money, strength, or intimidation, but often take true courage and sacrifice to obtain.

In another favorite episode, Bruce Wayne finds himself living a perfect life.  His parents never died, and his life is going very well (though for some odd reason he seems to have trouble reading).  Strangely enough, there does seem to be a Batman - a different character - terrorizing Gotham's underworld.  Bruce finds himself having to confront this Batman in order to find out who he is and what is wrong with the world around him.

And of course, I can't leave out one of the greatest Batman movies ever made:  The Mask of the Phantasm.

Using the same style of animation and writing as the series, this movie in my mind stands out well beyond the live action movies, especially when you consider how badly Joel Shumacher began to mess them up in later years.  This movie was something of a retelling of Batman's origins - how he discovered the caves beneath his family mansion which would become his secret lair, how he decided to use the image of the bat to terrify criminals, and how he finally decided to don the mask that would forever strike fear into the hearts of the Gotham underworld - all while exploring his inner conflicts - his desire for happiness versus his sense of duty to fight crime.  But that's not all:  it also tells the story of another masked vigilante, who was inspired by Batman, and who now is killing off Gotham's most notorious criminals one by one.  On account of mistaken identity - as well as some intrigue within the Gotham government - Batman, who had always been considered a loose cannon vigilante, is declared a full-blown criminal fugitive and is hunted by the police.  But as if that weren't enough, the Joker is also after him for killing some of his business partners.  All these numerous forces clash - Batman, the police, the Gotham city council, the mysterious masked vigilante, the Gotham cirminal underworld, and the Joker, not to mention Bruce Wayne's personal life - creating an extremely intense and intriguing plot that finally culminates in a three-way showdown between the self-proclaimed Angel of Death, the Joker, and Batman.  And just who is this Angel of Death, you ask?  All I'll say is that the Joker figures it out.

When this movie came out, I didn't expect much from it.  But wow!  This Joker is so psychotic and devious, he makes the Jack Nicholson portrayal in the Burton film seem tame by comparison (though Heath Ledger does give him a run for his money).  And Mark Hamill - that's right, Luke Skywalker - does a brilliant job of voicing him.  And the Angel of Death himself: he's dark, creepy, and bent on destroying the Gotham City underworld.

If you have never seen this film, THEN WHAT THE CRAP IS WRONG WITH YOU??  Go buy it now!

Anyway, Batman: the Animated Series shows what a good action cartoon can be when good writers and artists take their work seriously, instead of just slopping stuff together for the kiddies.  If only more American animation studios worked this hard to produce good shows for both kids and adults.  It just goes to show, the Japanese don't have a monopoly on mature, engaging, and artistically great action cartoons.
 

Text:  Isaiah 6:1-8

Title:  Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts

It was the year that King Uzziah died.  By earthly standards, Uzziah was a pretty decent king.  His military build-up helped to drastically improve Judah’s homeland security, and his policies helped to boost the national economy.  All of this made him a fairly likeable king.

He did make one fatal mistake, though.  He wanted to play priest.  So one day, he decided to bust into the temple in an attempt to burn incense at the altar of God, something that only priests were authorized to do.  For punishment, he was struck with leprosy, all for attempting to usurp the priestly office.

But now, the king had died.  This great and mighty lord of the land was no more.  And in the midst of the grief and sorrow, the Lord God gives His prophet Isaiah a vision of Himself, to show who is really in charge.  The king of Judah may be gone, but the King of Heaven and Earth was still on His throne.  Earthly kings may live and die, and earthly kingdoms may rise and fall, but the Lord of the Universe reigns over all forever and ever.

Isaiah sees this grand vision of the glory of the Lord.  He sees Lord YHWH seated high upon His throne, with His magnificent robe filling the temple.  Around this throne flew these glorious creatures of fire, the Seraphim, covering their faces with their wings, bowing before the Lord and praising Him, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts!  Heaven and earth are full of His glory!”  What a grand and glorious vision it must have been!

Tell me, what do you think it would be like to see such a sight?  Would you want to be standing in Isaiah’s shoes at that moment, to catch a glimpse of God’s wondrous glory?  How do you think you would feel if you were standing there right now?

I can tell you how Isaiah felt:  he was terrified!  And I can’t say I blame him, either!  Just look at what was happening around him!  The foundations of the earth were shaking.  The temple was filling with smoke and fire.  And around the throne, those magnificent fiery creatures of immense grace, even they couldn’t look directly at the sight before them, but hid their faces from the Lord’s presence.

People today like to think that they want to see God’s glory, but that’s because they think of God’s glory as something light and fluffy, like rainbows and fairies, unicorns and pink puppies, and tinkly harp music; not earthquakes, smoke, and fiery monsters; and not the big booming voice that shook the very temple to its foundations.

Let me make this clear:  you do not want to see God in His full glory.  It would destroy you.  Even the Seraphim dared not look directly upon Him.  His brightness was like the sun.  Everyone likes the sun, right?  Especially on cool wintry days, or wet rainy days, or in the darkest depths of night.  But what about in the middle of July?  Or in the middle of a desert?  Or on the planet Mercury?  I bet you wouldn’t like the sun too much there.  So it is with the presence of God:  unmediated, it is too intense for us to bear, as Isaiah fully knows.

Notice:  this is YHWH Sabaoth, the God of Armies.  This is the Lord as a mighty warrior, clad in his shining armor, holding his gleaming shield, armed with his mighty sword, come to do battle against His enemies.  And why has He come to Isaiah?  To declare war.

You know, there seem to be lots of hymns based on this text, a couple of them in our hymnal.  Most of them seem to be very missional: God setting apart someone to proclaim His mercy and grace.  And they’re all wonderful songs.  Too bad they all get it dead wrong.  God is not sending Isaiah to declare His mercy and love; He’s sending Isaiah to declare war on these obstinate, stiff-necked people who have dishonored His name.  Just listen to what General YWHW, Commander of the Heavenly Armies has to say:

“Go, and say to this people:  “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes;  lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,  and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Then Isaiah said, “How long, O Lord?”  And he said:  “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.”  The holy seed is its stump.

Wow.  I bet you won’t hear that text preached at an ordination service.

But at seeing all this – the fire and smoke, the earthquake, these terrifying creatures of fire, and the thrice-holy Lord of Armies seated upon His throne, how did Isaiah react?  He fell on his face and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am lost!”  Or to use modern language, “Uh oh!  I’m dead meat!”  Isaiah knew that, as a sinner, there was no way he could stand a chance in the presence of this thrice-holy God.  So he falls on his face and confesses his sin:  “I am a man of unclean lips, among a people of unclean lips.”  He knew he was a sinner, and he did the only thing a sinner can do – the only thing any of us can do – when confronted with the glory of holy God:  fall on your knees and repent.  Confess your sins before Him and beg for forgiveness.  “Woe is me, for I am undone!  I am a man of unclean lips!”

But then, something amazing happens.  One of those burning creatures approaches.  In his hand, he carries a burning coal from the altar.  With it, he touches Isaiah’s lips and says, “Behold, this has touched your lips.  Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

What have we just seen?  Confession and absolution.  We saw this very drama play out before our eyes just a few minutes ago.  When we came into this holy place and confessed our sin before God our Father, He heard our confession and took away our guilt.  As the Scriptures say, “If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

But how is it that Isaiah’s sins are forgiven and his guilt cleansed?  How are our sins forgiven and our guilt cleansed?  Notice that it was a coal from the altar of the Lord.  This was a place of sacrifice, where lambs were slaughtered that their blood might cover over the sins of the people.  And this coal was placed on Isaiah’s lips.

Where do we see this happening today?  In a few minutes, we will join in that heavenly song that the Seraphim sing around the throne of God, the Trisagion, or as we like to call it, the Sanctus:  “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth!  Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!”  But that is not where the Sanctus ends.  We then sing “Hosanna in the Highest!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”  The imagery is changing.  It begins with the King of Glory seated on His throne, the conquering Lord who commands the heavenly armies.  But then it changes to Jesus riding into Jerusalem, just days before He is to die, riding on the back of a humble little donkey.  Not as a mighty warlord, but as a humble servant of all mankind.

Then we sing the Agnus Dei:  “O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.”  We receive forgiveness by Jesus Christ sacrificing Himself before His Father to atone for our sins.

And in a few minutes, I’m going to walk over to that altar and pick something up.  It won’t look like that hot coal carried by that Seraph, but it will be just as powerful with the presence of our God.  It will look like ordinary bread and wine, but will in fact be the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And when that bread and wine touch your lips, your guilt will be taken away, and your sins atoned for in this simple act of feeding.

This drama that Isaiah sees before him in the temple, we see played out every time we gather for this sacred meal.  We sing the Sanctus – “Holy, Holy, Holy!” – and in doing so, we join the heavenly armies in praising our mighty King.  We sing “Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” remembering that our Lord Jesus is coming to us, not with great power and glory, but hidden in the humble forms of bread and wine.  And when we sing, “O Christ, Thou Lamb of God”, we remember Him who offered His life as a sacrifice to atone for our sin, showing us His mercy in His cross.  He is now the Passover Lamb who feeds us His own body and blood, that touch our lips and take away our guilt.

And we do not forget that Sacred Fire, the Holy Spirit who ignites in us the fires of faith, the Holy Spirit who opened Isaiah’s mouth to speak the oracles of God, and who now opens our mouth to speak the life-giving Word of Christ.

This is the Feast of the Holy Trinity.  We give thanks unto God our Father, who created us and gives us all we need to sustain this life, and who demonstrated His perfect love for us in sending His only begotten Son to die for us.  We give thanks unto Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who took upon Himself our sins, purchased and won us with His own precious blood, to make us His own, and who continues to feed us His true Body and Blood in this holy Sacrament.  And we give thanks to the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, and sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This Holy Trinity – One God in Three Persons – grant you his peace that surpasses all human understanding to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord.


St. Athanasius, defender of the orthodox confession of the Holy Trinity.