Trinity
Sunday at Epiphany on
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I
saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe
filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings:
With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and
with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the
temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and
my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the
seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs
from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this
has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go
for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
God
turns our “woe” into “wow”
Today is Trinity Sunday. It’s a day to take a
big, deep breath and confess the incomprehensible – God as one divine Being in
three Divine Persons, a Unity in Trinity and a Trinity in Unity. Or as we say,
Triune. It sure is confusing, isn’t it? We were baptized in the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We begin our worship in the name of the Triune God
and we end our worship with the Benediction of a threefold blessing of our
Trinity. We confess our faith in the Trinity in our Creeds and sing of His
majesty in the songs “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “To God be the Glory,” yet we never
come any closer to wrapping our minds around this concept. Something you can’t
rationalize or harmonize, you can only believe and confess.
You may try to picture the Trinity, but be
careful; analogies break down as quickly as an old car on the freeway. Some
compare the Triune God to the three phases of water – solid, liquid and gas. It
sounds good, but it doesn’t hold water for long. Liquid, ice, steam - three
forms but its all H2O. Years ago, one of my confirmands thought she had it
figured out saying it was like her dad being a soldier, a husband and a father.
Not even close. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit aren’t modes or phases or roles.
They are persons with whom one has a personal relationship.
Triangles, circles and three leaves of the
shamrock have been used throughout Christian history to describe (not explain)
the mystery of the Trinity. Our God isn’t a Deity we can turn into a concept, an
illustration, a theory or a picture in our minds. He isn’t a safe God that you
bring out for those “special occasions” when you need a little dose of Deity. A
tame God on a leash for those times when we need a little religion to help us
through our troubles. Holy Trinity Sunday is a reminder that we can’t put God in
a box or fit Him neatly inside our heads.
A Bible story that reflects the awesomeness and
majesty of our Triune God took place 2749 years ago. The prophet Isaiah was
given a grand vision of angels around the throne of God. “In the year that King Uzziah died
(740 B.C.), I saw the Lord seated on a
throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.”
The kings of
“Above him were
seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two
they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.” Seraphs are angels. Rather unusual looking angels since they each had six
wings. What did they do with these wings? “With two they covered their faces.” Covering
the face was a sign of humility. “I’m unworthy to be in your presence,
God.” Even angels, who have been confirmed in holiness ever since some of their
lot rebelled against God and were tossed out of God’s loving presence, recognize
that they are not on God’s level. He’s too awesome, too amazing, too majestic,
too mighty for them to dare to assume they can be His equals.
Isaiah was given this vision of angels around the
throne of God, and his reaction of “Woe! I’m unworthy” is even more justified
than that of the angels because Isaiah was a mere mortal. Isaiah cried,
“Woe to me! I am ruined.” Isaiah
was granted a glimpse of what’s its like to be in the presence of God – not some
distant, dangerous, gurgling volcano; not a massive, pot-bellied, cross-legged
statue sitting silently at the end of an incense-filled hall; not some
holographic Wizard of Oz-like character; but the unchanging and unchangeable
Lord who rules all angelic armies and who made and controls the universe and
beyond. No wonder, in the presence of such grandeur, such glory, such greatness
that Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! I’m insignificant. I’m just a worm compared
to God. I’m unworthy.”
I hope you’ve felt that way. Whether we are
standing on the edge of the
But amazingly, God wants to connect with mere
mortals. So, He turns the “Woe” of “I’m unworthy” into the “Wow!” of awe. Hear
the awe of the angels calling to one another: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his
glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the
temple was filled with smoke.” There is awe in Isaiah’s reaction:
“My eyes have seen the King, the LORD
Almighty.”
God the Father doesn’t
swat us away like pesky mosquitoes. He doesn’t squish us like worms. He doesn’t
see us as insignificant beings. Instead He turns our “Woe! I’m unworthy” into
“Wow!” of awe through His Fatherly care.
Jesus described the Father’s care: “Do
not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
you will wear … Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store
away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).
Though we are unworthy of being shown any grace
or kindness, yet God pours grace and kindness into our daily lives. He grants us
the ability to see the beauty of a bright blue sky, to hear the laughter of our
child, to taste a Kewpie burger, to hold our grandchild on our lap, to feel the
love for our spouse grow and mature. Though we deserve to be destitute and
derelicts, we are awed that God has given us loving parents, an education, a
career, job satisfaction, a home, plus so much more. We bow in awe like angels
covering faces, like Isaiah in God’s temple, like Moses at the burning bush,
like the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration because God turns our
“Woe” of “I’m unworthy” into the “Wow!” of awe.
God also turns the “Woe” of “I’m dirty” into the
“Wow!” of pardon. “With two [wings]
they covered their feet.” Why would they do that? Were they embarrassed
because their shoes were worn out and scuffed? Did they have gnarly, ugly toes
sticking out from their sandals? No. Back in the day when everyone walked
everywhere in open toed-sandals, their feet would become filthy. That’s the
meaning of this angelic wing action. Angels don’t have sin. They don’t even have
dirty feet. But covering feet was symbolic of the dirt of sin that needs
covering because God won’t stand for sin in His presence.
That was Isaiah’s biggest problem. “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man
of unclean lips, and I live among people of unclean lips.” Isaiah had a
keen sense of the filth of his own sin. Do you?
God didn’t force Isaiah to try to remove the dirt
on his own or to try to cover his own sin. Amazingly, God did it for him. “One of the seraphs flew to me with a live
coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he
touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken
away and your sin atoned for.’”
Jesus the Son of God
touches our lips and hearts with the love that comes from the altar of His
cross. He atoned for our sin and took away our guilt.
That means nothing for you and is as boring as
watching paint dry unless you have taken a good look at your own feet … that
leads you astray down wrong paths, and your hands … that writes nasty notes and
unloving anonymous entries with your computer, and your eyes … that lusts and
covets what doesn’t belong to you, and your ears … that accepts gossip, and your
head … that harbors hatred, entertains envy and invites insecurity. All this
makes you dirty.
If we don’t have a keen sense of how dirty our
sin makes us in God’s sight, we’ll never appreciate what God did about our
sin. We’ll get bored with church stuff. We’ll stop reading our Bible. We’ll stop
setting aside Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings for worship. But Jesus has
turned our guilt away and covered our sins with the wings of His love.
It is truly amazing that God the Son would
sacrifice Himself so that we are declared clean. We lift our hearts in praise
because our sins are covered like angels covering their feet, like Isaiah whose
tongue was purified by a live coal, like King David whose guilt was turned away,
like Peter who denied the Lord but saw His forgiving glance because God turns
our “Woe” of “I’m dirty” into the “Wow!” of pardon.
Though we are undeserving, God the Son grants us
free forgiveness, great grace, a redemption reprieve, our soul’s salvation, a
permanent paradise, a home in heaven. God the Son turns our “Woe” of “I’m dirty”
into the “Wow!” of pardon.
God also turns the “Woe” of “I’m scared” into the
“Wow!” of “I’ll serve.” “With two
[wings] they were flying.” Why would they do that? Where were they
going? They had a job to do and were being sent to do it. They were sent by God
to announce: “Holy, holy, holy is the
LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” They had no
hesitation in being God’s messengers because angels were created to do God’s
bidding, to serve him. In fact, the word “angel” means “messenger.”
These are holy messengers. We humans are flawed
messengers with plenty of excuses and some legitimate fears about serving God –
like Isaiah, “I’m not good enough to be your messenger, Lord;” like Moses, “I
won’t know what to say;” like Jeremiah, “I’m too young;” like Jonah, “I don’t
like my intended audience.”
God didn’t reject those scaredy-cats. Instead, He
pardoned their sin, and that pardon inspired them to serve. “Then I heard the voice of the LORD
saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I.
Send me.’”
We cower from speaking. We shirk our
responsibility of serving. We are too busy for God’s missions. We are too
occupied to contribute to God’s ministries. God the Holy Spirit ignites within
us the flames of desire to serve. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the
Son to empower and equip us for service through God’s holy words. He motivates
us to move. He empowers us to proclaim. He loves us into loving others. He
cleanses our lips so we open our mouths to preach. The Holy Spirit uses the
message of Holy Scripture to turn our “Woe! I’m scared” into the “Wow!” of “I’ll
serve!”
The Holy Trinity is about a living relationship,
communion within God and with God. Together as One the undivided holy Trinity
creates, redeems, and sanctifies. Each divine Person doing His personal thing,
yet always as One. When you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, you entered into the triune love and life of God. The Father is
your Father. Jesus is your Brother and Friend. The Spirit is your Counselor,
Comforter and Guide. You are a member of God’s family; you live in triune
communion with God – with the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.
You don’t have to understand someone to be in
relationship. Most of us are in relationships with people we can’t begin to
understand. How much more so with God? You don’t have to understand the mystery
of the undivided Holy Trinity; only confess and praise Him for turning out “Woe”
into “Wow!” Amen.