Language is a funny thing. It’s amazing that we can share so much by just talking. Ideas, feelings, problems, joys, knowledge – all passed on through language. We don’t often stop to think about how amazing it is that we can talk. But we also don’t often stop to think of the limits of human thought and language either, do we.
Anne told me of an experiment that was part of her studies where two little boys were separated by a wall. They could hear one another, but not see one another. Both boys had blocks in front of them and the one was to instruct the other how to build the object he decided to build. Anne said that it was really cute because one of the boys would say, take this block, and from across the wall, the other boy who had no idea which one, would say, “this one?” And the first kid would say, “yeah.” Needless to say, the boys ended up making totally different objects with their blocks.
There are limits to what language can do and what the human mind can conceive. I say this because this Sunday, above any other in the Church year, drives this point home. It is Holy Trinity Sunday. And I tell you that for the 20 centuries since Jesus did his ministry. The fact that we have a God who is Triune (Three in one and one in Three) has been an essential part of our faith. We can also say that in these 2,000 years it has been an article of faith, because any attempt to explain it in human language and according to human wisdom has been found lacking.
But that’s OK! And in fact it is something that we find in our lessons today. In our Gospel lesson we have Nicodemus, a REALLY smart guy. He’s a Pharisee, a member of the ruling class of Pharisees, the Sanhedrin. He is smart enough to recognize that Jesus is teaching something special and comes to him in humility to learn from him. And Jesus shares a spiritual truth with him about the need to be born again, and Nicodemus really struggles to understand.
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God…
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
THEN, in our Old Testament reading, we have Isaiah, a man who is a great writer, who has a extensive grasp of written language and an SAT quality vocabulary, who gets to see God in all of his glory (usually something that would kill someone). And with this opportunity to report what he sees He gets this far: I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Really? The train of his robe? Nothing else you can share with us? It’s kind of like going to Red, White, and Boom and talking about a street light you saw. Why isn’t there more? It’s because God’s presence is indescribable.
See it earlier in the Old Testament when God allows Moses and 70 elders to have a meal in the presence of God and his glory, and they can’t even get past describing the floor he was standing on: Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. That’s it. I laugh, but it only goes to show that some things about God are beyond description.
But on Holy Trinity Sunday it’s good for us to remember this, and it’s good for us to thank God for this. If God is God and we are not, doesn’t it make sense that there might be a few things that are hard for us to fully understand. So we can say with confidence and joy, God is One and he is at the same time Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And while I might not be able to know exactly how that works, or fully comprehend it, God does reveal to me what I need to know of Him.
That gets into the next thing for us to remember on Holy Trinity Sunday. For all that we don’t know about God, there is a lot that we do know. God reveals himself to us in the Father the Creator. We see God’s handiwork all around us. We see the gifts he has given us in both body and soul. God revealed himself in the Son by being born into this world to live among us. He revealed God’s love for us in his sacrifice on the cross. He revealed God’s plan for us in the resurrection. God reveals himself in the Holy Spirit, who continually calls us to be connected to God, to learn about him, to grow in relationship to him. God reveals himself to us, but he always does it for our good.
I say he always does it for our good. I didn’t say it’s always an easy or a pleasant deal. Let’s follow Isaiah through his encounter with God. Imagine you are there hearing, seeing, smelling, touching everything Isaiah does.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
God reveals just a bit of his glory. He is high and lifted up. Smoke from incense fills the room. The mighty Seraphim fly around with a thunderous hymn of praise, singing with words what is only obvious by sight. God is Holy. God is powerful. God is the Lord of the great host, the army of heaven. God is full of Glory.
And Isaiah realizes that he is not! In fact, to be in the awesome presence of God is a devastating experience for Isaiah. He thinks he is going to die, that he is completely undone. He knows that for as Holy as God is, he is so unholy. As powerful as God is, he is helpless. For as glorious as God is, he is unclean. “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!”
But God does not reveal himself to Isaiah that he might destroy him, but rather that he might save him and use him for a holy purpose. Isaiah is trembling and terrified when suddenly he tells us, Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
From the altar, God used a physical means, a burning coal to remove the sinfulness Isaiah confessed. And it totally changed everything. Isaiah goes from terror and fright of God to joy and gratitude. It’s an amazing turn of heart and events. God says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah, who just moments before was so scared, says boldly, Here am I, send me!
In Hebrew, the word for Behold Me, is Hinneni. Say it with me, Hinneni. What I love about it is that carries with it a sense of inspection, or an invitation to scrutiny. In a sense Isaiah is saying, “Lord look at me, examine me, I know I am holy because you have made it so.” Isn’t that awesome. How bold, how trusting in God’s totally forgiveness to be able to say to God, Hinneni, I can go, I am clean, I am holy. This is why God revealed himself, so that he could create a new Isaiah, so he could forgive him, and then send him.
This is always God’s purpose in revealing himself. As we read in the account of Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus says so plainly, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
And while on a day like today, we can think of all the things that are hard to understand about God, we also must remember how clearly and beautifully he reveals himself to us. He is our Holy, Holy, Holy God. This can be a scary truth because we, like Isaiah, realize that we are anything but Holy, Holy, Holy, and we also cry out, Woe to Me! But God does not reveal himself to us to condemn us, but in order to save us.
From the Altar of God our salvation flows to us in Christ’s body and blood broken and shed for us. From the Baptismal font the Spirit flows into our lives by means of the Water and the Word. God reveals that he came to save us by his own blood shed for our sins on the cross. God makes his love for us plain and clear by destroying every obstacle that would keep us from Him, even death itself. Easter isn’t just an event that happened 2000 years ago, it is a promise from God to us even today, and for all eternity.
That’s what we are celebrating today, that God, every part of Him, has you in mind, has you as his mission and purpose. God loves you with every part, with every corner, with every ounce of his being. And what we learn from Isaiah is that there is really only one kind of response to this love and revelation. And it’s not fear, or trembling, or second guessing, but to stand up boldly and with hearts bursting with joy, say, HERE I AM GOD, send me, use me, I am yours.
We say in our own way, according to our own unique calls from God to service, “Hinneni!” Lord, inspect me, to see if I am fit for your service. And what you will find is your holiness, your grace, your power given to me. You will find the power of the cross. You will find the power of your eternal plan for me in the resurrection. You will find someone who has been changed and given life eternal.
So there is a mystery about God, but his love for you isn’t a mystery at all. God loves to tell you, and show you, and reveal to you how much he loves you. We have a God who is indeed Holy, Holy, Holy. But he has made you Holy, Holy, Holy as well. And he calls us to serve him, and we respond. Never out of fear, or shame, or obligation, but always out of thankfulness, amazement, and confidence of our standing before Him.
So our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit asks us, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And because we know he loves us we say, Hinneni! HERE I AM SEND ME!
AMEN
