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Sunday 3rd June 2012 Trinity Sunday Sentence ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6: 3 Collect O Blessed Trinity, in Whom we know the Maker of all things, seen and unseen, the Saviour of all both near and far, by Your Spirit enable us so to worship Your divine majesty that with all the company of heaven we may magnify You glorious name, saying holy, holy, holy, glory to You O Lord Most High. Amen Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 6: 1 – 8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." 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!" Psalm 29 Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. Epistle Romans 8: 12 – 17 Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. GOSPEL John 3: 1 – 17 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved NOTES ON THE READINGS The older I get the more I am amazed at the extent to which modern Christians seem to be remarkably unfamiliar with the contents of their Bibles. I am being sad, not critical, for that lack must surely add either to bemusement or boredom, for so much of the development of the Faith has depended on the exploration of life and wisdom by the ancient (and not so ancient) worthies. Very many questions have been thrown up to me over recent years and that indicates the extent of modern ignorance. In fact, sometimes one is left wondering what many modern Christians do believe or understand about the Faith. Old Testament Having been ‘on about’ the Spirit last week, I hope readers make the connection between Isaiah and Spirit with this most formative of readings. (It connects well with the John reading too.) (First) Isaiah was one of the political and religious elite of his time, mixed up in both areas of leadership in Israel. And it would seem that even such exalted people can become so stuck with an air of unreality of the faith they profess but not believe, until something opens their eyes. This is a most moving report of Isaiah’s eye- and mind-opening experience of the God he talked about but seemed never to have known till this experience. And it happened in the Temple. It was a matter of realizing Who God is, a transfiguration all of his own. It is well worth you reading past the close of the selected passage, for although the prophet realized that the role was his, the passage goes on to indicate quite clearly that the road towards his ministry would be very difficult to pursue. As I have often said, the role of prophet, in Old Testament (or any) times, was no sinecure. Psalm You may be forgiven for thinking that this psalmist was going somewhat bonkers, or at least over the top. Mind you, one might consider that Isaiah, after the experience mentioned above, would no doubt relate to this psalm. While I have considerable difficulty with modern Christians going over the top about God, it must be said that some ‘Isaianic’ experience would be a shake-up of considerable proportion. Epistle May I remind readers that what St. Paul was on about was the difference between living self-centredly (as Adam, ‘flesh,’ death,) and following Christ, which is diametrically opposite to the ‘adam’ prototype? This is life. And it is not just a matter of avoiding ‘sins of the flesh!’ It is a matter of seeing what is important in life not for oneself, but for the world of people at large. That may take a while to ponder ... and then to pursue. GOSPEL This fascinating chapter tends to be misunderstood almost completely. In spite of the popular perception, this has nothing to do with what used to be called ‘conversion’ in my earlier days. It has everything to do with what the other readings emphasise. This is experiential. This is profound. And it has to do with the Spirit of God at work, as with Isaiah, bringing about radical change in the life of the Christian and the Christian community- and hopefully, to the world at large. It was a sad commentary on Judaism in the time of Nicodemus that he seemed to have no idea of the point, purpose or direction of the Jewish faith. That was in spite of those worthy Old Testament prophets who did have a clear view. The need for change in people and the community was very widely understood by people like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Minor Prophets were just as potently aware. And the motive, from John 3, was not so much sins forgiven as it was (and still should be) the following, the discipleship of Jesus Who remains our exemplar par excellence. Just as a matter of interest, when John wrote 3:16, I draw your attention to a significant matter: ‘should not perish’ has nothing to do with wasting away in Hell or such. The Greek word has to do with what happens to rubbish in Gehenna, the rubbish tip. It is a waste, a pointless existence. There is no point, purpose or use for what is there. Worth pondering, pardon me. NOTES FOR A SERMON Lots of people can relate to some life-changing experience for them where quite suddenly, and often uninvited light dawns on them. They may have been facing some crisis or challenge, or it may simply be that, like inspiration, it came unbidden totally. (Most inspiration seems just to burst in on the scene.) So, it seems, was that ‘thing’ with Isaiah. Up to that point in his life, he seems to have been so involved with the business of running the kingdom and the congregation, that he could see only himself and his responsibilities. It may well have seemed to have been his importance, his role that kept the wheels turning. And maybe it was a matter of having to face something well outside his parameters that brought this stunning vision to light. Whatever the situation, Isaiah was confronted by God, by JHWH, in a way that had never happened to him before. And the outcome was revolutionary, for without the book of Isaiah our perception of God would have been reduced considerably, at least until the Incarnation. Isaiah’s theology became enormously broad, all-embracing, and significant. When people have all manner of questions about the Faith, about God or about life, I find it odd how often such folk retreat into some sort of escape position. Either – it seems – the question, or the problem that provokes it, seems too hard to handle. So the question tends to be put on the back burner, meanwhile worrying and disturbing the person. There is a rather better way to tackle such questions ..... One of the fascinating things about life and the Faith is that first of all, it can stand up to questions and nothing can emerge to throw it. God never expects anyone to ‘believe’ without solid evidence for doing so. Such experiences as Isaiah’s didn’t happen for fun or by accident. More often than not, it is because the recipient has been struggling with some question or query, and the substantial (repeat substantial) answer comes, often quite out of the blue. To my mind, this mode of development is the genius of the Judaic-Christian Faith. It is experiential, almost hard-nosed in a way. Like science, one starts with a theory, then tests it in real life, and wears off the rough edges. It is a continual process, so don’t expect to stay still for long. Perhaps it could be said that any group of readings would be helpful in celebrating Trinity Sunday, as long as the readings portrayed this growing catalogue of the experience of people searching for where truth lay, in matters of life and relationships even more than in matters of what may be called religion. (Readers of previous comments of mine will know from way back that I have great hang-ups about ‘religion.’ My reason is that the word tends to conjure up things like escapism, or superstition, or other groundless bases of what passes for belief. This Faith is not about guesswork, except where issues beyond human experience are concerned.) So in a way a sort of two-fold test of the general validity of Hebrew-Christian Faith is (and not in any order of merit) (i) is this a random world in a random universe, and (b) if not, what is the wisest, most balanced response to human relationships and values? As to the first-mentioned, one would expect that a random universe was random full-stop. In other words, little or nothing could be predictable, and no connection would be found in anything much at all. With all due respect, that is not the case at all. Some things are certainly random, but the further we go, the more we become aware of remarkable connection. In fact, the exploration of science began in Western culture exactly on the basis that as there is one God, there is the high probability of finding exactly that predictability and reason and explanation of whatever and wherever we search and question. So may I suggest that today be the start of a long and fascinating search for answers to your questions? Do not be afraid!!!