The 1st Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday/Year B/May 26, 2024
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; John 3:1-7
Opening Prayer: (A New Zealand Prayer Book)
God of unchangeable power, you have revealed yourself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; keep us firm in this faith that we may praise and bless your holy name; for you are one God now and for ever. Amen.
On the church calendar, today is marked as Trinity Sunday…the day we set aside to recognize our foundational belief and understanding of the mystery of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…It’s one of those Sundays, that we often try to understand something that doesn’t make logical sense, by our standards; we try to put something into words that no words could adequately describe, we try to put God and everything about God in one small and tidy space…
Problem with that is…God could never be contained in a box, or described in one short definition in a dictionary or catechism, or even one large book of scriptures….God is not one to be contained…God is one to be experienced, one to be in relationship with, one to be loved by, one to be strengthened by, one to be led by, one to be amazed by, one to be renewed by, one to be blessed by, and one to praise and glorify!
In our first reading from Isaiah today, we hear the account of Isaiah seeing God….and it is described as an amazing visual revelation…And in Isaiah’s amazement of the whole experience, he questioned what he saw…how he was unworthy of such an experience…but instead of turning away in disbelief or fear of what he just experienced, he believed that his sins had been blotted out, and then his ears were open to hear the voice of the Lord saying…. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah answered… “Here am I; send me”.
You have to wonder what Isaiah was really thinking at this moment…
Where did this strength and courage come from to respond to what he heard…
something from somewhere deep within must have confirmed in Isaiah’s heart…I can do it….send me….I like to think that if he had allowed himself to rationalize what was happening in his mind, he probably would have missed the boat… but instead, he dared to imagine something so different, that was worth going for…
In our gospel reading today, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above”. Nicodemus didn’t get it. How can someone be born again after growing old? How can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born? Totally, makes no logical sense. Nicodemus was thinking most literally. But Jesus tries to explain it in a different way – it’s about being born of water and Spirit. It’s about being cleansed from sin and born again by the Holy Spirit and continuing forever in the risen life of Jesus...It’s about being marked as Christ’s own forever.
Jesus tries to explain to Nicodemus that “You must be born from above”. The wind, he continues, 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 continues with more questions, and Jesus patiently continues to try and help him understand. It is so difficult, Jesus reminds him, that he can barely understand and believe the earthly things, never mind the heavenly things.
Perhaps Nicodemus could learn a lesson from Isaiah today. Isaiah didn’t try to figure out what was going on, he didn’t ask for all kinds of explanations, he didn’t keep pressing for more answers until he got his proof. Isaiah seemed to “born again from above”. Something blew into that room on that day, something entered his heart that day, that caused him to be born anew – inspired him to take a risk, encouraged him to go forth into the world, where God was calling him…
Think about this for a moment….as we get older, we settle into the world of having lots of knowledge, experience in life, we’ve been there, done that; we can find any answer we want to in a reference book, on the computer, Wikipedia, or on our I-pads or cell phones. Our children are growing up in a world where information and knowledge is just a swipe away on their smart-phones…
Any answer we need is available…we just have to look for it…there’s an answer for everything, we like to tell ourselves.…
But, is there really a quick easy answer to everything that comes through a click on the computer or a swipe across the I-phone screen?
Is there an answer for the mother and father who lose their only child way too early in life because of gun violence and war or by suicide? Is there a clear answer as to why families are being torn apart and separated from each other for all kinds of reasons? Is there one definitive answer just a click away to explain why so many children and families, living in our own neighborhoods, and many other places around the world, are without food and shelter?
The answers to these types of questions are not just a click away….
As people of faith, the answers to these types of questions, can only be addressed in the heart, through a loving relationship with God and one another… by listening for the voice of God, the Father and creator of all, among all the voices around us that shout out words that are often empty and meaningless; through talking with God, the Son, as a friend, one who knows our hearts, and one who cares; and through pondering all these things by opening our hearts, allowing God, the Holy Spirit, to re-new our hearts and minds, re-new our lives, re-new our hope….transforming our life, and the lives of all around us…
It’s about being born again, from above...It’s about re-living that Pentecost moment…when the Holy Spirit was sent down upon us to transform us through the power of God’s love…and then send us out to proclaim the love of God, with our words and actions…
The Trinity is often simply described as God in three persons…God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit…but it can all be summed up in this way, too…God is love…and we are called to walk in Love with Him…with one another…and with all of creation…
God’s love is always the answer…it is always the answer that can lead us into freedom and abundant life…It’s what heals and mends broken hearts and makes our joy complete….
It’s what strengthens us and gives us courage…It’s what dares us to imagine something better for our communities and our world…It’s what brings us peace in our hearts and unity with one another….
It’s what washes over us as grace and mercy to help us begin again and again…It’s what empowers us to be love bearers, light-bringers, hope bearers to a world in desperate need of all of this…
We are surrounded and encircled by God’s love and presence…God is the beginning, the end, the everlasting One. Jesus walked among us to teach us how to embody this love in the world. The Holy Spirit was sent to us to remind us and enable us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and to be God’s eyes and ears, heart and mind, and hands and feet, in this world now. The Holy Spirit was sent to remind us that we are surrounded and encircled by God’s love and presence today…and always…
As we move into another season of the church year, with new questions and new wonderings of how God is calling us to be the church in 2024 and in the near future, let us pray together and re-commit ourselves to embody the love of God made known to us in Jesus, in all our relationships with one another; and let us pray fervently that our hearts will be set on fire once again to go out into the world, spreading the Good news of God’s love for the whole world and her people…so that one day, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry often reminds us…. our world will be changed from the nightmare it sometimes is, and transformed into the dream God intended…a world created out of love, for love…love of God, love for one another, love for all of creation…
Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Prayer/Hymn: Santo, santo, santo [Holy, holy, holy] Wonder Love and Praise, #785
Holy, holy, holy, my heart, my heart adores you!
My heart is glad to say the words: you are holy, Lord.
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK