Trinity Sunday -- May 26, 2013
Text: Isaiah 6:1-8, Canticle 13, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15
Tinh Huynh+
----------------------
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne..."
In the name of God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
------------------
In the First Lesson there is a short story
about the prophet Isaiah
who sees the LORD in a vision.
Such encountering with God changed his life.
The story is about transformation.
-----------------
Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost,
and we read from the Book of Acts
the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit,
and we also heard about the change that happened
to the lives of the disciples of Christ.
------------------
Throughout the Bible there are many stories about lives being transformed,
when God touches humanity.
------------------
The story that we read from Isaiah starts with an interesting statement:
"In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the LORD sitting on a throne."
What year was that?
We use Christ's birth year for our dating system,
but ancient biblical people used the years of kings' deaths.
So, most likely,
Isaiah is talking about Year 700 BC.
Anyhow, to Isaiah it could have been very important
to mention the death of King Uzziah.
-----------------------
Uzziah became king of Judah when he was 16 years old.
When he was young
he was faithful to the LORD, and he was blessed.
He sought God's will,
and God blessed him with wealth and power.
His fame spread far and wide,
and his army was strong.
Skillful men under him designed and made powerful weapons,
which could shoot arrows and large stones
from the towers and corners of Jerusalem.
-----------------
However, after reigning in Jerusalem for over 50 years,
Uzziah changed.
He became obsessed with his wealth and power.
He became arrogant.
He violated boundaries.
----------------
But as Uzziah gained power and wealth,
he became more and more desperate.
He then became blind, spiritually.
His thirst was never satisfied.
---------------
One day, Uzziah entered the temple and burned incense on the Altar.
He did the job of the priest, which he was not supposed to do.
He wanted to claim the honor he desired.
He annoyed the LORD.
The priests confronted him,
and they told him to get out.
Uzziah was furious.
Then leprosy broke out on his forehead. //
The disease forced him to be isolated
until he died.
--------------------
It was in the year of King Uzziah's death that new threats began to come from Assyria, Jerusalem's enemy. Assyria had become more and more powerful
and it openly threatened the city.
This was the time when Isaiah began to prophesy.
-----------------
Now we want to speak about the change that happened to Isaiah.
Isaiah did not come from among the poor.
He grew up free and had everything he needed.
Food was always on the table of his household.
He was related to the king's family,
and he was educated.
------------------
Although with such a background,
Isaiah spoke for the poor and the oppressed.
He told the king and the people to do justice,
repent and return to the LORD,
and trust in God. ////
Why did a person who had almost everything
risk rejection of the powerful to speak for the weak?
-----------------------
All began with the experience he had in Isaiah 6:1-8.
"In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the LORD sitting on the throne..."
----------------------
Isaiah saw the LORD because the LORD revealed Himself to Isaiah.
The LORD did touch a desperate and fearful soul.
The burning coal was placed at this lips,
and Isaiah was transformed.
----------------------
What about us?
Some of us may have said, "I have seen the LORD!"
Can that be true?
----------------------
Notice the song of the cherubims (angels) in the story, which says, "The earth is full of His glory!"
Many of us see God in the beauty of nature.
The stars, the sea, the trees and plants, and the animals, speak to God's presence.
Some of us see God in the new born babies.
We see God in the love of the people around us.
For the many things in life that we see as we look back into our journeys past, we may see God's hand that lead us through.
It's the Holy Spirit who speaks in our hearts and reveals the LORD to us.
----------------------
When God reveals himself to us and touches our lives,
we are changed.
Such transformation enables us to sing "All fear is gone."
As we go through difficult times we still hold on to hope.
In times of sadness we still believe in joy.
What we sing every Sunday during Holy Eucharist is from this very passage of Isaiah:
"Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory."
Those words proclaim God's presence.
Those words are the Christian proclamation of hope.
The LORD that Isaiah saw is the very God that made us,
loves us,
came to dwell among us,
died and rose from the dead,
and now dwells with us for ever.
This is God the Holy Trinity.
As Christians, we call Him:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
-------------
This is the God who is willing to be found and heard.
He lets us find HIm when we desperately seek Him.
This is the God who is calling us ceaselessly.
He wants our souls and our hearts.
He wants to He can set us aside for himself,
and he can make us channels of blessing
to those around us.
-----------------
The hymn "Here I am, LORD," takes its words from the Isaiah passage that we read this morning.
God is calling us.
What does God call us to do?
To where?
Who are the people that we promise to hold in our hearts?
God called Isaiah,
and he immediately responded.
Isaiah was in a dream.
But in reality does one say "Yes" right away?
Discerning may take a long time.
One needs to discover himself or herself,
in order to be sure about what God calls him or her to do.
--------------------
The greatest call for each of us is
the call to discover himself or herself
as a beloved child of God.
--------------------
That call comes before any vision and any other call.
--------------------
Discovering our belovedness can change our lives completely --
from resentment to harmony,
from hatred to love,
from anxiety to calmness,
from anger to forgiveness,
from pride to repentance,
from fear to boldness.
----------------------
Trinity is the Christian name of God.
Trinity and Love go together.
Trinity means: God with us.
Amidst the chaos of this world, God calls us to be still,
to know that He is near,
and to let Him touch us and transform us. Amen.