“Holy, holy, holy” Colchester Federated Church, May 26, 2024, Trinity Sunday (Isaiah 6:1-8)
This morning, we experience the Prophet Isaiah’s vision of God in the divine throne room. Isaiah begins with “I saw the Lord . . .” and oh, does he go on from there.[1] In the vision, there’s a high and exalted throne. The edges of God’s robe fill the temple. Winged creatures are stationed around God. Sometimes these beings are called seraphim in Hebrew (and in some English translations of the Bible). Here in the Common English Bible, that word is translated as “winged creatures.” The seraphim are angelic beings or flying serpents depending on various descriptions.
In the vision, these angelic beings are attending God in the divine throne room. Isaiah explains that each of the seraphs have six wings. Though Isaiah gets even more specific: “with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about.”[2] The seraphim shout to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!”[3]
This is an extraordinary moment depicted as a personal religious experience for the prophet Isaiah. It occurs at a time of transition for the people of Israel. A skin disease had forced King Uzziah to abdicate the throne years earlier and then the king died. Transitions are not simple, and perhaps Isaiah couldn’t help but consider power dynamics.
During this vision, Isaiah feels convicted because of his flaws. Isaiah stands in fear from this experience of God’s holiness. At least at first. Because consider how we define “holy.” It can mean exalted or worthy of complete devotion. Holy can mean perfect in goodness and righteousness, or possessing a divine quality. To be holy is to worthy of veneration. To be holy is to be sacred. Most of us would agree that God is holy, God is divine and worthy of complete devotion. Though where does that leave us? Christians are not in agreement about many beliefs, and the nature of humanity can be a touchy theological subject. Are humans inherently good, but we sometimes do bad things? Or are humans inherently bad, so of course we do bad things? This is an oversimplification, but you know what I mean.
Isaiah responds to God’s holiness with, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!”[4] Isaiah responds to God’s holiness by turning inward and focusing on his perceived unworthiness. Then Isaiah has an encounter with one of those seraphs who holds a glowing coal to his mouth. The seraph holds that glowing coal up to his mouth so that his guilt will depart and his sin will be removed. At long last, God speaks, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah responds, “I’m here; send me.”[5]
Wow, right?! This story is strange, and is one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. Because it helps us understand religious experiences that defy easy explanations. Perhaps it’s not meant to be taken hyper literally, but was how Isaiah could understand God. In some ways, this is about how Isaiah understood the moment God called him to be a prophet. And Isaiah was a prophet for sixty years! That’s right, Isaiah of Jerusalem AKA First Isaiah (who we attribute Isaiah Chapters 1-39 to) prophesied during the reign of four kings of Judah. Isaiah spent decades working for God and telling hard truths and speaking truth to power. His call to this hard work took the form of a vision, a moment that changed the trajectory of his life.
Now when we picture God, perhaps we don’t see God sitting on a throne with a long flowing robe that fills our sanctuary here at Colchester Federated Church. Maybe we do think of angels as God’s messengers. Though some of these images were meaningful for Isaiah when he lived in the 8th Century B.C.E. For instance, the language about kings and the divine throne room would have been meaningful considering King Uzziah dying. Isaiah is contrasting human kingship with divine kingship.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces!
All the earth is filled with God’s glory!”[6]
These are powerful images at times of transition and uncertainty.
The question becomes: what are the images, feelings, or thoughts about God that help us understand God? Because at the end of the day, this rather strange story is also about God meeting us where we are. Isaiah in the divine throne room is about people understanding God within the context of their life and times.
After all, today is Trinity Sunday—a day in the liturgical calendar when we’re meant to engage with the mystery of God. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not easy to understand. You won’t find the word “Trinity” in the Bible. Though even the seraphim say that God is “Holy, holy, holy!” Trinitarian language is assuredly present in many places.
Thinking of God as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer or the more traditional Father, Son, and Holy Spirit points to how we understand God as active in the world. Catherine LaCugna who was a Feminist Catholic Theologian speaks about the Trinity as thoroughly relational, that God is attached, personal, and responsive. She wrote a book called God For Us: The Trinity and the Christian Life. LaCugna argued that the Trinity is a theology of relationship which explores the mysteries of love, personhood, self-revelation, and communion. Early on, Christians tried to figure out how to make sense of God’s presence in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The theological concept of the Trinity was birthed from a relational view of God-with-us and early believers reconciling God as immanent and transcendent, right here with us and mysteriously outside us.[7]
Let’s face it, the ways we understand God affect how we live as Christians. I’m a fan of the idea that the Trinity points to God being relational, attached, personal, and responsive. Do we always feel God right beside us? Maybe not. But is God with us through everything we face? Yes. And if we believe this about God, it affects how we live out our relationships with each other. Just as God is deeply relational, we are called to be deeply relational. Just as God questions Isaiah in the divine throne room, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” We can respond like Isaiah, “I’m here; send me.”[8] Because it ends up that God needed Isaiah, and God needs us.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. People who were sent to places many of us would not choose to go. There’s more than one origin story for how this national holiday began. One story involves African Americans honoring soldiers who died in the Civil War in Charleston, South Carolina. The story goes that in May of 1865 the black community in Charleston wanted to honor 257 Union soldiers who were buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. The community dug up the bodies of these soldiers and worked for two weeks to provide a proper burial in gratitude for the sacrifices made by those Union soldiers. After this hard work was completed, a parade was held. People gathered, marched, sang, and celebrated. This loving act of providing a proper burial and having a ceremony for those who died fighting for the Union in the Civil War happened years before women in the South began decorating soldiers’ graves.[9] While we can’t say for sure that everyone in Charleston who participated in this event in 1865 were Christians, this was certainly acting in a Christ-like way. These actions show in rather dramatic fashion what it looks like to believe in a God who is relational, attached, personal, and responsive.
In the end, we can experience God in our midst because God is attached to us. Out of this relationship, we have the strength to be God’s hands and feet in the world. To respond like Isaiah, “I’m here; send me.”[10] We too can honor one another through acts of loving-kindness and service. May it be so with us, and thanks be to God. Amen.
[1] Isaiah 6:1, CEB.
[2] Isaiah 6:2.
[3] Isaiah 6:3.
[4] Isaiah 6:5.
[5] Isaiah 6:8.
[6] Isaiah 6:3.
[7] Notes from Dr. Benjamin Valentine, Systematic Theology I, Andover Newton Theological School, Fall Semester 2007.
[8] Isaiah 6:8.
[9] “Memorial Day,” Snopes, http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp
[10] Isaiah 6:8.
Lauren Ostrout ~ on being made well 