Wednesday after Holy Trinity
Wednesday after Holy Trinity
Collect of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Old Testament reading on this Wednesday of the Holy Trinity is from the prophet Isaiah, the sixth chapter. Isaiah 6:1-7
6 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. 2 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. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “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!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” This is the Word of the Lord.
The Epistle is from Romans, the eleventh chapter. Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. This is the Word of the Lord
The Holy Gospel is from St. John, the third chapter. John 3:1-17
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4 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. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 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. This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Homily: O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
The vision that Isaiah has of the Lord is spectacular. The Lord sits upon his throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robes fills the temple. Yet I find that I want more details, more description, than what Isaiah provides. We have a more distinct description of the Seraphim than of the Lord God. Moses also saw God but he could not elaborate on details of what he saw. What was known though, is the effect that the Lord’s glory had on Moses. Moses lit up like a bright light.
God seems to want to keep the details of his appearance to himself. More likely, our brains simply cannot provide an adequate vocabulary to describe God accurately. But, what our brains can process is the effect of being in the presence of the Lord. Isaiah’s reaction, I suspect, is similar to how we would react. Isaiah became intensely aware how utterly inadequate, dirty, depraved, foul, and sin-filled he was before God. He was immediately moved to a confession of sin.
It is no accident that when we gather to hear the Word of God and receive the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar that we begin our worship with a confession of our sin. We use formal, heart-felt words to describe the difference between us and God. “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbor as we should.” Before God, we are in the same spiritual condition. There is no distinction to be made between us of who is a worse sinner this week. We all have fallen short of God clear expectations.
Yet, the Good News is that God is not content to allow us to wallow in our depravity. Isaiah received unexpected grace. The burning coal touched his lips. His guilt was taken away. His sin atoned for. A true gift of God.
Our guilt is also taken away. Our sin is atoned for by the Lord Jesus Christ by his suffering and death on the cross. Through faith, we receive the forgiveness that Jesus won for us in his obedience.
The Lord God may not want us to see his heavenly, eternal glory; but He does want us to see Jesus incarnate. He wants us to see His love for us. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together to bring us into His promise of salvation. We see God’s love for us most clearly in Jesus agony and death on the cross. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death, our guilt is taken away, our sin atoned for. The Holy Spirit creates within us the faith to receive God’s gift for us. Jesus came down to save us. His salvation is made possible through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together, with one will and focus, so that salvation comes to all people in every time and place.
As Jesus explains to Nicodemus and to us. 16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 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.”
We confess that we are sinners. Our awareness of our sin, makes the compassion and grace of God towards us that much sweeter. We are thankful.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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