Pastor Sherry’s message for 5/26/2024 

Scriptures: Isa 6:1-8; Ps 29, Ro 8:12-17; John 3:1-17

Last Sunday, Pentecost, I shared with you 13 of the many functions of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Anticipating today being Trinity Sunday, I also pointed out the individual roles of the 3 members of the Holy Trinity.  In honor Trinity Sunday, let’s review these today and consider Who of the Godhead you tend to feel closest to:  

Maybe you stand in awe of the Father: Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of Days, almighty victorious, Thy great Name we praise.  These are lines to a hymn to God the Father, Creator of the Universe, completely transcendent, wholly other.  He is the Covenant God, meaning He keeps His promises, always.  He is enthroned in Heaven.  He revealed Himself to Moses as (Ex. 34:6-7): The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. He is clearly in command, but never dominates the other two persons.

I was in the 9th grade before I ever learned my step-father had one good thing to say about me.  He was always very critical and I had learned I could never please him.  One day one of his friends gave me a ride home from school and told me how proud of me my dad was.  I was shocked!  I had been elected president of my high school class, but my dad had never said a word to me about it.  Reading the Old Testament through taught me how much my heavenly Father loves me—and you—and how often He says so, and I have been so grateful, and loved Him back, ever since!

Or perhaps you relate best to Jesus, our Brother, Our Savior, Our Redeemer, and Our Friend: What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!…Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.  Here we have a hymn about Jesus.  Jesus is God-in-the- flesh, coming to earth as a vulnerable infant, teaching and healing us, then dying for our sins.  He really helps us learn that God is indeed love.  Jesus too is compassionate, forgiving, and very patient.  If you have watched any episodes of “The Chosen,” you would have to agree that they depict Christ as someone easy to love.  He tried hard to reach us through memorable stories.  And, remember, it was Jesus who said (Jn 14:11), If you have seen me, you have seen the Father, for I and the Father are one.   Again, God-in-the-flesh.  

I was driving in Pittsburgh one winter, on my way to work, when I rounded a curve on a divided highway only to see several wrecked cars all over the road in front of me.  There was no place for me to pull off to avoid the wreck, as there were concrete barriers on both sides.  I downshifted and braked, but hit a patch of “black ice” and went into a spin.  I was then facing southbound in the northbound passing lane, and could see a large utility van headed toward me.  I knew he would soon hit the very same ice and skid into me.  I felt I was a goner.  I quickly prayed, “Lord Jesus, who will raise my daughter?”  My daughter, Meredith, was about 12 or 13; my son, David, was away in college and launched.  But my girl remained at home with me.  The van did hit me.  My airbag bruised my sternum; my glasses flew off and my briefcase went airborne from the back seat to the front.  The front of my little sports car crunched up like an accordian, but nothing was damaged in the cockpit.  Ambulances took a bunch of us involved in the pile-up to be checked out in the hospital.  But I was fine, just bruised and shaken up.  I knew Jesus had saved me and I was so grateful. 

Others gravitate to the Holy Spirit, the immanence of God, the “with us” God: Holy Spirit, Love divine, glow with in this heart of mine; kindle every high desire; perish self in Thy pure fire.   This is a hymn about the Holy Spirit.  He is how we experience God and Jesus now.  The Father and the Son reside enthroned in Heaven; so it is the Spirit Who leads, guides, and directs us here/now.  He tweaks our conscience when we sin;  He intercedes for us when all we can do is groan; and He equips and empowers us for ministry.  This week I had a word from the Holy Spirit.  He directed an intervention in a psychodrama I was to lead.  He told me to do something I had never done before.  I did what He said to do and the results were amazing!  I have learned to always do what He tells me to do, because He is always right.

Each of us may have a favorite, but the truth is the doctrine of the Trinity helps keep us balanced by reminding us there are 3 persons in our one God.  The Trinity also models for us how we are to live:  God lives in loving, cooperative community and we are to do the same!  The Son and Spirit are submitted to the will of the Father; but the Father does not dominate them.  Rather they coexist in steadfast love, mutual respect, and mutual cooperation.  That’s our model.

Let’s see how our Scripture passages today amplify these truths:

A. Our Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 6:1-8 and recalls for us the priest Isaiah’s additional call to become a prophet.  He is apparently praying in the Temple when he has a vision of God the Father.

He relates that King Ussiah, the last good King of Judah, had just died, having reigned 52 years (792-740BC).  Isaiah sees (v.1): The Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  How enormous!  How exciting!  Isaiah is grieving the loss of the good king, but then realizes the REAL KING, God, is still on the throne.

Isaiah is reassured that all is still well.

Isaiah also sees seraphs—6-winged, angelic creatures who normally surround God’s throne.  They are shouting, Holy, holy, holy! for the 3 holy Ones, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Their shouts were so loud they shook the Temple foundations, and smoke filled the Temple.  Their job is to search out sin—God’s holiness does not keep company with sin.  In their presence—and in the Lord’s presence—Isaiah becomes mortally aware of his own sinfulness (v.5): Woe to me!…I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and My eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.  As one commentator puts it, “Seeing God as holy reminds us deeply and painfully that we are not.”  (J. Fearless and D. Chilton, The Lectionary Lab for Year B, 2014, p.192.)

Job had a similar response to seeing God (42:5-6): My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.  Daniel saw God in a vision and reported (10:8): I had no strength left, my face turned a deathly pale and I was helpless.  We know what happened to Saul/Paul (Acts 9:4-19): he was knocked off his high horse and blinded for 3 days.  Even St. John, Jesus’ close friend, reports (Rev. 1:17): When I saw Him I fell at His feet as though dead.  So, like them, Isaiah expects to at least faint or even to be slain.

Instead, in God’s mercy, one of the seraphim-searcher-outers-of-sin, brings him an antidote.  He touches his lips with a live coal—OUCH!  And says (v.7): See, this has touched your lips: your guilt is taken away and your sins atoned for.  They have been instantly burned away.  Then God issues Isaiah’s call to become the Lord’s prophet: (v.8): Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?  Hebrew has no royal “we,” the king speaking in the plural (for himself and the country).  Instead, this is an Old Testament reference to the Trinity.

B.  Psalm 29, written by King David, poetically describes the voice of God.  He mentions God’s voice 7 times (the number for perfection, completeness).  And every metaphor David uses is a strong one.  Isaiah perceived God as huge!  King David perceived God as loud and commanding.

C. In our Romans passage (8:12-17), Paul continues to list the roles of the Holy Spirit: Verse 13: He puts to death the misdeeds of our body [helps us overcome sin]; Verse 14:  He leads and guides us; 

Verse 15a: He does not lead us into fear, but into sonship/daughtership;

Verse 15b: The Spirit calls us into an intimate relationship with God, in which we can actually call Him Abba [daddy].  Verse 16: He testifies that we are God’s children.  And, verse 17: …we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

D. Finally, in our Gospel passage (John 3:1-17), Jesus is having a dialogue with an open-minded Pharisee, Nicodemus.  Nicodemus, an Old Testament scholar and teacher, wants to know how to enter heaven. Jesus says he has to be born again of the Holy Spirit.  Nick doesn’t understand this, confusing our spiritual birth with our physical one.

Remember, 4 weeks ago, I preached on what it means to be born again:  

(1) We believe in Jesus –so Nick has to have faith in Christ,

(2) And we learn to love Him—this is not so hard to do once we realize all He has done for us.  Being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit:  He leads us into faith in Jesus.  He convinces us to love Jesus.  Jesus is emphatic with Nicodemus:  We do not enter heaven because we know and follow the Law.  We do not enter heaven due to our ancestry or our spiritual or economic rank and privilege.  We enter heaven because of the efforts of the Holy Spirit to bring us into an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Jesus then reminds the Pharisee that no one sees or controls the Holy Spirit.  He shows up when and where God wants Him to be.  We don’t control Him.

I often remind my clients of the Serenity Prayer.  I want to end today with the Serenity Prayer, which always reminds me of the wisdom of the Trinity (The entire prayer is longer, but this is the short, easy to remember version): Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change [others’ behavior, my past, etc.], the courage to change the things I can [myself], and the wisdom to know the difference.  Our triune God grants to us the peace—serenity– that passes all understanding.  Our triune God infuses us with courage when we need it.

Our triune God gifts us with wisdom when we ask.  Amen!  May it be so.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams