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15 June Pentecost 1, Trinity Sunday

Isaiah 6:1-8 One of the best-known Old Testament passages. It is understood to be an account of Isaiah's call to be a prophet. The emphasis is on the holiness of God. The root meaning of holy is probably distance, separation, otherness. In Isaiah's vision the Lord is on a throne high and lifted up. The seraphim with covered eyes, the shaking of the threshold; the clouds of smoke are all evidence of the presence of the holy God. The threefold use of the word holy is followed by the whole earth is full of his glory. The sentence in Hebrew is emphatic in form. The holiness of God, the glory of God is not confined to Israel. And God's holiness implies moral purity, so that Isaiah's sin is made plain - and not his only, for evil is a corporate thing. I, a man of unclean lips, I who dwell among a people of unclean lips . . . (REB). Isaiah cannot bridge the gulf between himself and this holy God; it is God who offers the cleansing fire, and immediately calls the cleansed man into his service.

Psalm 29 Probably one of the oldest Psalms. A dramatic word-picture of the glory of God. God subdues the unruly creation, and in the end brings strength and peace to his people.

Romans 8:12-17 Those who are led by the Spirit are said to be children of God. In the prologue to John's Gospel it is written . . . to all who did accept him [i.e. the Word], to those who put their trust in him he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12. There is a sombre consequence to sharing with Christ the privilege of being children of God and sharing his glory: we must share his sufferings if we are also to share his glory. See also Philippians 3:10: to share his sufferings in growing conformity to his death. The glory of God is not all sunshine and pleasure: among its elements is the darkness of self-denial, pain, and a cross. "It is not the suffering, but the glory that is the goal. But for the Christian, as for Christ himself, the way to glorification, to participation in God's doxa [glory] is through suffering. In the fact that the suffering is a suffering with Christ it has received its inescapable place in the Christian life." (Nygren)

John 3:1-17 One of the recurrent themes of the Fourth gospel is the conflict between darkness and light - see Jn 1:4-5. So it is appropriate the Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. The closing verses of Ch. 2 mention that many put their trust in him when they saw the signs that he performed. "There is one of those believers who sincerely desires to learn more. He is a man of standing and authority. He has a big stake in the established order - the order which Jesus had so openly and drastically attacked by his actions and his words in the temple. Yet he believes enough to want to inquire further. He comes to Jesus 'by night'. It is a very understandable precaution, given his position as a public figure of the establishment. In the perspective of the evangelist he is a man who is drawn to the light but not yet able to leave the darkness." (Lesslie Newbigin: The Light Has Come).

Preaching - The Glory of God

Think back in your own memory: can you call to mind an early experience that made you aware of the glory of God? Some say that 'I' should be kept out of the pulpit, and there's a wise warning in that adage; but calling sometimes on the riches of your own memory can be a powerful tool of communication. You could speak briefly about your experience of God's glory. (I recall in my mid-teen years looking from my bed at the glimmering stars and thinking about what there are, the imponderable distances of space, the mind-boggling concept of an infinite universe . . . it led to thoughts about the glory of a Creator God and an awareness of my own transitory minuteness ...)

You may want to go on to speak of other experiences where you have been gripped by the wonder of God's glory - on a less cosmic scale. (When a few years ago I heard the thunderfilled choral Society in Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall and they reached that climax in the triumphant affirmation of the Hallelujah chorus, it was a marvellous experience of human music; it was also the glory of God breaking through to move me near to tears.)

You could lead on to speak from your experience of glimpsing the glory of God in the wonder of birth (holding in your arms the tiny, fragile bundle that is your own new-born child or grandchild) and death (most ministers can recall as I can deaths where the tragedy of parting in death was mingled with a triumphant awareness of God's sustaining and conquering love - I trace the rainbow through the rain . . .. I lay in dust life's glory dead . . .)

Then you could tell of a person in your experience - not someone recognisable by your listeners, please! - in whose changed life you saw God's glory breaking through. (I recall a man, a wonderfully loyal but proud and sometimes a difficult man, who believed he had been ill-used and belittled by others in his local church, withdrew into himself, became morose, silent, resentful, yet in time by the grace of God - as he happily acknowledged - was able to forgive, forget, and see the people who had opposed him as his brothers and sisters in Christ.)

We see the glory of God not only in the big and striking and powerful. Sometimes big crowds came to Jesus, and he welcomed them and spoke to them. Mostly it's one on one conversations we read about, or quiet conversations with small groups. At this point you could speak for a while about Nicodemus coming to Jesus with his questions, and how the conversation led to the great affirmation of John 3:16.

You could speak of how the glory of God is to be seen in people around us - gentle, self-effacing people, who don't hold grudges and who know how to forgive. People who without having to think about it or to work out the cost to themselves put self aside to bring love and practical help to others.

You might mention that Isaiah's vision began with him seeing the Lord high and lifted up, seraphim in attendance, the threshold shaking, and the building filled with the smoke of God's presence. But it ended with just one man assured that in the mercy of God he was cleaned, and called to God's service.

The sermon could end by showing Jesus as the one in whom we see clearly the glory of God - Jesus in whom we see compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love (see Colossians 3:12-14) focused in one human life. Jesus who sought no fame or glory or adulation, who made himself nothing (Philippians 2:7).

John 3:16 shows us God's glory at its most glorious.

A Prayer of Adoration

We are here to worship our holy God.
Holy, holy, holy is God, Maker of everything.
Starlight and darkness, earth and sunshine,
Love, birth, growth, all from God. Glory to God, to be honoured and enjoyed forever.

Jesus the Christ, our brother who sets us free.
Glory to Jesus, full of life, words of grace, deeds of love, crown of thorns, wine and bread,
Cross of suffering, tomb of death,
Glory to the Christ, risen Lord, life and love unending.

The spirit of God is within us, among us.
Strength from God to empower us,
Spirit who joins us to one another in a fellowship of love,
Producing in our lives God's harvest of joy and peace:
Glory to the Spirit, presence of God with us.

Glory to God, Creator, Redeemer, and Spirit of life, today and always.

A Prayer of Confession for Trinity Sunday

God eternal, Creator of all, we are your people
When we use the gifts of your creation selfishly, greedily, brutally, destructively,
We are still your people, and your love never ends.
God, forgive!

Lord Christ, word made flesh, you are our Saviour and our Lord.
When your love and grace take no root in us,
When the springs of compassion in us dry up,
And we are indifferent to the needs of people, your people,
You are still our Saviour and our Lord.
Lord Christ, forgive!

Spirit divine, present in our prayers, guiding, healing spirit,
When we will have none of your guiding, when we say we need no help,
When in pride we turn away from you
You are still the Spirit within us and among us.
Holy spirit, forgive!
God eternal, Creator, Redeemer, Spirit of life,
Loves and forgives beyond our deserving, beyond all our measuring.
God forgives us now. Thanks be to God!

These prayers are likely to be of most help to people if they can join in those parts printed in italics.

 

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