Trinity

Trinity Isaiah 6:8

To day is Trinity Sunday, the day that the Church celebrates the Holy Trinity.

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one in three, three in one.

As we have Matins today, I am not going to take the Holy Trinity as my theme, instead I am going to take as my text Isaiah 6:8 which is part of the Old Testament reading for to day.

 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,” “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Up until a few years ago people would start a career, possible as an apprentice when they left school and stay with that same employer until they retired and often got gifts for long service.

These days things have changed and people often change jobs for advancement or more money and sometimes just because they are feed up with they current job.

Even retirement can be seen as a job change as it was for me.

In fact these days most people can go through a number of job changes in their lives, and sometimes even several different careers.

Each transition tends to be filled with tension, uncertainty, and sometimes even doubt as to if you have made the right move.

In fact, some Christians facing a career change hope that God will somehow give them an indication of what He wants them to do, effectively making the decision for them.

This is what happened to Isaiah.



He was given a vision of the throne room of heaven in which God called him to become His prophet and in that vision God said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Isaiah in reply said, “Here am I! Send me.” 

And God replied, “Go and talk to my people, (Is. 6:1–9).

There was no doubt as to what God wanted Isaiah for, we do not always get such a clear calling, but God still calls us to do His work today.

But what do we mean when we say that someone has a calling?

It is often said that a nurse has a calling due to her devotion and care of the sick.

We think of a Priest and I would like to read to you something that was translated from the Greek for me which sums up a priest calling.

“What art thou, O Priest

            Not from thyself

        For of nothing wast thou made

Not for thyself

        But Set between man and God

Not to thyself

        But to the Church the Bride  

Not thine own art thou

                                But slave of all mankind

Not thyself art thou

                                But servant of God

What art thou then, O Priest

                                Naught, yet all”

A monk or nun like a priest also has a calling, but live by a rule of life and usually in a cloistered environment.

The Rule of St Benedict which a monk’s or nun’s rule of life is based on.

Was written by St Benedict one thousand five hundred years ago and is still in use to day in varies forms by the different orders of monks and nuns in the world.

As Christians we are all called to do our part, it may be that we are a church organist, someone who reads a lesson or bring others to church we all play our part and fit together like pieces in a large jigsaw puzzle.

This same kind of dramatic encounter that Isaiah had with God, leading to a major career decision, was experienced by a number of other people in the Bible:

Moses came upon a burning bush while tending his father-in-law’s herds in Midian.

God spoke to him and directed him to return to Egypt and lead His people out of slavery into the Promised Land (Ex. 3:1–10).

Gideon met the Angel of the Lord, who was sitting under a Oak tree, while threshing wheat in a secluded location.

The Lord appointed Gideon to save the Israelites from the oppressive Midianites (Judg. 6:11–14).

David was tending sheep when the Lord directed Samuel to anoint him with oil as the next king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:1–13).

Saul encountered a blinding light and the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus, and was told that he was to become the Lord’s spokesman (Acts 9:1–22).

After this Saul who became know as Paul went from a persecutor of Jesus to one of the greatest missionary that the world has ever known.

You could say that the primary example of a job change, or calling is Jesus Himself, who after His Baptism left His job as a carpentry for a public ministry after hearing His Father’s voice from Heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

But Jesus came in to this world to do job, which He started after His Baptism by John at the River Jordan (Matt. 3:17).

Each of these encounters was initiated by God, and each one led to a career change involving a special task or purpose.

Yet despite the drama of these encounters, they appear to be the exception rather than the rule.

Most people are not given such a clear sign as to what God wants them to do in life.

Instead, they must make decisions about how best to use their God-given skills and abilities in whatever opportunities the Lord brings their way.

We will never be like one of the great Prophets or Apostles of the past, but Jesus still calls us, and will only ask us to do what He knows we can do.

 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”