Our Scripture for Today:

We continue to read from the Lectionary today. Our passages come from Isaiah in the Old Testament, the book of Romans in the NT, and then the Gospel reading is from John.

From Isaiah we read in Isaiah 6:1-8:

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

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. 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. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

From Paul’s letter to the church in Rome we read:

Romans 8:12–17 ESV

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

And our Gospel reading for today is from the Gospel of John 3:1-17:

John 3:1–17 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 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. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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 word of our Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Please pray with me.

Lord, as we come to your word this day, give us ears to hear, wisdom to understand and courage to do as your Word tells us. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, by the Power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of our Creator God. Amen.

Have you ever gasped in surprise or awe? Perhaps you were on a curve on a road or a trail and as you turned there before you was an amazing view. Or perhaps you heard some good and long awaited news. Or, perhaps you were surprised by some less than good news. And you gasped. In awe. In joy. In sadness.

Last week we celebrated Pentecost and the spirit filling the people of the church. I think about the breath of life that God breathed into Adam and then Eve. We spoke of the Spirit and not knowing where it was going, but definitely seeing the results of it as we do the wind.

Today we celebrate the Trinity, the recognition that there are three persons in the Godhead. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit - three distinct persons and yet One all of them coeternal with one another.

In the beginning, God said, “Let us create...” Us? Yes, all three were present at the time. Perhaps this is why the Seraphim cry out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy...”

In our readings today from Isaiah, Romans, and the Gospel of John, we get a glimpse of all three persons.

In Isaiah, we come into contact with pure Holiness. The Lord is high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple. And the Seraphim are above him. (By the way, Seraphim is the plural of Seraph so there are more than one).

The Seraphim are calling to one another:

Isaiah 6:3 ESV

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And Isaiah realizes he is in the presence of absolute holiness, and he is anything but holy. He cries out, “Woe is me!” why, look at verse 5

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

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!”

Isaiah knows he’s not holy, but what he is seeing is. In that moment he recognizes everything that has come out of his mouth that was not good. What comes out of our mouth flows from our heart, so we are known by our words. In that moment, one seraph takes a burning coal:

Isaiah 6:7 ESV

And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Your guilt is taken away. Your sin is atoned for. - Powerful words and most needed for us all. Not one of us can say we’re holy, all of us like Isaiah can cry out as people of unclean lips and hearts.

In our Gospel message from John we heard about being fundamentally changed, that we must be “born of water and the Spirit,” to enter the kingdom of God. And we heard the amazing promise of eternal life from being “born again.”

Rebirth is a fundamental change - you are born into a new being, no longer set on things that are of this world, but on those that are eternal.

This being born again as we use in our contemporary vernacular is having turned our lives over to Jesus. And what happened to the sin that once filled us?

As we’ve focused on throughout Lent and then Easter, Jesus was our atoning sacrifice. Our sins have been atoned for, our guilt indeed as believers in Christ has been taken away.

And Paul reminds us in his letter to the church in Rome,

Romans 8:13 ESV

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Now, these deeds of the body would seem to be focusing on the things that are according to the flesh - according to our desires. But by the Spirit we put these to death that not only might we live, but also be led by the Spirit.

And then we come to this statement:

Romans 8:15 ESV

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

If we have put aside our fleshly desires and yielded to the Holy Spirit in our lives we are children of God, and as Paul writes, “If children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ...”

So, as a child of God how are we to live that out?

Imagine being an heir to the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, to being a co-heir with Christ. It would mean that we were heirs not only of the abundance of riches within God’s kingdom, but that we were also heirs in the family business.

Look at almost any large corporation founded by a family, and you will find lots of family members in key positions working within that organization. What might this mean for you and for me?

If we go back to the vision of Isaiah, we read in the closing verse:

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

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

The voice of the Lord was saying, “Whom shall I send?”

Send?

For What?

Where?

When?

To Whom?

Why?

How?

Not one of the answers to these questions is stated prior to the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

I need to know more.

I’m not ready.

I don’t speak well.

I’m not sure I’m the one you want.

I have other commitments.

Isaiah also didn’t give any of these excuses. He simply said, Here I am! Send me.”

He didn’t know where he was going, for what purpose, when he would leave, to whom he was going, why he was going, or how he was going to get there. He simply said, I’m here.

Today it seems more and more that we hear a lot of “calls to action” on all kinds of issues. And many of them may be causes that you (at least vocally) are passionate about. But have you gone? Are you going?

Are We Complacent?

After Pentecost the church was birthed and grew dramatically throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Jesus had died making atonement for their sins, he rose again reminding them of the resurrection and eternal life, He sent the Holy Spirit, and it was all for the glory of God the father.

Thousands and thousands of men and women, have heard the call of our country and stepped up to defend our country, to serve our nation. Thousands and thousands have given the ultimate sacrifice of their life here on this earth in that service. They heard the call, they responded.

The Lord is on His throne, the train of his robes fills the temple, and he says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Is our response a list of questions? Or, is it one of “Here I am”?

Will we be complacent and do nothing? Or are we ready to go wherever God the Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit might lead us?

My hope is we are ready. Not by our own power, not by our own understanding, but by our faith.

To God be the glory! AMEN

Please pray with me

Creator God, as we have gathered here today some of us are ready to take up any charge you might give us, others…not so much. Lord Jesus knowing the price your paid and how you suffered for our sins, we can’t help but be thankful and desire to give back. Holy Spirit as you guide us, lead us, comfort us, and empower us, we pray that we may live as the people we were created to be, living as children of God, and bringing Glory to our Triune God. We pray this to the glory of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.