05-26-24 A Vision in the Temple

Thomas J Parlette
“A Vision in the Temple”
Isaiah 6: 1-8
5/26/24
          Have you ever had an experience where time seemed to stand still? For a moment, everything seemed perfect, everything in life fell into place and made sense – even if just for a few seconds. Time stood still, a veil was lifted and you knew your place in the universe.
          I had a moment like that when I was 13 years old. We were living in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, in the state of Eastern Pennsylvania – which by the way is very different than Western Pennsylvania, but I digress.
          For my birthday, my parents took me to see my first real, professional musical in Philadelphia. We went to see Man of La Mancha, when Richard Kiley was touring with the show after it finished its Broadway run. As soon as the overture started, I was hooked. And as soon as the lights came up onstage, time stood for me – and I have loved the theater ever since. Man of La Mancha is still my #1 favorite musical.
          The comedian Billy Crystal had a moment like that when his father took him to his first Yankees game. It was a beautiful late spring day, and Crystal vividly recalls how time stood still as he emerged from the tunnels and saw the field at the old Yankee stadium for the first time. The sky was so blue, it hurt your eyes, the smell of the grass was intoxicating. Everything was right with the world as Crystal and his father shared their first game in Yankee stadium together – and he’s been a devout Yankees fan ever since.
          Bill Carl, a former President of Pittsburgh Seminary, had a somewhat similar experience. He was riding the bus in Pittsburgh one day and noticed a large, elderly, white woman trying unsuccessfully to reach down and tie he shoe. She strained forward, but she just couldn’t reach it. Across from her sat a young black man with wild hair and tattoos up both arms, listening to music on his phone. He watched the woman struggling to tie her shoes for a moment, then he knelt down in front of her. Carl watched as the young man tied her shoes gently in a nice, neat knot, then grin up at her. She nodded and smiled and mouthed the words, “Thank You.” No words were spoken. Carl says, “The scene glowed before me like a bright painting that blocked out everything else happening on the bus. When the spell broke, I looked around and saw everyone on the bus beaming with joy.” For that moment, time stood still.
          The prophet Isaiah once had a moment like that too. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord,” says Isaiah.
         This is a mysterious passage we have before us this morning – full of curious images and the mist of incense in the air, as we consider with Isaiah this otherworldly vision of God in the Temple.
          And that is appropriate, because this is Trinity Sunday – the Sunday that rolls around every year when ministers across the country from all denominations, struggle to explain one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith – the highly complex, theological idea that God is three in one. “God in three persons, blessed Trinity”- as the old hymn says.
          There have been lots of attempts to simplify this concept of the Trinity. Many people have tried over the years to offer up their own versions that would capture the richness of the image in a simple way. Some I have heard are ones like:
          God the Father, is the One who is over us,
          God the Son, is the One who was with us,
          And God the Spirit, is the One who remains with us.
I like that one – that’s a good way of explaining it.
Another I’ve heard is:
          God the Father, is the God of the Old Testament,
          God the Son, is the God of the New Testament,
          And God the Spirit, is the God of Today.
Not bad, it’s an interesting way to think about the Trinity, but perhaps it puts a little too much importance on the Spirit, and not enough on God and Jesus Christ.
Another way of thinking about the Trinity is:
         God, as the Creator,
          The Son as the Revealer or Redeemer,
          And the Spirit as the Companion or Sustainer.
That’s probably my favorite way of describing the Trinity – God as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
          This passage from Isaiah is often cited as a cornerstone text in the theology of the Trinity. Nowhere does Isaiah expressly use the word Trinity, or refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But if we read carefully, we do see God wearing three different hats in this passage:
         God, the unknowable mystery,
          God, the incarnate being who forgives and saves us,
          And God, the One who calls, commissions, sends and supports us in our prophetic calling.
          But standing with Isaiah in the Temple this morning, we can’t help but be overwhelmed with the sheer mystery of God, the utter holiness of the Lord.
          Indeed, Isaiah’s favorite way of referring to the first person of the Trinity, God the Creator, is as “The Holy One of Israel.” This hidden, Holy One, shrouded in mystery, comes to us in glances and whispers, always dwelling in obscurity, never quite showing the full divine nature.
          There was once a pastor who wanted to teach a group of young children about this mysterious, holy aspect of God. He led the group to the door of the sanctuary, and before entering, the Pastor stood silently until they all qui9eted down. Speaking in no more than a whisper, he said, “We’re going into a very special room. You must be completely quiet. I don’t want to hear a sound as we walk into that room, because God is in there.”
          Then the Pastor pushed open the door of the sanctuary. As they walked in a sat down, you could hear a pin drop. They all held their breath as they gazed up at the stain glass windows, the vaulted ceilings and the rose window, one just like ours. There was a holy hush in the room as they felt a little bit of the mysterious holiness of God.
          But despite the unknowable aspect of God in three persons, take note of what happens to Isaiah in this story. Especially notice where and when this encounter takes place. This vision happens in the Temple, in the Sanctuary. This vision occurs in the form of a worship service.
          First, Isaiah sees the Lord, he becomes aware of the presence of the Holy One. Adoration and praise are offered as the seraphim sing:
          “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.
          The whole earth is full of his glory.”
Very similar to what we do each week in our Call to Worship.
          Isaiah’s response to this awareness of the holiness of God? He confesses his sinful nature.
          “Woe is me, I am unclean, I am not worthy to stand before God.”
Again, something we do every week in our prayer of confession.
          Then one of the seraphs flies over to Isaiah with a hot coal and touches his mouth, saying, “your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Isaiah has been forgiven, assured that he has received God’s grace – Words of Life to be sure.
          Then the voice of the Lord, the Word of God confronts Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, who will go for us?” – just as God’s Word confronts, challenges, comforts, assures and challenges us each week in scripture, sermon and affirmation of faith.
          And finally, this model of worship ends with commitment. “Here am I, send me,” just as worship service ends with an offering of our gifts to God and a challenge to walk in God’s ways as we leave this sanctuary.
          The point of all this? Yes, God is mysterious. Yes, God is, to a large degree, unknowable. Even our best efforts in developing this idea of the Trinity to describe God falls short.
          But God still comes to us. God comes to us in our worship. This worship time is the meeting ground between the human and the Divine. In this space, we are confronted with God’s holy presence. We offer our adoration and our praise. We are forgiven and receive assurance of God’s grace. We are comforted and challenged by God’s word. In this space, we are then commissioned to go forth and live holy lives, imitating the Holy One of Israel.
          This is why I think it’s especially appropriate that we recognize and bless our graduates today – for they now venture forth in their lives, commissioned to live their lives for God in whatever profession they choose, acting in the world for good.
          As Dag Hammerskold once said, “In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.”
          The Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev would agree when he wrote, “To desire and expect nothing for oneself – and to have profound sympathy for others – is genuine holiness.”
          The Holy life that we are called to imitate is not “ME- centered.” It is “OTHER –centered.” It is “GOD – Centered,” fulfilling both the Great Commandments – to love God and love your neighbor.
          The Holy life is not lived in gloomy isolation, hidden away from the world. The Holy life is lived in the world, while we remain not of this world.
          The Holy life is as Frederic Huntington once wrote, one in which “religious principle is put into action. Holiness is faith gone to work.”
          As Thomas Merton once said, “The Holy one wants to be a window through which God’s mercy shines on the world.”
          Isaiah’s vision in the Temple confronts us with the presence of the unknowable God who comes to us in glances and whispers. This vision in the Temple assures us that God comes to us in our worship to comfort us and challenge us. Isaiah’s vision also reminds us that when we experience the presence of God, time stands still and we are changed forever. We are called, commissioned and sent to live Holy Lives, imitating the Holy One of Israel.
          So whether you are just graduating or whether you’ve been laboring in the world for many years now – when the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send? – may we be moved to answer, “Here am I, send me.”
          May God be praised. Amen.