The Rev. Jimmy Abbott
May 26, 2024
Isaiah 6:1-8

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). This is a famous story from the Old Testament. It’s about seven hundred and fifty years before Jesus. The prophet Isaiah is in the ancient Temple in the city of Jerusalem. When suddenly he has a vision of the Lord God Almighty, a vision of angels; Isaiah gets a glimpse of heaven on earth. And after all the noise and the praise, the Lord God asks who will go, who will go and serve as the voice of God to God’s people. Isaiah says, “Here am I; send me!” 

Here am I; send me. I have preached that sermon many times. How Abraham, and Moses, and Isaiah, and all the heroes of our faith respond to God in those words of courage – “Here am I; send me!” It’s part of my own call.

But that’s not the sermon I have for today. As I read this passage for what seems like the thousandth time, something else caught me. It’s how the story begins, “In the year that King Uzziah died…” In the year that King Uzziah died, it’s so specific. This is not, “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” This is not, “once upon a time.” This is the year King Uzziah died. Isaiah is putting down a marker. Isaiah’s call, it happened at a real time and in a real place. That year, that time, that is burned into Isaiah’s memory.

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. And because of that, Isaiah said “yes,” to God. This, too, was a real thing that happened to a real person at a real time in a real place.

This is one aspect of our faith that sets us apart from other religions. The God of Israel, the God of the prophets, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, shows up within human history. This is not some fable. These are things that happened, in real places, at specific times, to actual people. You remember reading all those old Greek myths in high school? They were always set in some legendary past, never in real history. And I’m not knocking on eastern religions, but our faith is different. It’s not a vague mythology. These stories in the Bible are rooted in actual events. They are not fantastical tales. No, the stories of Jesus that we read Sunday by Sunday, these stories like the call of the prophet Isaiah; not only are these religious stories but they are history. “In the year that King Uzziah died…”

On no date in the Christian year is this a more important lesson than today – Trinity Sunday. On Trinity Sunday we celebrate how the One God is Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On the surface, this seems like a fable. Like a myth. We come up with silly analogies and cute little ways to think about it. God is like water – liquid, frozen, and gas. God is like a shamrock, one stem with three leaves. The idea of the Trinity has become so abstract that it seems more fit for theological hand-wringing than for actually following Jesus. It’s almost as if the doctrine of the Trinity bothers us, we have no warm fuzzy emotions about it, so we move on without giving it much thought. 

But this saddens me. Because this One God is not a problem that we need to solve. God is not a riddle that we need to figure out. God is not a myth. No, we believe that this One God enters into human time and space, even though God created time and space. In the year King Uzziah died, the Lord God showed up to Isaiah. This is how God works. Do you remember how the Christmas story starts in the Gospel of Luke? It says, “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (Luke 2:1). Kind of a boring way to start Christmas, but it’s functioning the same way, Luke is putting down a historical marker. This is when Jesus was born. In a real place at a real time with real people involved. Or, think of the Nicene Creed that we’ll say in just a few moments, “…he was crucified under Pontius Pilate…” That’s not so that we remember what a terrible dude Pontius Pilate was, though he was most certainly a terrible dude, it’s a historical marker. Jesus died while Pontius Pilate was in ancient Palestine. This is grounding the story of Jesus with actual events, with real people, in real places. The Triune God, the One God, is not removed from us in some distant heaven. No, we firmly believe that this God, this Lord of all creation, shows up in human history. “In the year that King Uzziah died…”

What does this mean for us? Like Isaiah, we all have those moments, those years, those events seared into our memories. Those times when God showed up. I know you have those dates in your own life. Specific days that you remember something so overwhelmingly beautiful or tragic. Those dates when the Triune God tore open the curtains and shook the thresholds of your life. When you caught a glimpse of the Lord God. I’ll never forget that I was in St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco on December 19, 2010. That’s when and where I became a priest. November 28, 2013, St. Luke’s Hospital in The Woodlands, our daughter was born. You have those, too. Treasure those memories. And thank the Triune God that all the terrible majesty and presence of God showed up. These were real things that happened in real places to real people. God is not abstract; God is real.

So, I will be so bold to say that we should expect that God will show up in our lives, in real ways, in real places. If we are going to church, saying our prayers, taking communion, but not expecting God to be present, then what’s the point? This life is much too hard to go about it without needing the Lord God. And speaking personally, any day that I don’t expect God to show up, well, that’s a pretty miserable day if the only person I can count on is myself. 

“In the year King Uzziah died…” he saw the Lord. But there is more. Every single year, every single day, we should expect to encounter the Lord God; if only we would open our eyes to see it. 

This is how you can honor Trinity Sunday. Keep your eyes open for the presence of God in your life. Expect God to show up, day by day. And when you say your prayers tonight, think about how God showed up for you today. Today; Sunday, May 26, 2024, remember how God showed up today and loved you. Sunday, May 26, 2024, we should all expect that God’s presence is revealed to us, and God does so every single day. And do that every day, be on the lookout intentionally for how God is showing up in your life. And once you get in that habit of doing that, day by day looking out for Jesus, you’ll see the Holy Spirit and that love and grace all over your life. And like Isaiah, you could boldly say when and where God was. “In the year king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.”

And in short, this is the doctrine of the Trinity. The idea of the Trinity is not some mealy-mouthed mathematical equation, it’s not some silly analogy about a shamrock. No, the doctrine of the Trinity is that this One God in Three Persons showed up in the year that King Uzziah died, the Lord Jesus Christ showed up to his disciples, and the Holy Spirit is showing up right now, in your life, today.

References

Childs, Brevard S. Isaiah. 1st ed. The Old Testament Library. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.