“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.”
When Isaiah is in God’s presence he looks up to see the face of God
and looks up,
and up,
and up,
and he can’t look high enough to see…
Only the hem of God’s robe is present, and even it is such a magnificent thing that it fills the whole temple and has no beginning or end.
For that matter, surrounding the throne are these Seraphim
—these “fiery things”
—angelic beings swooping around the throne
literally burning with God’s holiness.
They sing of God, “Different, different, different, Lord God Almighty.”
Isaiah is overawed by his smallness…
The gap, the difference, between holy and human lands with such a force that the foundation of the temple shakes.
Yes, God is God and Isaiah is not…And yet!
“The whole earth is full of his glory.”
God’s grandeur saturates God’s world.
Through flaming coals Isaiah is brought into the conversation:
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
And he can answer, can say,
“Send me!”
From plain human lips, can come God’s word to the people.
Isaiah can enter into the holiness of it all; can join in the intimate song of the angels:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Right there, in this short angelic song, is the tension within the human experience of God
—God is holy—wholly other.
Distinctly separate from the creation,
transcendent…
And God is so close,
so intimate,
so imminent
that we can say he is in our heart, without lying.
There is a tension between God the Transcendent One whose name we ought not even utter,
and God imminent, seeking relationship with us at every turn, closer to us than our jugular vein.
In the Christian tradition, this tension finds its fullest expression in the mystery of the Trinity.
Our outworking of the connection between the Godhead and the individual Persons of the Trinity.
The mystery of God expressed in the relatively recent Maoiri Confession we began today’s service with,
and in the Athanasian Creed we will confess after the sermon,
and we will sing of this mystery in our closing hymn today.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Prayer
Holy—the Father, the one who is Creator, not creature.
Holy—the one who knows the depths of canyons, and sea, and space. Who empowers atoms, cells, and streams of cicadas ascending from the deep.
Holy—all of it, the laws of physics themselves held together
—the Sustainer of the Universe
—the sustainer, too, of my whole self, from psyche to sense of smell.
You, dear Lord, give to me all that is necessary for living,
all of it a gift of God!
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Holy—He who is the Word of God,
human and divine,
the bridge between.
Holy—Jesus,
you graft the Holy Holy Holy onto shouts of Hosanna,
for truly in you we find both heavenly altar and entrance into Jerusalem.
Holy—Redeemer Kinsperson,
Son of God
—Heir of all of Creation.
We belong to you!
You are our allegiance and our identity!
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Holy—Spirit,
our belief in God, that we can trust in God at all
—it was first kindled by you! Kindled and blazing!
Holy—this continual call,
a call to your creation, the yearning for completion.
calling your church, foibles and all, this mixed body you bless continually.
Calling me too! Calling me in my divided and disparate self to you!
Holy—how you:
Gather us like a hen her brood,
Enlighten us so we shine like a lamp on a lampstand, bringing light to the whole house,
And Sustain us through it all.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit—Holy Godhead.
You are strong to save.
In you rests true authority and majesty—our awe, love, and trust!
You are the great I Am, you were and are and shall be.
You fill the temple, fill the world, and fill that which is beyond what is.
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Amen and Alleluia.
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