Friday, July 26, 2024

May 26, 2024 - Holy Trinity Year B

Isaiah 6:1-8
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17


A month or two ago
I gave a homily
And after Morning Prayer ended

Charlie came up to me and said:

“Well…that was…complicated!”

 

And he was right. I was infatuated with my head!

I was putting too much stock in a certain kind of knowing.

 

The feast of the Holy Trinity

Given that it is the only Sunday dedicated to a doctrine

Naturally leans toward the head…toward engaging head kind of knowing

But…

[Thank you Charlie]

Let’s approach this a different way.

 

No solving

No explaining

Instead let’s dig into our own experience

In search of the truth about our Trinitarian God!

 

The first reading from Isaiah

Is his…Isaiah’s call story

The lectionary committee probably chose it 

for its vivid images and other-worldly language 

 

I love that bit about of the hem of God’s robe

Just a piece…a little corner… of his hem would fill the Temple!

Remember…the temple = 25 football fields! 

 

And the Psalm uses Water, Thunder, Wind and Fire to speak of God’s power and might

 

Question:

How many of you have experienced the greatness, and majesty…

The out-of-this worldness of God?

(seriously, raise your hands)

 

The beauty of the natural world does this to us…doesn’t it?

The whole phenomenon of the eclipse

The sheer vastness of an ocean

The perspective from being on top of a mountain and taking in the panorama

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to an old friend who lives outside of Nashville and I could barely hear her for all the cicadas.

After I hung up…I’m wondering, 

How do the Cicadas know when 17 years has passed?
What I learned was that kind of experience

THe life of the humble cicada…pointed to the creativity and awesomeness of God!

 

That’s one way of nibbling around the mystery of God.

 

 

In our reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans

It seems to me that Paul is getting at the other side of Majesty and Awe.

Paul is pointing to God’s closeness and tenderness and companionship

We are adopted by God

Invited to call God “Abba”/Daddy

Paul wants us to hear God saying “You…you…belong to me”

 

How many of us have experienced the closeness…the intimacy of God?

Like you could feel God’s breath on your skin?

A time when God was so near.

 

For me…the sign is tears. I tear up.

Maybe I am deliberately praying…maybe not.

But that companionship

Its that feeling when I am alone but I don’t feel alone.

 

These experiences witness to the fact that we know

We know

Not primarily in our minds

But in our bodies and memories

We know about the majesty and greatness of God

And we know the nearness and friendship of God

 

We have two out of three…one more

Nicodemus

I like Nicodemus…I can relate to Nicodemus

I am befuddled too

 

As John’s gospel unfolds Nicodemus becomes less and less befuddled

It’s as if he needs time to move out of his head

 

The thing I have learned about John’s Gospel is that he poses Nicodemus over and against the woman at the well

They interpret each other

What Nic gets wrong

SHE gets right

 

They both encounter Jesus

But the woman has no barriers

What happened between them changes her life 

And she can’t help but tell everyone she meets

 

And from the Gospel we have

Wait…one more question:

How many of you have experienced the presence of: 

the love…the joy…Of God

In an encounter with another person?

A spouse…lover…friend…stranger???

For some reason it’s the memory of being reconciled with someone I have hurt that comes to mind.

But also…strangers

 

A couple months ago

I was helping out at the food pantry

…some of you might remember this…

But there was a man coming along the line

Collecting his items

And at each stop he gave a gift

He gave me two buckeyes

I’m from OHIO…I know about buckeyes

 

I have those two buckeyes in a little bowl on a side table

I see them every day

 

I think this man wanted to not just receive

But to offer

He wanted the food pantry to be a place of encounter

Which is so much more than a “giveaway”

 

I don’t know but I can see him

And seeing him

Helps me see others

And more specifically 

It helps me see the way God sees

 

 

 

So we have from Isaiah and Psalm --
the transcendence of God

The otherness…the over the top greatness of God

[God the Father]

 

And we have from Paul

The here and now companionship of God

[God the Son]

 

 

So Father

And Son

And

I’m going suggest that when we encounter God through the another person

That is the Holy Spirit at work.

 

So it is important

Without the majesty 

We would have to live without awe and wonder

 

Without tenderness and nearness

we’ll have to walk alone

bearing it all

living as if I don’t need any help

 

without the Holy Spirit

I will fail to see the gifts others have to offer

right before my eyes

 

And all of that matters

All of that grounds

How I live and move and relate

All of that sustains me

 

 

 

 

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