Trinity Sunday 2024

Today is Trinity Sunday in the historic church calendar. 

Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday of the season of Pentecost. It was established in the 1300s as a feast day of holy observance, and then in the early 1900s, it was raised to a primary of the first-class high holy day in the Catholic Church. 

Trinity Sunday, as you might imagine, is a Sunday to celebrate the Holy Trinity, the doctrine that God is one but that God is also three.  Essentially, God manifests God's self through Father, Son, and Spirit, or in another way, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. 

This doctrine is mysterious and sometimes complex, making it difficult to get our arms around.  And I'm not going into that at all today. This is a different kind of sermon.  If you want to hear what I say about the Trinity, look up "Three Is A Magic Number" in the sermons online at my church's website, or find it in my blog if you'd like to read it. 

Instead, I want to start today's sermon by discussing Imposter Syndrome. 

If you don't know, Imposter Syndrome is the feeling that everyone will find out that you are a fraud and that you have no idea what you are doing.  

We wonder if people will discover that we might be winging it.  And then we'll be found out. 

I did some research on the phrase "winging it." It goes back to 19th-century theater when actors studied their lines in the stage's wings because they were called on to replace someone in the production at the last minute. 

I saw a play at the Globe Theater in London a couple of years ago.  We were set to watch an adaptation of Henry VIII, but the only guy in the cast (who played Henry) fell ill, and one of the other actors (a woman) had to fill in for him.  

Most of us know what this is like.  Sometimes, we get thrust into playing roles in our lives that we feel unprepared to play.  And so we wing it, which can often lead to a feeling of imposter syndrome. 

But it can also keep us from playing other roles if we are careful-- -roles that we might be born to play but never know because we shrink back from when we feel called. 

But what if I told you that God sees us differently?  

When God chooses you, you can make all the excuses you want… 

But the fire will touch you and ignite something you can’t put out very easily.  

The story we're reading today is about the prophet Isaiah's calling and a moment when he had a decision to make about the calling on his life—a moment he felt completely unprepared for. 

Here's what I want us to hold on to today: 

GOD DOESN'T CALL THE QUALIFIED; GOD QUALIFIES THE CALL

Isaiah 6:1-8 

This story has a setting, characters, drama and some mystery.  

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

The uncertainty in our world contrasts with the reassurance of God. 

The glory of God permeates all of Creation; the “otherness” is incredible.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Isaiah is immediately struck by his unworthiness in the face of his vision. 

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

The symbol of being cleansed by fire—refinement is necessary 

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Before you know it, Isaiah finds himself volunteering for a job that he probably never wanted but was made to do. 

What Does This Story Teach Us?

• God’s ways are not our ways. 
• You aren’t qualified, but you are called—leave the rest to God. 
• When your moment comes, and you know it… say the words. 

GOD DOESN'T CALL THE QUALIFIED; GOD QUALIFIES THE CALLED