“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. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’  Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ 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!’ And he said, ‘Go and say to this people: “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.” Make the mind of this people dull,    and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.’” (Isaiah 6:1-10) And so another Trinity Sunday; many clergy rightly worry about it because they feel as if they’re going to have to talk about analogies that never really seem to get the job done.  You know things like an egg (shell, yellow and white), water (liquid, steam and ice), analogies that perhaps create more confusion than illuminate the central belief of our faith.  The ancient theologians saw many Trinitarian references in Isaiah’s call.  So they talked about the three pairs of wings on the seraphs and the threefold “Holy, holy, holy” which we continue to sing.  That’s all well and good, but I wonder if we have not actually missed the most important Trinitarian references.  I say that because here we encounter the “high and lofty” God who still comes down, the “hem of his robe” filling the temple. And of even greater importance, here we encounter the Lord who enters into a broken world, to a “person of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips” in order to give forgiveness.  And here we meet the God who invites us to participate in a work which seems foolish by the world’s standards.  Here we meet the Lord Jesus who reveals the truth of his Father in the power of the Holy Spirit who offers the Gospel to people who do not understand and refuse to hear.  Here, with the prophet, Isaiah you and I meet the Trinitarian God who refuses to be turned aside by our sin but continues to enter into the toughest places of our lives.  With that in mind, I want to join the song of those very strange seraphs and give all praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  How about you?  Have a great week!