Full of Glory
Isaiah 6:1-8[1]
The temptation to narrow our
focus to the confines of our own self-interest is one that I think we all have
to face. I find that ironic, especially in this age when we have access to a
broad range of information on an unprecedented scale. Our seemingly unlimited
reach doesn’t necessarily result in our being more connected with the human
family in all its diversity. Instead, we tend to limit our horizons to those
who look like us, who talk like us, and who think like us. And the end result
is that as our view of life becomes small, so our experience of life becomes
small.
Our lesson from Isaiah for
today takes us out of that narrow, limited view of the world and places us in
the presence of the God who not only inhabits “the whole earth” (Isa. 6:3), but
who is also at work among the whole human family in ways we may not even be
able to imagine. The vision of our “holy, holy, holy” God whose “glory” fills
the whole earth necessarily broadens our perspective on life. We cannot remain
in the confines of our own self-interest when we catch a glimpse of this
vision. And when the call comes, “Who will go for us?,” a broader vision of
what God is doing in our world will compel us to answer, “Here am I; send me!”
(Isa. 6:8).
On this Trinity Sunday, it’s
important to remind ourselves that the Christian view of God as three-in-one places
our understanding of who God is and what God is doing in the world in the
broadest possible perspective. Trinity says that God is the one who created all
things and all people, and that he made them very good. Trinity says that God
entered into our struggle in the person of Jesus in order to heal our
brokenness. And Trinity says that as the Spirit is always among us, working to
make all things new, this is God’s doing. As a result, it only makes sense to
affirm that “the whole earth is full of God’s glory” (Isa. 6:3).
This may be no big deal to
you. You may take all that for granted because you’ve spent your whole life in the
church. But there are many people in this world who do not have this view of
God. Some think our world sort of “happened” on its own, which means that any
“God” we might believe in is merely a spectator. Some may affirm that God truly
created all things, but the notion that such a God would actually enter our
experience to do something about it is completely foreign. Then there are those
who think that God may have done some wonderful things in the past, but that
was a long time ago. In other words, whatever God may be out there is basically
irrelevant to real life.
As we’ve seen, Scripture
articulates a far-reaching perspective of who God is and what God is doing by
speaking of God’s “glory.” I realize that “glory” is a word that we don’t much
use in our everyday conversations. I would say that “glory” is a word that we say
only in church, and then it really doesn’t mean much to us. But in the Bible,
the notion of “glory” is a wonderful image of our three-in-one God. In some
contexts, the word glory seems to refer to the “beauty” of God. In others, it
has the notion of God’s “majesty.” And I think that everywhere the word glory
occurs, it has the implication of God’s “mystery.”
I think the best way to illustrate
this is with nature. This, of course, is not original to me. That creation
bears witness to God is a timeless insight. Think about a breathtaking mountain
vista with its seemingly immovable firmness and crisp clarity. Imagine a
vibrant sunset that re-defines the spectrum of colors from red to purple and
stretches across the vast expanse of the sky. Recall a spectacular seascape
that gives only a hint of the power that moves such incalculable volumes of
water down to the murky depths of the oceans. Visualize the amazing beauty of a
nebula in space, massive and stretching its colors over unimaginable
distances. These and many other images
bear witness to God’s “glory.”
Of course, the first thing
that comes to my mind in this is the beauty of it all. When the Bible speaks
about God’s “glory,” it presents God as the author of beauty—all beauty. But
perhaps in the same breath, when you speak of the beauty of creation, you also
immediately perceive the amazing power that is behind it all. From this
perspective, the Bible ascribes “glory” to God as the source and highest embodiment
of the power behind all that exists. And behind the breathtaking beauty and the
awe-inspiring power there is a “something more.” It is the mystery behind and
through all mystery, and we perceive that this presence is what we affirm as God’s
“glory.”
I hope this gives new meaning
to the affirmation “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy
Ghost” we sing every Sunday. When we do so, we are affirming that God’s beauty,
power and mystery are all around us, all the time. At the same time, we are
recognizing that our lives in this world are a part of something much larger
than can be contained in our limited horizons. That means we cannot help but
say “Here am I, send me!” when we hear the call to join God’s work of sustaining
the beauty and life all around us. It means we will look for ways to join in
the work of establishing God’s kingdom of justice, peace, and freedom, as well
as God’s work of “making all things new.” And as we do so, we will recognize we
and all those around us are always “full of God’s glory.”
[1] ©
2018 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 5/27/2018 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
