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This week as we celebrate Trinity Sunday in our lessons we get a glimpse of two very special invitations. The first is God’s call to the prophet Isaiah: “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!” (Isaiah 6:8) Isaiah initially felt unworthy of God’s calling but he allowed God to transform his lifeby moving him from a life of sin to a life of service. Isaiah is able to respond in faith. “Here am I send me” The second is Jesus’ very special charge to each of us to be involved in his mission of reconciling the world with God in love. Like Isaiah, we too may find ourselves feeling unworthy. The good news is that through the power of the cross Jesus declares us as worthy and calls us to share his mission: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19–20) And just in case we still have any doubts about our worthiness for the task Jesus promises us: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”(Matthew 28:20) How shall we respond? I pray that along with Isaiah our response may be: Here am I send me!
Andrew Breathe on me, breath of God Edwin Hatch wrote this hymn in 1878. The hymn is a prayer. The first line of each stanza is "Breathe on me, breath of God."
That phrase reminds us of the creation in which God "formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living thing" (Genesis 2:7). It also reminds us of Jesus breathing on his disciples and saying to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). We need the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God, living within us – guiding us, inspiring us, helping us to live the kind of life that God created us to live. Edwin Hatch's hymn prays that God will breathe on us and fill us with life anew, even as he breathed life into the first man, Adam. It prays that God will breathe on us to purifiy our hearts. It prays that God will breathe on us until we are wholly devoted to God. It prays that God will breathe on us that we might never die. This hymn, then, is a prayer for God's help in this life and throughout eternity. Andrew Download this week's pewsheet (pdf) |
Rev. Andrew SmithVicar of Light in the Hills |