2026-05-31 (Iain) Ambassadors in a World on Fire

Ambassadors in a World on Fire: Trinity Sunday 31st May 2026

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday and I want to continue from a reflection I gave 3 weeks ago called ‘Help from the Holy Sanctuary’. To briefly summarise, I described the Trinity of Father, Son & Holy Spirit as being a place of perfect love, peace and joy, untouched and uncorrupted by the evil of this world, a world fuelled by fear. I went on to describe how the Trinity, using Andre Rublev’s famous icon, can act as a sanctuary to help us in our troubled world, primarily through the Holy Spirit.


Rublev’s icon is based on a Byzantium image called the Hospitality of Abraham, which is based on our Old Testament reading, where Abraham, Sarah and their servants provide a beautiful depiction of generous and radical hospitality to 3 strangers, unbeknown to them, Angels: if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves. There is an element of frenzy as Abraham hastens to Sarah’s tent saying to Sarah: Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes before running to his herd to kill a calf for a feast. Abraham is rushing to ensure his guests are provided for and as they eat he stands behind them as a sign of honouring them.

Many scholars argue that these 3 strangers/angels are an example of the Trinity occurring in the Old Testament – conveying a God who is willing to come to our home and be waited upon: this would good news in itself but the Gospel goes further. Let me read from Luke: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.’

This contrast shows Jesus revealing a God running to greet us; embracing and kissing us; washing our feet; clothing us in fine robes and providing a celebratory banquet. It is an inversion of our OT story and a new radical depiction of the hospitality of God.

Rublev also inverts the Hospitality of Abraham by turning it into the Hospitality of God. The context of Rublev’s Trinity is a world on fire. It was created in the early 15th Century where Russian society was becoming more entrenched and polarized so much so, that a bitter civil war broke out ripping apart families, towns, communities and even causing discord in the monasteries. So an Abbot wanted to help people get over their distrust, bitterness and hatred by providing a means to meditate on the nature of God, so he commissioned Rublev, in 1425, to create an icon. Rublev took the traditional Byzantium icon of the Hospitality of Abraham and developed it into a more timeless, theological and Trinitarian setting.



Immediately we see that Abraham and Sarah have disappeared so the focus is on the 3 figures, interpreted from left to right as the Father/Mother, Son and Holy Spirit. You will notice that the faces are identical and not obviously male or female, maybe ahead of its time and non binary. This shows a unity within the Trinity that encompasses all humanity. Their wings touch demonstrating intimacy and each has a scepter: The Father’s pointing up to Heaven; the Son’s pointing to a tree – the tree of life spoken about at the beginning and end of the Bible (Alpha & Omega) but also signifying the cross; and the Holy Spirit’s pointing to a mountain symbolizing the earth. The two fingers symbolize Jesus dual nature - human and divine, the cup has the face of a lamb in it, signifying sacrificial love while the letterbox represents the catacombs and those martyred for their faith.

The faces each possess a sense of calm and tranquility, as they face each other, receiving and giving love. Perhaps the most important feature is the empty space at the table, drawing and inviting you to join them. John 14: 23 says: ‘We will come and make our home with each of you.’ We receive an invitation to dwell in the house of God, where there is Unity, equality (there is no hierarchy), and community: one of giving & receiving love: the space in between the persons becomes as important as the persons themselves. Here is a dwelling place where love abounds in contrast to the world on fire where there is disunity, grotesque inequality, and fear leading to hatred and violence.

Hate is a product of fear and is the mask that fear wears to make itself look tough. And the antidote to fear is love. ‘for perfect love casts out all fear’. So it is the perfect icon to deal with hate and discord.

Our life’s purpose, our mission if you want religious language, is to accept the invitation to dwell in the house of love where we can receive God’s love, forgiveness, friendship, hospitality and advocacy, and over time embody this giving and receiving of love, so that we can be ambassadors of love in a world on fire, a world dominated by fear and anxiety.




In a world on fire, it is easy to hate the haters. Our challenge is to channel our righteous anger because although it is fuel for compassion, solidarity and action, if unchanneled, can add petrol to the fire. The Abbot knew what he was doing: providing a way of meditating on the nature of God as an antidote to fear and hate and inviting his people to dwell in the house of love – where there is restoration, wisdom, compassion and above all grace to fight injustice and love the haters. But we are not to dwell there as an end in itself but to take that love ferociously, fearlessly and sacrificially out into a world on fire and fight oppression, injustice and hate.

This is what Jesus modeled in his life, dwelling in the sanctuary of God’s love and then taking that love out ferociously, fearlessly and sacrificially in to the world to fight oppression, injustice and hate. Jesus final words on Matthew’s Gospel are ones of going out into our world, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (You are in me & I am in the Father). Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Amen