Sermon Notes

August 20, 2023

Lord Send Me!

Isaiah 6:1-13

There are many things in this world that seem inseparable - Tom & Jerry, Macaroni & Cheese, Salt & Pepper, Cookies & Milk, the list goes on and on. However, when you think of a Christian what is inseparable from them?  There are a lot of good answers to this question - Christians and God’s Love (Romans 8:35-39), Christians and the seal of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), Christians and a good nap after church on Sunday (OK I don’t have scripture to back this one up). There is one that is just as true (well as true as the first two at least) and that is a Christian and serving.  Those two should always go hand in hand.  When God saves us, He gives us spiritual gifts in order to serve others and share the Gospel (1 Peter 4:10-11). We find our purpose when we serve and we know that our faith without works is worthless (James 2:14-26). Therefore Christians and serving are inseparable. Even though they are inseparable, if we are honest, from time to time we can find ourselves in a place where we are worn down when it comes to serving.  It can come from a variety of different places and for many different reasons (working for God and not with God, unrealistic expectations, unclear vision, isolation, hurts, etc.). When we get to that point, how can we get the passion back we once had in our service for God?  How can we recharge those batteries so we are ready to serve again?  To answer these questions let’s take a look at a prayer, a fervent prayer, that was prayed by the prophet Isaiah. When the circumstances surrounding him should have been beating him down and wearing him out, instead, he was able to say with all excitement, “Lord, send me!”.

To recharge we need a fresh revelation of God’s majesty and holiness. - Isaiah 6:1-4

1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”  4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

This passage starts out with the fact that King Uzziah had died. While his death was a result of a disregard of God’s holiness, we do see in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles that, for the most part, he did what was right in the Lord’s sight and was a very prosperous King for Judah. With the death of a beloved leader and the fact that Isaiah had brought only prophecies of judgment, destruction to Judah, and to a lesser extent Jerusalem so far in his ministry. I think it’s fair to say he must have felt a little beaten down. Thinking back to last week and the prayer Moses prayed to see God’s glory, we don’t know if Isaiah prayed to see God’s glory or not. It didn’t matter because God knew Isaiah needed a fresh reminder of His glory at this point in his life.  We know that God knows what we need before we ever ask (Matthew 6:8) and He is the Good Father who will not withhold anything good from His children (Matthew 7:11). I think those truths are what we see being played out here. God is giving Isaiah exactly what he needs to carry out the call that has been placed on his life.  It was in this miraculous vision, that there was a reminder that even though things were hard from Isaiah's point of view, from heaven's point of view, the entire earth is filled with God’s glory.  It was a reminder that from time to time we need to get our viewpoint adjusted.  Those living creatures that were around the throne room were not singing the woes of Isaiah, or the woes of Judah or Jerusalem. They were just declaring the holiness of God.  Isaiah saw the Seraphim that were around the throne who had to shield their faces from the glory of God and sang the three-fold declaration of the Holiness of God. That declaration was so powerful that it ushered in the presence of God in the temple (the shekinah glory of God) and shook the temples very foundation.  This entire (but short) experience in the presence of God was enough to trigger a recharging of Isaiah - of his passion, his mission, and his relationship with God.  God knew what he needed and when he needed it. He gave him a vision of His holiness to recharge Isaiah for the mission ahead.

When we find ourselves in need of recharge we must have the same thing, - a fresh revelation of the majesty of God. Notice I did not say a “new” revelation of the majesty of God.  What God wants us to know about Himself is all revealed in His Word - the Bible.  We will not get a new revelation, but we can refresh ourselves in the revelation He has given to us in Scripture.  How can this happen?  Well, it happens (of course) through His Word. His Word is His revelation to us so we must find ourselves in it daily. It must be a habit we develop to experience a refreshing of the majesty and holiness of God.  His Word is one of the ways He speaks to us, but just like Isaiah, worship has a profound impact on our recharging.  The Greek word we translate as worship (proskuneō) literally means to “Encounter God and praise Him”. Worship is a response to His holiness and what we were created for.  When we worship it should be an intimate time with God.  One of my favorite worship songs has a line that says “I’m alone with you and they are too”.  It gives the idea that even in a corporate setting when we worship God it’s still to be just us and Him.  It’s not just singing a song. It’s encountering God and giving Him what He is due (Psalms 29:2).  Worship should always be part of our lifestyle. The Seraphim (as told in Revelation 4) never stop worshiping God. Day and night they fly around the throne of God shouting praises as an act of worship to God.  They had an encounter with God and couldn’t stop.  It is through true worship that we get to know more and more of God. When we give back to Him all the praise He is due, we start to have a renewed sense of God’s holiness. We can also be recharged through prayer. It’s the powerful prayer that Isaiah prays to God that comes from this refreshed vision of God’s holiness. Once we see God for who He is it doesn’t stop there.

To recharge we need repentance. - Isaiah 6:5-7

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”  6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

When faced with the holiness of God we must see ourselves for what we really are.  That’s exactly what Isaiah was experiencing.  He had a new revelation of the holiness of God and it was at that point his own sin became extremely evident to him.  It’s a sin, usually the ones that we make room for and we go out of our way to accommodate that sneak in and wear us down when it comes to serving. Isaiah evidently had a problem with his mouth. Whether it was gossip, lies, curses, or something else entirely we aren’t told. Whatever the issue, Isaiah knew a truth that was proclaimed by Jesus in Matthew 15:18, that what comes out of His mouth comes from the heart and that is what defiles him.  He knew that in the presence of a holy God, he was in trouble and needed forgiveness. That is when he confessed and repented of those sins.  He was then forgiven and was ready for service.  We have the same thing happen to us. When we encounter Jesus and have a renewal of our view of His holiness, we aren’t empowered by those encounters but rather we are humbled.  We see ourselves in the light of His holiness and we can’t do anything but repent of the sins in our lives. 1 John 1:9 tells us what we must do - we must confess our sins so that God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  That is the key point. We cannot leave our sin alone, but we must confess it to God, ask Him for forgiveness, and turn away from it.  Sin is death in all forms and is like cancer in our lives. Ee must deal with it as soon as we find it.  We can’t be recharged when we allow sin to fester in our lives.

Once we are recharged we must have willing enthusiasm for whatever God brings. - Isaiah 6:8-13

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”  9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.  Watch closely but learn nothing.’  10 Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes.  That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; 12 until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted. 13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”

Once our sense of awe is renewed and our sins are dealt with, there is only one response. That’s the response that Isaiah had here.  In His throne room, God asked who should be the missionary to these people and Isaiah answered with an exuberant “Lord send me!!!”.  An old preacher once said the closer you get to the throne of God the more seriously you take the call to missions.  Isaiah had seen God’s glory in a vision and had confronted his sin and now he couldn’t do anything except serve the King.  It was what the Seraphim did night and day. They had seen God’s glory and they sang His praises and will through all eternity. They served Him and will so through all eternity.  Isaiah didn’t know what task he volunteered for. He didn’t know if it was something he wanted to do or if it was something that was going to be exciting and he would become renowned.  All he knew was that God shared a need and because he would be serving the King, he was excited to do it.  We sometimes struggle with this because we want to serve God on our terms, but that’s not what He calls us to do.  He calls us to serve on His terms. We usually want to serve in a way that is convenient and comfortable to us, that is all about us and what we want to do. However, that’s not what God calls us to. That’s not what He called Isaiah to do. He called him to preach the truth even though no one would ever listen. Isaiah asked Him how long he would serve and God replied until everyone is destroyed. It doesn’t seem like something people would be lined up to volunteer for, but it’s what God needed and Isaiah still carried out the mission. How would you respond if God asked you to do the same?  What if He said I want you to serve over here but no one would respond? You will see no fruit from your ministry, but you would be in obedience to God.  While we can easily say with our lips that we would do it, in actuality we would have a much more difficult time following through and serving. We need to remember that everything God does has a purpose and that was the same with Isaiah.  He promised him that a holy seed would remain and it was through that holy seed that Jesus came into the world.  Nothing we ever do for God is worthless or a waste of our time as long as God has called us to it.

When I think of serving I always think back to a quote from Henry Blackaby in “Experiencing God”.  He says that we just need to see where God is moving and join Him in that work. If we are not supposed to be there He will move us.  However, the hardest part is getting started. I hope this morning, you can have a fresh view of the holiness of God, that you have dealt with the sin that contrasts with holiness, and you are ready to serve God wherever and whenever He calls upon you.  I pray that we can all pray with the same exuberance as Isaiah, “Here I am!  Lord, send me!”.

 
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