Here Am I! Send Me!

Isaiah 6:1-8

Many of us have heard or read the testimonies from great men and women of the faith of when they felt called by the Lord to serve Him. Our Scripture passage today tells of the call of Isaiah to serve the Lord and bring His message to the people, and his response to this call.  Isaiah lived during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, and preached God’s Word to the people and rulers during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.  It is thought by some Biblical scholars that Isaiah may have been related to the royal family, but not in line to ever take the throne. As our passage begins today, Isaiah relates that it was during the final year of the reign of King Uzziah, the year 739 BC, that he had a vision of the Lord God, and received his calling to serve Him and bring His message to the people (vs. 1).

In this vision of Isaiah’s, he saw God’s throne, high and lifted up, exalted above everything else in the world or universe.  God is above everything else. There is nothing or nobody who is higher or greater than He is. Even His garments or royal robes filled the whole room. Surrounding God’s throne were seraphim, a powerful and high ranking angelic being which have six wings.

What were these seraphim doing?  They were crying forth of the holiness of the Lord God (vs. 3).  Each time they repeated the word “holy” three times, as God is a trinity, three Persons yet one God. They cried forth that the world is full of His glory. It is a display of His immeasurable glory, perfection, and attributes. Most importantly, though, was their proclamation of God’s holiness. God is absolutely holy, utterly perfect in His holiness, absolutely pure, completely separated from sin, and wholly righteous, just, and spotless.

In a time when moral and spiritual decay had peaked, it was important for Isaiah to see God in His holiness.  The same is true today. We need to observe through God’s Word His absolute holiness, that He is high and lifted up.  We need to see ourselves for what we really are, and then look at the Cross of Calvary, and see God’s love for us. God wishes us to also be holy, separated from sin (I Peter 1:16).  The only possible way we can achieve this is through the cleansing Blood of Jesus.

When Isaiah had this vision, bringing him into the presence of God, his immediate reaction was to realize and acknowledge how unworthy and sinful he was (vs. 5).  He didn’t boast and swagger about being granted this vision of God upon His throne, as some “religious” leaders might. No, he fell on his face, acknowledging his unworthiness, and begging for mercy.  Then a seraph came to Isaiah bringing a coal from the altar, touching his lips to cleanse them (vs. 6-7). If the lips are unclean, so is the heart (Matthew 12:34-35). We speak forth what is inside of us.  Isaiah realized how unworthy he was, and deserving of judgment. The coals represented God’s purifying work. True repentance is painful.

It was then that Isaiah received his call to serve God and bring His message to the people of Judah (vs. 8).  We should note that in verse 8 God speaks of Himself in the plural - “who will go for us” not “who will go for me”.  He is a Triune God.  God prepared Isaiah for this service, and then Isaiah offered himself to Him.  God will never call us to do something for which He hasn’t equipped us.

Before we accept God’s call to speak for Him to those around us, we must be cleansed as Isaiah was, confessing our sins and submitting to His control.  We must be purified so that we can truly represent God, who is pure and holy. God loves us and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Then we can serve Him with joy, humility and devotion (vs. 8).  God has commissioned each one of us to tell others about Jesus and His plan for salvation (Matthew 28:18-20). May we each respond as Isaiah did, “Here am I! Send me!”