“Here I Am…Send Me” Isaiah 6:1-8

Have you answered the call? Most Christians partake in holy communion at their places of worship. With this humble gesture of eating a piece of bread and taking a sip of wine, we participate in a beautiful ceremony which acknowledges the transformation Jesus’ crucifixion brought to the world. Ceremoniously we partake of His body crucified on our behalf, and His blood which He shed freely to release us from a life of sin and death. Likewise, when we receive Jesus into our being as our Lord and Savior, we are “communing” with Him. In this process we are undone before Him. We see our Savior and ask Him to redeem us, our guilt is removed and we are completely cleansed of our sinful past. We are before God, a new creation. But have you ever asked what comes next? I want to share an experience in which God showed me, in the 6th chapter of Isaiah, a stunning revelation of what happens to all of us when we take in Christ.

One Sunday morning as I sat in the congregation of the little church we attended in Texas years ago, a member of this church lead us in communion. When our communion was completed he prayed, and as all heads were bowed, I heard a quiet voice a few rows behind me say, “Here I am.” Right after that another voice, this time to my left quietly said, “Here I am”. And then came another “Here I am” from in front of me. Pretty soon I was hearing “Here I am” in soft murmurings all around the room but looking around I didn’t see anyones lips moving and it struck me then that I was hearing voices in the spirit. I had no idea why. I had never had this kind of audible experience before and throughout the remaining service I was not able to shake what I had heard. Inside I was burning with the need to understand what I had experienced. Putting my bible to work for me I began some simple research…The only places in scripture that I recognized the words “Here I am” from were when Samuel the prophet was called as a child, and when Isaiah had his throne room experience. As I began reading Isaiahs experience, a glorious unfolding of what God was doing in the people around me during communion began. A powerful revelation of what happens when we receive the gift of redemption from Him while taking in the body and blood of Jesus’ sacrifice solidifying unity and “communion” with Him was released.

Imagine Isaiah, taken up to the very throne room of God, seeing the Lord Himself seated on His throne towering above him, His splendor filling the temple, spectacular angels of flaming fire crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord…”. These thundering praises caused a great shaking to begin in that place and then a cloud of glory began to fill the temple. This encounter of seeing Gods glory shook Isaiah to his core bringing him to the end of himself, “I am undone!” he cries out. In this wrenching moment, as Isaiah becomes acutely aware of his inadequacies before God, one of Gods Seraphim takes a burning coal from the alter of God and touches Isaiahs lips with it saying “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Does this sound familiar? Isaiah was redeemed, cleansed in that holy temple and this experience transformed his life.

Moving forward now…When Jesus shared the bread and wine with his disciples, entreating them to “Do this in remembrance of me”, they ate and drank symbolically what would soon become the reality of His life sacrificed for us. Through His crucifixion and His powerful resurrection from death, Jesus became the Bread of Life that sustains us daily and poured His Spirit into us which imparts the powerful grace required for personal transformation and unity with God and each other. Whether ingested spiritually or literally, we call this “Communion with Christ” and that action, as we see with Isaiah, is like a coal burning our lips, cleansing us from our sinful nature. Like Isaiah we are redeemed. God bless Isaiah! He was a very young man, perhaps even a teenager when he had this mind bending, redemptive experience. The next thing he hears is the voice of God asking a question to others in the surrounding vicinity of the throne room, yet undeniably directed to Isaiah who had just partaken in an experience that had shaken the heavens, not to mention the very center of his being. “Who shall We send? And who will go for Us?” Utter stillness must have been the “mood” as the entire throne room waited for the response. This was Isaiahs call to action. Do you think Isaiah had a choice? I don’t believe choice was at play here…Isaiah had been transformed in that moment. I believe he saw clearly that a purposeful destiny was the only path forward and though he may not have known then the life it was to bring him, I believe his experience placed in him the courage and desire to be willing to enter in to service. He became available. His response? “Here I am. Send me.” This same question, “Who shall we send, and who will go for us?” is one we are each confronted with when we receive Christs redemption and it continues to be asked of us throughout our walk with Him. One to deeply contemplate each time we “remember Him”. I believe it is a powerful question which reveals our own willingness and availability. This is our own call to action!

I realize this may sound overwhelming. Is God putting us on the spot right then and there? Does He really expect us to raise our hand and hop on the next train to the nearest Missionary center? Perhaps for some, yes. Clarity of purpose can come immediately for certain individuals. The choice to be a missionary is a beautiful life of service and self sacrifice. But callings on our lives vary, and timing is everything. Not everyone is called to an evangelical life in faraway lands. Not everyone is called to be an Apostle, a Prophet, a Pastor, an Evangelist, or a Teacher. Those are specific callings. Yet God has made us all Sons and Daughters to be His representation, His voice and connection to the mission field of earth. We are to mirror the many faces of His beautiful intentions toward us. To be His hands, His heart. I’m of the persuasion that in each of our callings resides a little bit (if not a lot) of each of those titles I mentioned before. For example, if you’re a Mother, aren’t you a figure of authority to your children; an Apostle? Don’t you both spiritually and naturally discern things ahead for your children to assist them on their path towards adulthood; a Prophet? I’m sure you teach them about Jesus’ love for them, how following Him brings them life; an Evangelist! Do you not lead your family every day with kindness, tending to their needs, disciplining them when needed; a Pastor? I’m sure you spend endless hours teaching them and preparing them for the world and the adult life ahead of them; a Teacher? Yes! Of course you do! Bringing a child into maturity is the divine process of a mother. Ephesians 4:16 says this ”…every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all; and as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we are built up and made perfect in love.” God has placed all of these giftings in our inward man/woman. So whether you are a mom, a career woman, a student readying yourself for a bright future, a woman basking in a well earned retirement, wherever you find yourself in this vast array of womanhood…YOU ARE DIVINELY CALLED!

What I learned that day in our sweet little church in Texas, is that when God’s grace is imparted to us there comes a question from Him that commands a response from us. He asks us, “Who shall We send? Who will go for Us?” This question is not complicated, nor burdensome but it will reveal our willingness to be available to share the good news. Jesus. The Way, the Truth and the Life. The good news that our lives and destinies are intrinsically woven together with the ascended Christ giving us grace to experience life beyond what we could ask or think. Destinies shaped by His divine intention of love and the purposes he created each one of us for. One may be called to set out to the ends of the earth, and another to the neighbor next door, or in the day by day of a demanding business world. But regardless, it is a call to be available, simple as that. To love. Jesus answered this call for us by coming to this world, living among us, serving us and ultimately laying His life down for us…So when we take the communion of Christ, when we enter into a relationship with Him, we are always met with the question that commands a response, “Who shall we send? And who will go for us?” Lord, let our answer always be, “Here I am! Send Me!”