Here am I!
Send Me
Isaiah 6:1-8
Tomorrow is a national
holiday, as we take time to remember those of our country who served us in the
military and were called upon to give what Abraham Lincoln described in his
Gettysburg Address as their “last full measure of devotion.”
Do these two remembrances
have anything in common? One is the day that Jesus’ disciples were empowered
with the promised Holy Spirit. The other is a day Americans remember those
fallen in battle in defense of this country.
Is there a common thread? I believe there are many. Today, I would like
to explore one such common thread with you.
Today, it is fashionable
to call people heroes. We pay tribute to our first responders: firefighters,
law enforcement, National Guard. We salute our men and women in the military.
We are much more likely to recognize the service they render and the risks they
take to do so than we used to be. This is a good thing. As a Vietnam era
veteran, I can remember when being in a military uniform was just as likely to
draw contempt as it was to draw praise. Our country has finally learned to
separate its political views from those who wear the uniform and serve. So now,
we hear the word “hero” more often, usually in conjunction with those who die
or are seriously wounded in action.
The disciples wore the
uniform of the cross, and under the definition just offered, they also became
heroes. James, Matthias and Paul were beheaded, Philip, Peter, Nathaniel, Simon
and Andrew crucified, Matthew and Thomas slain by a sword, and the list of
martyrs, as they were then called, goes on.
Is there a difference
between a martyr and a hero? I don’t see much, except that you can be a hero
without dying. To be a martyr, you must die. But the criteria for each
description is pretty much the same: Give yourself to the cause; go and serve
for what you believe in.
Today, we look back at
another hero, a hero of the faith. His name was Isaiah, and we all know him as
one of the most important prophets of the Bible, the man from Judea, a man with
aristocratic roots. He was a man who gave counsel to kings. His ministry lasted
about forty four years He lived seven hundred years before Christ and yet many
of his prophetic writings in the Old Testament seem to point to the coming of
Jesus.
In the sixth chapter of
Isaiah, we read that it was the last year of the reign of King Uzziah. This
would have been about 740 BC. Isaiah has a vision. He sees the Lord sitting
upon a throne. The train of his robe fills the temple and the temple is filled
with smoke. God is surrounded by seraphim, the fiery angelic beings with six
wings. It is a powerful and awesome sight. Isaiah realizes he is in the
presence of God and he throws in the towel. He says “woe is me,” for a mortal
man cannot see God and live through the experience. It is just too powerful. Ask Moses. His hair turned white and his face
shone just from being in the presence of the burning bush.
The scene gets even more
awesome, as the seraphim take a burning coal from the altar of God and touch it
to the lips of Isaiah, saying that his guilt is taken away and that his sin is
atoned for. Then Isaiah hears the voice
of the Lord. He is saying “Whom shall I
send, and who will go for us?”
Over the course of
history, many have heard some variation of those words. Abraham is called upon
to leave his home and follow where God leads. Rebekah is called to leave her
home at the beckoning of a servant of Isaac to go to marry this man yet unknown
to her. Ruth is called to leave her home to follow her penniless mother in law.
Moses is called back from the hills at the age of eighty to lead God’s people
out of Egypt. A young man named Samuel hears the voice of God in the night and
answers “Here I am…Speak, for your
servant hears.”
In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah
answers God. “Here am I! Send me,”
says Isaiah. He doesn’t have to wait long for his commission. God answers: “Go. and say to the people…” What God
asked Isaiah to say to his people is not the subject of this message, though it
is notable that the message he carried was a dire warning that would make him
very unpopular and would fall mostly on deaf ears. What is important here is
that Isaiah answered the call. When God asked “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah answered. He didn’t
stop to question whether he was qualified. He left that up to God. He just
stood up and answered the call. And why not? God does not call the qualified.
He qualifies the called.
The Bible is the story of
God’s mission to redeem and restore his beloved creation to unity with him.
Throughout our history, God continually comes to us through messengers who
volunteer to go, from Abraham to Paul, from unnamed but not forgotten soldiers
to martyrs of the faith. They are that cloud of witnesses to which the writer
of Hebrews refers, the ones who stand up, who don’t measure the odds but rather
extend their hands. They are our heroes. Sometimes, they are our martyrs as
well.
The Navy wants to be a
“global force for good.” The Army wants you to be “Army Strong.” The Air Force
wants us to “Aim High,” the Coast Guard to be “Always Ready.” The Marines want
a few good men. These are great slogans,
great rallying cries for those who serve our country. But even they have to
take a back seat to the most important pledge of allegiance in all creation.
When God calls, what will be our answer?
On that Pentecost day so
long ago, the book of Acts tells us that Peter, standing with the eleven,
lifted up his voice and addressed the crowd there gathered. This is the same
Peter who cowered and lied to save his skin just weeks before. His message ended with these words: “For the promise is for you and for your
children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to
himself.” The promise was for
salvation, for forgiveness, for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“Here am I! Send me,” said Isaiah. When he calls, what will you say?
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