THE CALL (Isaiah 6:1-13)
On December 28, 1985, I attended a
college student's Mission conference in Orissa, India. It was an international
student gathering, somewhat like Urbana in the USA. Another point to note was
that I was waiting to be graduated. I was full of dreams and plans for my life.
Little did I know that my life would drastically change at that conference.
During one of the nights, I heard
the voice of God distinctly through the preacher calling me, "Whom shall I
send? Who will go for us,"? I stood up with thousands of other young
people responding to that divine Call, saying, "Here I am. Send me, Lord."
I dedicated my life to the Lord while the theme song was sung with the words, "The
Risen Lord for the Dying World."
Little did I know where the Lord
would take me with that one response, "Here I am. Send me, Lord." It
has been an adventurous journey with the Lord for the past 37 years. You will
never know what surprises await when you hear and respond to God's Call. Today
we will see how God's Call changed the life and direction of one prophet. Isaiah
6:1-13
Background:
Isaiah's sixth chapter begins with, "It was in the year King Uzziah died."
We need to find out what year it was, who the King Uzziah was, and his death's
significance. Uzziah, son of Amaziah, ruled over Judah during the reign of King
Jeroboam II of Israel.
He was sixteen when he became king
and reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. He did what was pleasing in the
Lord's sight but did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still
offered sacrifices and burned incense there. The Lord struck the king with
leprosy, which lasted until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a
separate house. (II Kings 15:1-5)
Why did God strike him with leprosy?
As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, God gave him success. He became powerful
along with that, proud. One day he entered the sanctuary of the Lord and began
to burn incense on the incense altar, which was only allowed for the priests.
The high priest Azariah and eighty other priests confronted King Uzziah.
"It is not for you, Uzziah, to
burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone... Get out of
the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!"
Uzziah became furious and stood with rage at the priests holding the incense
burner in his hands. Suddenly
leprosy broke out on his forehead. He quickly got out of the Temple and lived
in isolation until death. II Chronicles 26. Uzziah died in 740 B.C; while
Isaiah was in the Temple, God called him into ministry by giving him a powerful
threefold vision. (Vs. 1-6)
I.
A heavenward vision: Vs. 1-4, "I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a
lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 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.
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!" Their voices shook the Temple's
foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke." One earthly
King, Uzziah, passed away.
God revealed himself as the king of
the universe, seated on His heavenly throne. Mighty seraphim surrounded him.
What are seraphs? They are part of the incredible variety of divine beings
created by God (along with angels, archangels, principalities, powers, and
cherubim). The seraphs are bright creatures, for the word means "burning
ones."
Each had six wings. With two, they
covered their faces, hiding away from the greater brightness and the glory of
the Lord. They flew with two, and the other two covered their feet, suggesting
humility. They called out to each other, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of Heaven's Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!"
It was often accompanied by physical
tremors and smoke when God manifested His power. Isaiah encountered the
Holiness of God. The voices of the angels generated power. The Temple's
foundations shook and filled with smoke. That revelation led him to another
vision.
II.
An inward vision (Vs. 5)
Vs.5,
"Then I said, "It's all over! I am doomed,
for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips." People see their sinful
and lostness when they encounter God's holiness. But those who avoid coming to
light will remain in their sinfulness. John 3:20, "All who do evil hate
the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed."
Ephesians 5:12-14, "It is
shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But
their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the
light makes everything visible." When Isaiah saw the holiness of God, he
saw his sinfulness. That inward vision led him to see the lostness around him.
III.
An outward vision (Vs. 5b)
Vs. 5b, "I live among a people
with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the king, the Lord of Heaven's Armies. "Then
one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar
with a pair of tongs. 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."
Isaiah's vision of God's holiness
led him to see how sinful he was. When he confessed his sin and admitted his
lostness, God opened his eyes to see the sinfulness of the people around him.
Then one of the seraphim flies and touches his lips with burning coal cleansing
his sin.
God often exposes and cleanses
people of their sins before commissioning them with a mission. For example,
Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:4-7) and Jonah in the belly of a whale
(Jonah 2). This is how God works even today. He reveals himself to us in
powerful ways.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of our
sins and leads us to repentance. God opens our eyes to the people's sins around
us. Once we are cleansed and forgiven, we hear His Call. In our passage after
the revelation, confession, and cleansing, we see the prophet is ready to
listen to The Call.
IV.
The Call (8-9)
Vs. 8-9, "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." And he said, "Yes,
go, and say to this people." Verses 9-10 in the Greek version read, "And
he said, "Go and say to this people, "When you hear what I say, you
will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are
hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes so their
eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot
understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them."
Often, God tasked his prophets with a stern message to a stubborn group of people. The prophets were not famous, people hated them, and some were killed for preaching the message of God to a stubborn and unwilling generation. The God we serve is an unchanging God with a constant message for every age. He is still searching for people who would be obedient to His compelling voice. The Call to become God's messengers is still going out.
V.
Have you heard The Call?
We have numerous examples of those
who responded to the Call of God and said, "Here I am. Send me," in
the Bible, Church History, and our contemporary world. Here are some Biblical
examples: Abraham was seventy years old when God spoke to him. He became the
father of the nations. (Genesis 12:4) Moses heard the Call of God at the
burning bush when he was eighty years old (Acts 7:23-30). He became the meekest
man on earth (Numbers 12:13).
Samuel heard God's Call as young as three and
became a great judge of Israel. (I Sam7:15) Several women, like, the two Jewish
Mid-Wives (Shiphrah & Puah), Rahab, Ruth, Deborah, and Esther, heard the Call
of God and obeyed his voice and followed Him.
In the N.T., we have several
examples in the eleven disciples and the apostle Paul. To all these men and
women in the Bible, God's voice may have come in different forms and ways, but
because of their obedience to that heavenly Call, we still talk about them
today.
In the contemporary world, Adoniram
Judson from Malden, MA, became the first Baptist Missionary to Burma at 25.[1] Hudson Taylor from the
U.K. became the first Missionary to China. A cobbler from England, William
Carey became the father of Modern Missions in India.
Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary
in India who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served
in India for 55 years without furlough and wrote 35 books about the missionary
work there. An Albanian nun went to the slums of India and became Mother
Teressa. Here are a few who made it to the hall of fame, but many whose names
you may never know faithfully serve the Lord in difficult places because of
that Call.
We have heard only from three of the
missionaries we support. But others like this cancer survivor, Atsu Solo, who
ministers to the women and children in Nagaland, India. A single woman Chinni
Konda takes care of the poor children and the widows in a village in India.
What do they all have in common? They
have heard the Call of God that said, "Whom shall I send and who will go
for us?" They all responded like, Isaiah, "Here I am. Send me." Wilma
and I have listened and responded to that Call and served in missions.
We still serve the Lord. Have you
heard The Call? How would you respond to it today? If you sincerely say yes,
Lord, here I am, send me, who knows where the Lord might take you and what the
Lord might do with and through you? For some, it may mean overseas missions.
For many, it may be your workplace, neighborhood, and community. Wherever it
may be, the best thing you can do with your life is to serve God by becoming
His messenger of Hope.
