Here I am! Send me.

Isaiah 6:8

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Isaiah was a great prophet, chosen by God, to speak to His people.  Through Isaiah, God revealed His wrath against impenitent sinners and His grace to those who would repent and turn again to Him in faith.  God revealed the events that were coming in the future in the light of HIs eternal plan of salvation.  Isaiah’s willingness to perform His divine call is clearly proclaimed in the scriptures with the memorable words, “Here I am! Send me.”

None of us has the call that God gave specifically to Isaiah to serve as a prophet.  But, is there a sense in which this memorable line could be spoken by us?  I think that there is!

In your baptism you were united with your Lord Jesus.  His perfect life, became yours!  When your heavenly Father looks at you, and as you believe in Jesus, He see’s Jesus perfect life.  Jesus death on the cross is the death of your sins. No longer do your sins separate you from God.  Jesus resurrection is your future!  In the end, you will rise to live in God’s presence.  Even now you rise each day to newness of life in the Holy Spirit.

This is who God has called you to be in your baptism. Your baptism unites you with the body of Christ, the church.  As part of Christ’s body, the church,  you have a calling.  Jesus commanded His church to take the Gospel into all nations.  

To fulfill this calling, God has given the individuals of his church a great variety of talents and abilities. In this way God will fulfill HIs mission through His church in anticipation of the resurrection of the dead, judgement day, and eternal life.

You aren’t Isaiah, neither am I.  But, we are baptized!  We are redeemed by the Lord Jesus and members of His body the church!  We are gifted in a wide variety of ways by God the Holy Spirit.  We have a calling to fulfill.  Therefore, we can say, along with the prophet, “Here am I send me.”  May God grant us faith to fulfill our calling joyfully.  

Let us pray,

Lord I thank you for giving me the gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation.  I thank you for making me part of your body, the church, and giving me the unique gifts you have chosen for me to use in my life.  May I be a faithful witness to your Good News throughout my life and joyfully respond to your call as did your prophet Isaiah, “Here I am. Send me!”

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.