Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:6-8).

After church this past Sunday, someone asked me a good (and hard) question about the scripture text that Marnie had just preached through as we looked at the “Send me” prayer spoken by the prophet Isaiah.

Once the prophet prays, “Here I am. Send me,” God paints a bleak picture of what the mission will involve. Isaiah will speak, but his message will not be understood or grasped, even though people can hear him loud and clear. The proclamation of God’s words will serve to make hearts calloused and ears dull. God’s people would plug their ears to his word for so long “that response would become impossible for them” (David Garland).

Isaiah may be eager to go, sent by God, but the going will be tough (6:9-10).   

Lousy Chance of Success

This week we’re thinking about a pattern of prayer in which we offer ourselves to God, saying “send me.” Our model for such a prayer is Isaiah and his answer to God’s searching question, “Who will go for us?”  

Isaiah is all in: “Here I am. Send me.”

We might be tempted to think that Isaiah prayed that prayer without adequate information. When he speaks those words, he doesn’t fully understand what he’ll be up against. He doesn’t know how hard it will be. He doesn’t realize how obstinate people are capable of being. He doesn’t grasp that his success rate will be dismal, or worse.

But as we step back and look at the larger setting of Isiah’s short prayer, we see that his “send me” has nothing to do with the ease or glory or reward of the mission. When Isaiah prays “send me” God hasn’t told him much about the mission.

Isaiah prays “send me” because of what he has seen and knows about God.

A Compelling Vision

Before Isaiah speaks, he sees. And what he sees changes him. Tectonic plates in his soul shift and the upheaval nearly undoes him.

Isaiah is given a vision of the holiness of God, “the Lord seated on a throne,” surrounded by flying angelic beings who sing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty.” Jen Wilkin writes, “the God of Israel possesses a holiness so blinding that no one can look on him and live . . . not even the sinless angelic beings who inhabit his immediate presence can look upon him, instead shielding their gaze with their wings.”

In the blazing light of God’s holiness every smudge in Isaiah’s life is exposed. The holiness of God leads him to confession: “I am a man of sinful lips.” He’s not wrong. But one of those angelic beings takes a coal and purges his unclean lips, taking away his guilt. Then, and only then, is Isaiah ready for a calling or commission. Only then is he ready to go, to be sent.

Isaiah’s “send me” is his response to what he sees and knows about God.

The same is true of us. The clarity of our vision of God determines the clarity of our calling.                     

Our “send me” prayers seem to be less about what we will do for God, and more about our response to God and who God is.

So what do you see? How would you describe your vision of who God is?

Prayer:

Holy God, our vision of who you are is so easily trivialized by the world we are immersed in day after day. Restore to us a glimpse of your blazing glory, the holiness sung by angels. Make us ready to be sent, having seen who you are, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen