The Old Testament reading set for today is one of the more familiar. It is always one of the readings for Trinity Sunday purely on the premise of the three holies that we heard in verse 3. We, though probably recognise it more by its connection with the so-named calling of Isaiah together with his apparent willingness to answer that call.
Much of our present day worship is modelled on the first eight verses. It begins with a hymn of praise. Next is a confession of wrongdoing followed by forgiveness. Lastly there is a call to service and a response. It is amazing that the order of worship we use today is pretty old. Nearly 3000 years old. Perhaps it is true that nothing much changes. The most well-known hymn to go with this passage is, of course, Here I am, Lord.
We have heard Isaiah 6:1-8 which ends, “I heard the voice of my lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us? And I said, ‘Here I am; send me.'” That seems clear enough; God calls, and the prophet willingly responds. But surely, something is missing? Any ordinary human being would have questions. Why am I being called at all? Where am I to go and for what reason? Let’s listen carefully to what follows.
Verses 9-10
Listen but do not perceive; look, but do not understand. Dull their minds, clog up their ears, cloud over their eyes.
Are you kidding, God? Isaiah’s call is that he preaches in such a way that his hearers will not be able to understand what God has in mind for them! OK I grant that many of my own sermons have had that effect.. But I didn’t intend for that to happen. I certainly didn’t think that when I was called to be a Reader I was supposed to lead people away from the truth. That is what God seems to be calling Isaiah to do. Weird! Isaiah is now not so keen and I don’t blame him. He asked, “How long has that to go on for?” And here is the answer:
Verses 11b – end
“Until cities are blasted without inhabitant, houses without people, and the land is completely shattered; until the Lord sends everyone far away and the emptiness in the land is enormous. Even if only a tenth part remain, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump still stands after it is cut down” (Is. 6:11-13).
Disaster.. Right at the end is a tiny sliver of hope. “A holy seed is its stump.” After the destruction all that remains of the tree is its seed. That seed is somehow able to start things off again. A tiny hope but hope nevertheless. On that tiny hope rests the ministry of Isaiah.
“Here am I, send me” often is the first response to those who sense a call from God but once we see what God may have in store for us the usual response is “Not me, send someone else” That was the response of Moses.
Who do we take as our model? Is it choose Isaiah and rubbish Moses or choose Moses and rubbish Isaiah?
I am not going to say your response should always be Here am I, send me. I suppose we need both these responses. Sometimes it is the gung-ho “Here am I, send me” and at other times the more cautious “Not me, send someone else.” It is called knowing our gifts and also our limitations.
I’m sure that all this makes sense. It doesn’t, though, help us in our walk with Jesus. Isaiah heard a call from God. This leads us to ask, “What do you believe you are called to do?” What is your vocation? It is helpful to see whatever we do as part of our faith. Whether that is in our working life or within our church family. What is your purpose in life? Where do you think God wants you to be? You see one of us each week standing at the front leading the service or preaching. That is not how I started. My first ministry was making the tea after the morning service. We are called to serve. What greater ministry could there be than providing hospitality for others? What are you being called to do? Sometimes the answer may be, ‘Not me, send someone else.’
I don’t believe that there isn’t something that you can answer, ‘Here am I, I’ll do it.’