Send Me

In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw The Lord.  He was terrified, thinking that a spiritually unworthy man such as himself would surely encounter immediate judgment (cf. Isa 6:1f). Yet, in verse 8 of that passage, he answers the Lord's call for a spokesman saying, "Here am I, send me" (Isa 6:8).

 What's up with that?  What changed so quickly that he now felt worthy?  What happened was that Isaiah accepted the Lord's cleansing revealed in vss 6 & 7. He was still the same old Isaiah, but everything was new because the Lord had taken away the guilt of his sin, leaving him cleansed from the mess of his former life.

Can it really be that simple?  Can all our past sins be wiped out, leaving us clean and useful as representatives of the Lord God Almighty?  Surely there is more required of us than that, right?  It only seems fair that we would have to clean up our own mess and make ourselves presentable to God.  That would be fair, that would be just, that would be what the law requires but we are saved by grace, not by works (cf. Eph 2:8-9).

Jesus said, "Come unto to me, all who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28).  He did not say, get your life in order, clean up the mess you're in and then come rest with me. God said, "I have so loved you that I have given my only Son in payment for your sins so that you only need to believe in his offer of life to receive it" (paraphrase of Jn 3:16). He did not say that he sent his Son to see who had gotten it all together that he might invite them to join the society of the righteous.

Who am I to presume to be a spokesman for The Lord?  I presume nothing. The Lord has cleansed me and he has called me.  I have only responded, "Here am I, send me."  What about you?  For whom does your life speak?  Who do you want to represent?  The choice is yours. If you are willing, by His cleansing power, you can humbly say to the God of the universe, "Here am I, send me."

Jus' Sayn.