What Comes After "Here Am I Send Me"...

There are those texts in the Bible where our interest in them has made them famous, so famous that in some ways we don't know what is said before or after them.  We make a mistake in making some verses so famous that we lose sight of the inspired words that surround them.  One of those texts is found in Isaiah 6 and here it is...

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”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.”

Have we ever noticed there are 5 more verses in the chapter? In every one of these verses, God is continuing to communicate with Isaiah concerning His call upon the prophet's life. This continued conversation between the Lord and the prophet define for us an early picture of the kind of proclamation of Scripture commitment that is necessary in a culture that has abandoned the truth.  Isaiah's culture had no interest in truth.  

The beginning of Isaiah's famous missionary call that we love so much includes strong instruction to him about how long Isaiah would be sent and how long he would serve.  Let's look at the words that have long been ignored...

Isaiah 6:9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord? ”And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12 and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

Isaiah's missionary call was to be one of Proclamation of truth that would result in little results. When he said "Here I am! Send me", not one aspect of answering that call was going to be easy as he was going to go into a culture that had no interest in what Isaiah would have to say about anything for his culture had abandoned Biblical truth long ago.  

Take a look at verses 9-10 and try to imagine that being your task from God in one of the most difficult settings in the world's history to speak of truth. These two verses define what the results of his ministry would bring among the people.  Obedience to God would have to matter more than results.  

I appreciate the prophet's honesty in 6:11 when he asks, "How long do you want me to say those words?"  God's answer to his question must have landed heavy on Isaiah for the response from the Lord was not one that said Isaiah would lead a revival.  He would not see an awakening, but he would continue to preach until the land was desolate and the people were taken away to far and forsaken places. That is a difficult calling! 

This is to be no less for us as well.  The call we have to proclaim the Gospel is not one of convenience nor comfort, but rather it is one of being wholeheartedly compelled to not being able to do anything else but speak the Words of the Gospel. 

I am reminded of Paul's Words in line with this...

2 Timothy 4:2 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

This is one example as to why we ought to read everything before and after "famous" verses as we just might be able to learn a bit more.  

As I reflect upon my own life, I want to be like Isaiah, one who is willing to preach even if people hear but don't understand, see but never perceive, have hearts that are dull and ears that are heavy. The Gospel matters that much!

In an age where churches, ministers and denominations are solely judged on how big they are or cool/hip music they have - it makes you wonder if anyone is left who would be willing to be an "Isaiah preacher" or go to an "Isaiah church"? 

One where obedience to the proclamation of the Gospel matters more than anything else.

Where are you Isaiah? For your commitment is needed in our day!