Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated
on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were
seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with
two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were
calling to one another:
“Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple
was filled with smoke.
5
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live
among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty.”
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had
taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See,
this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8
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!”
-- for the last few months, the
Secretary of Defense has been promoting a new message to inspire the U.S.
military during these uncertain times with conflict in Iran and the extended
deployments that have negatively impacted so many service men and women
-- it includes inspiring videos and
a tour of military installations by the Secretary of Defense, where he speaks
to the active duty members and to potential recruits – the videos have gone out
on TV and in social media – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram
--
the purpose of this push by the Department of Defense is to honor the service
of current members – to highlight military sacrifices throughout our history –
and to inspire young people and potential recruits to join the armed forces –
it is to secure enthusiastic support for the various conflicts we find
ourselves in
-- all of the messaging from the
Department of Defense in this initiative – whether that’s in the speeches from
Secretary Hegseth – the videos on social media – or the messages that the
Department of Defense has pushed out – all of them are focused around Isaiah’s
response to the call of God from verse 8 of this passage
--
when God says in verse 8, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” – Isaiah
responds, “Here I am. Send Me”
--
that response – “Send Me” – has become the core ethos and core message for the
Department of Defense in its outreach to the armed services
-- without a doubt, that response –
Send Me – is inspiring – it represents the moment that a single individual
stands up and says, “I am here – I am willing – I will go forth to do what you
have called me to do”
-- it is a call that is reflected in
Christ’s command for us to pick up our cross and to follow Him – but we have to
ask ourselves what mission God is calling Isaiah to respond to? – we have to
ask ourselves for what purpose did Isaiah stand up and say, “Here I am. Send
me”?
-- if you watch the videos from the
Department of Defense or listen to any of Secretary Hegseth’s speeches, you get
the impression that God is calling Isaiah to battle – to fight God’s enemies –
to stand up for God in service above self
-- but is that true? – that’s what I
want us to look at this morning, because there are concerns when Bible verses
or Bible messages are taken out of context and used for purposes that do not
match their intent – and that is a very common critique of the Christian
nationalist movement
-- so, this morning, I want us to
look at three things to set the context and background of this message – the
Call of Isaiah – the Commission of Isaiah – and the Communication of Isaiah
II. The Call of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8)
-- first, let’s look at the call of
Isaiah – Isaiah 6:1-8 – look back with me at verse 1 and let’s read the first
part of that verse
Isaiah 6:1a In the year that King Uzziah died…
-- Isaiah opens this chapter with
the statement that King Uzziah has died – King Uzziah was one of the better
kings of Israel and Judah – for the 52 years that he reigned, he had tried to
follow the Lord and lead the people in the way they should go – and he was very
successful as king
-- under his reign, Judah prospered
– their borders were expanded -- the people of Judah became wealthy and secure
– they lived in peaceful, prosperous times – but, as so often occurs when we
are living in times like this, we can stray from following the Lord like we
should
–
we forget the source of our prosperity and our peace – and we can become
prideful – believing that what we have is ours because of who we are and what
we have done – and this prideful attitude began to permeate the nation of Judah
– they turned away from following God – they put their faith in their own
strength and even began worshiping idols – their devotion to God became merely
ritual – religious acts with no true heart
-- Uzziah was reflective of this
prideful bent and turn away from God – and in his pride and in his desire for
power, he attempted to usurp the priesthood – going as far as offering incense
in the temple, which was forbidden for him to do
-- when the priests confronted him
and rebuked him for doing that which was dedicated solely to the priests, a
great earthquake shook the ground – and Uzziah fled into the sunlight – where
he discovered he had been smitten with leprosy as punishment for his sins
–
for the last twelve years of his reign, Uzziah lived separated from the people
of Judah – and his son Jotham served as coregent
--
but even though the people had strayed from God – even though they had turned
away from Him – the nation of Judah was still prosperous and in peace
throughout the reign of Uzziah
--
so, when Uzziah died after serving as king for 52 years, it introduced chaos
and turmoil – it was a time of change – the foundations in Judah began
crumbling as the nations around them rose in power and threatened their way of
life
--
it was in that moment – when the ground was shaking beneath their feet – that
God called Isaiah
--
look back at verse 1
Isaiah
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated
on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were
seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with
two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were
calling to one another:
“Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple
was filled with smoke.
-- in some fashion, Isaiah was taken
to the throne room of God – whether this was simply a vision or whether Isaiah
was physically relocated there, we do not know – but he tells us here that in
the year King Uzziah died – in the midst of the concern and the worry that
encompassed the nation of Judah – he saw the Lord, high and exalted, and seated
on His throne
-- Isaiah describes the throne room
of God in a similar fashion to how John described it in the Book of Revelation
– God was seated on His throne – and above him were seraphim – a specific type
of angel – these seraphim had six wings – with them, they covered their face –
they covered their feet – which in the Hebrew, is a euphemism for their
nakedness – and with the other two, they flew
-- the seraphim led worship around
the throne, calling out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty
– the whole earth is full of His glory”
-- this very scene was a message to
Isaiah and to us – that when times are uncertain – when it looks like all is
lost – when we are worried and alone and frightened with what is happening to
us and to our world – God is still secure on His throne – He still reigns in
righteousness and power – and His holiness sets Him apart from all of creation
-- verse 5
Isaiah
6:5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I
live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty.”
-- when Isaiah saw himself in light
of the majesty and glory of God, he cried out, “I am ruined” – other
translations have this as, “I am undone” – when we see God, we realize our true
self
-- I’ve had conversations with
people before about God and I’ve had some tell me, “When I get to heaven, I’m
going to tell God this or that” – and I’m like, “No, you won’t” – because when
you get to heaven and you see God, the only thing you can do is fall to your
knees or fall on your face before Him
-- even John, Jesus’ beloved
disciple, when he saw Jesus on Patmos – John fell on his face in fear
-- seeing God like Isaiah did –
seeing God in His word – puts us in a rightful place and reminds us that there
is a God in heaven and we are not Him
-- Judah had forgotten that – and
Isaiah, even though he was a godly man and righteous prophet, saw himself for
who he was in that moment
-- one thing I want you to notice
here in verse 5 – Isaiah says, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips” – notice that – Isaiah sees himself as unclean in the
sight of God – and he also realizes that the nation of Judah and the people of
Judah – were unclean in the sight of God, too – which is going to be the reason
for his calling as a prophet and messenger to the people
-- verse 6-7
Isaiah
6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he
had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said,
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned
for.”
-- Isaiah’s confession of
unrighteousness and repentance led to the atonement for his sins – just as our
confession of unrighteousness and our repentance leads to the atonement of our
sins and salvation through Jesus
-- when Isaiah cries out, “I am
ruined,” – one of the seraphim flew to him with a live coal in his hands – which
he had taken from the altar before the throne of God – he touched the coal to
Isaiah’s lips – and removed his guilt, atoning for his sin
-- this process of events that we
see displayed for us in Isaiah is going to be the heart of his message to the
nation of Judah – to be saved, you must first become aware of your sinfulness
in light of a holy God – you must confess and repent of your sin – and you must
turn back to God for salvation and atonement – or judgment will come upon you
-- that is going to be the message
that Isaiah carries forth from this point on – and note that this is individual
and corporate – repentance and atonement must be done personally and nationally
– for both individuals and nations will be judged on the Day of the Lord
-- verse 8
Isaiah
6:8 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!”
-- so now we see the call from God
and the response from Isaiah – God calls from His throne, “Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?” – and Isaiah responds, “Here am I. Send me.”
-- I want you to notice a couple of
things in this verse– first, who is pronouncing the call? – it is God – it is
God who is calling Isaiah to go – it is God who asks the question, “Whom shall
I send?” – the calling is to accomplish the purpose and mission of God – not the
purpose and mission of the leaders of Judah
-- and it is to God that Isaiah
submits – “Here am I – Send me”
-- and notice that the calling and
the response comes only after repentance and atonement – and now that he has
been cleansed of his sin and his guilt, Isaiah is capable of responding in
faith to the call of God, “Send me”
-- but what is the calling? – what
is Isaiah being sent to do?
-- this verse and this response of
Isaiah has been taken out of context for millennia – we use it to inspire
people to missions – we use it to inspire people to go forth into ministry – we
use it to inspire people to get up and get off the pews and go out into the
world
--
the Department of Defense right now is using this verse to inspire the armed
forces to go forth and make war on behalf of the U.S.
--
but is that what this means? – when God says, “Who can I send?” – and Isaiah responds
by saying, “Send me” – what is God sending Isaiah to do?
-- that brings up the next section –
the Commission of Isaiah – Isaiah 6:9-13
III. The Commission of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-13)
-- verse 9-13
Isaiah
6:9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be
ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10
Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise
they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and
turn and be healed.”
11
Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
And
he answered:
“Until
the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until
the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12
until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13
And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But
as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the
land.”
-- God tells Isaiah to go and tell –
and that is the calling of all of us – we are called to go and tell others
about God – as we learned in our sermon series in the Book of Acts, our calling
is Acts 1:8 where Jesus tells us that we will be His witnesses to the world of
the gospel and the good news of salvation through Him
--
this is the same calling that God gives Isaiah here – “Go and tell – go and
tell this people – the people of Judah – the people who are religious on the
outside but far from Me on the inside – My message – call them to the awareness
of their sins and their unrighteousness – call them to repentance – call them
to salvation – call them back to Me”
-- the message is always the same –
the problem is the heart of the audience
-- in this case, God tells Isaiah to
go and tell the people, but to know that they will be ever hearing, but never
understanding – ever seeing, but never perceiving – their hearts are calloused
– their ears are dull – their eyes are closed
-- and because of this, they cannot
respond to the gospel – they cannot see with their eyes or hear with their ears
or understand with their hearts – they are unable to turn and be healed –
because they have chosen to turn from God and to go their own way
-- both Jesus and Paul used these
verses to explain why the people were not responding to their message – at the
end of the Book of Acts – Acts 28:17-28 – Paul is in Rome and calls together
the local Jewish leaders and shares with them the gospel message – some of them
believed, but the majority refused – they disagreed and left as Paul shared the
good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection – about the forgiveness of sins
and the atonement that comes through Him
-- as the Jews left Paul, he quoted
these verses as an indictment against their hard hearts that refused to
acknowledge their sins and the offer of salvation through Jesus – and he told
them that because they refused to see and hear and understand, the message
would be carried to the Gentiles
-- the truth of these verses is
shown in Jesus’ parable of the sower from the synoptic gospels of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke – Jesus tells the story of a sower who goes out spreading seeds
– spreading the word of God – spreading the message of salvation
-- some of the seed lands on rocky
soil and the birds eat it up – some lands in shallow soil, and it quickly
springs up, but withers away – some lands in the thickets and weeds, and the message
is choked out by the world – but some falls on fertile ground, where it grows
up and produces a harvest
-- God’s message to Isaiah here is
that when he goes and tells the people the message of God, the majority of them
will have hardened hearts and will refuse to hear the message and see the word
and understand what is being given to them
-- in other words, God is telling
Isaiah here that his ministry will not be fruitful – and that as he goes and
tells the message of God to this unclean people, that most will not respond in
confession and repentance and faith
-- Isaiah is rocked by this – he
cries out, “How long, Oh God – for how long will this happen?”
-- and God responds in verse 11 –
“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant – until the houses are left
deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged – until the Lord has sent everyone
far way and the land is utterly forsaken”
-- the people will not respond, even
as their peace and prosperity falter – even as their world breaks down around
them – even as foreign enemies come into their land and conquer their nation
and lead the people into exile
-- a few will remain – a few will be
the good soil that receive the word with joy and faith – a remnant will survive
– but judgment will fall on the rest
-- so, even though Isaiah faithfully
proclaims the word of God to the people of Judah – even though he calls the
people of Judah to come back to God – to confess and repent of their sins – to
abandon the idols – to turn back to the true worship of their God – his words
will fall on deaf ears – until disaster and tragedy overtake them and they face
the judgment for this sins
-- the rest of the Book of Isaiah
contains the message that God has given Isaiah to go and tell – the message and
the response of the people are always the same
IV. The Communication of Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1-7)
-- as an example of the message that
God is calling Isaiah to go and tell the people of Judah, turn back to Isaiah 5
and let’s look at the communication of Isaiah – Isaiah 5:1-7
--
verse 1-7
Isaiah 5:1 I will sing for the one I love
a song about
his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile
hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted
it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out
a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it
yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge
between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have
done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it
yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am
going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will
be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will
be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither
pruned nor cultivated,
and briers
and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain
on it.”
7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the
nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the
vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for
righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
-- similar to the other prophecies
in the Book of Isaiah for the nation of Judah, the message that has been given
to Isaiah here is to help Judah understand their situation by comparing them to
an unproductive vineyard
-- keep in mind that the overall
message that Isaiah is given to go and tell is for the people to recognize
their sin – confess and repent of their sin – and turn back to God in faith for
atonement and salvation
-- so, in this passage, we see
Israel pictured as a vineyard – many times in the Bible, God uses the vine as a
picture of the nation of Israel and their relationship with Him
-- in this case, Isaiah tells the
people that his “loved one” – God – had a vineyard – Israel – that he planted
on a fertile hillside
-- notice it was fertile – it should
have produced fruit – it was a perfect place and perfect environment for
fruitfulness
-- God cleared the land of the
stones – He removed the people of the land ahead of Israel – this is a reminder
that God cleared the land of Israel of all its inhabitants before the people
came into the promised land
-- He planted the land with the
choicest vines – the chosen people of God
-- He built a watchtower on the
vineyard – He prepared for the harvest – He did everything necessary to make
the people fruitful – but when He looked for good grapes, He only found bad
fruit
-- this is the sin of Israel – this
is the sin of Judah – bad fruit represents their rejection of God – their
turning away from Him – their chasing after idols and reliance on religious
rituals rather than true faith and abiding in Him
-- beginning in verse 3, God asks,
“What more could I do? What more could have been done for my vineyard than I
have done for it?”
-- God had given Himself to the
people – out of all the nations on earth, God had chosen the people of Israel
as His own – He had led them out of Egypt – through the Red Sea on dry land –
and to the Promised Land – He had given them a land of milk and honey – He had
given them Himself
-- but the people turned away –
instead of good fruit, they produced bad fruit -- He looked for justice but saw
injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness – they
continually rejected Him, even though He had done everything for them
-- their sins were evident to all –
and now, God says, they are going to face the judgment for their sin
-- He says He will take away their
hedge of protection – He will break down their wall – He will make the land a
wasteland – He will send drought and plagues upon the land and the people
-- He goes on in Chapter 5 to say
that He is going to send other nations against Israel – He is going to raise up
armies to conquer them – to destroy their towns – and to lead them into exile –
the people and the nation would suffer the consequences of their sins
-- this is the message that Isaiah
was given for the people of Judah – this is the reason he was sent – when Isaiah
stood up and said, “Here am I. Send me.” – this was his mission – this was his
calling -- this is the communication of the prophet to the people – repent and
return to God or face His judgment
-- Gary Smith gives a fitting conclusion to this
prophetic parable – he notes:
“The prophet’s role, and each reader’s responsibility,
is to warn others of God’s impending holy judgment and to persuade the ungodly
to change their ways.
“Like Isaiah, preachers, teachers, and parents need to
weep over the evil that pervades this world. It is especially sad when friends,
neighbors, fellow workers, children, and fellow church members do not classify
their evil deeds as sins against God.
“People need to communicate their deep sadness,
explain the just demands of God, encourage people to humble themselves, and
warn of irresistible judgment for those who do not glorify God. There is no
hope for those who ignore, scorn, or reject God (5:12,17,24). One day an
Almighty Lion will roar over them (5:29).”
V. Closing
--
During the Revolutionary War, there was grave concern about the behavior of
American troops -- In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams wrote about
there being “too much corruption…in this infant age of our Republic.” -- He
then stated, “Virtue is not in fashion. Vice is not infamous.”
--
This heavy concern was again noted when Benjamin Rush whispered a question to
Adams while they sat together in Congress – Rush asked Adams if he thought
America would succeed in the struggle for freedom
--
The future president replied, “Yes, if we fear God and repent of our sins.” [Source:
John Adams, David McCullough, 2001, p.160]
--
Here am I. Send me.
--
this response from Isaiah to God does not mean what the Department of Defense
implies – the response, “Send me,” is not a call to go and attack an enemy – it
is not a call to stand up for our country – it is not a call to war
--
it is a call for the repentance of a nation and an unclean people – when God
asked the question, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” – the purpose
was to go and tell the people that they were unclean – that they were sinners
and unrighteous in the sight of God
--
to go and tell the people to see who they truly were in light of the glory and
majesty of the King – to recognize their sin and to confess their sin and to
repent of their sin
--
for if they didn’t – if their hearts were too calloused to respond – if their
eyes and ears were closed – if they failed to repent and turn back to God for
the atonement of their sin and the removal of their guilt – they would face
punishment and judgment – even exile from the Promised Land
--
this is what is meant in this passage – and when Isaiah cries out, “Here am
I. Send me.” – it is the cry of someone
who knows who they are in God – it is the cry of someone who has been in the
very presence of God – who knows their sin – and who has been cleansed by the
grace of God
--
it is the cry of a forgiven sinner to an unrepentant nation to turn and come
back to the Lord
--
that is what this means – and that is why we are here – to step into Isaiah’s
shoes and to go and tell the people that a Savior has come, who has paid the
price of our sins and transgressions by giving His own body and blood as an
atoning sacrifice for us all – and to call the people to repent of their sins
and turn to Jesus for salvation and eternal life
--
Here am I. Send me.
--
let us pray
