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"Here I Am, Send Me" Today, the people of God stand at a Crossroads. We stand at a time and place in history where the decisions we will all be making in the immediate future will determine not only the shape and destiny of our own future, but will impact greatly upon our community, other area churches, and even our nation, and ultimately the future of Christianity in our world. As Christians face a new millennium, we are confronted with a world that many of us do not recognize. Crime, promiscuity, rape, incest, murder, pornography, drugs, alcoholism, moral degeneration, molestation, adultery, and every manner of vile evil confront us every evening for those still brave enough to watch the evening news. As we look around us to see and hear the unified voice of the Church of God, some of us have experienced silence and what often seems to be retreat and confusion in the face of the onslaught surrounding us! We stand in shock as stories increase of the molestation of our children while the rise of pornographic material and Internet abuse continues. Statistics show that the mainline churches in America are continuing their drastic decline in membership while more and more people seek meaning, purpose, and refuge in any number of New Age, Wicca, Pagan, or Satanic cults. And those of us who work with children stand amazed that most children seem no longer to even know the Lord’s Prayer and seem strangely ignorant of even the most basic Bible knowledge. Bibles are becoming the exception, not the rule in most American homes! It was with great fear that sometime back, I heard the "official announcement" that Great Britain considers itself to be "no longer a Christian Nation" - as believers now constitute only a small minority of the population. Those of us who do healing work on the front lines and stand in the gap at specialized ministries in Christian Counseling and Education at places like Good News, are perhaps more aware than most, that Christianity seems to be losing the battle for the hearts and minds and souls of the majority of Americans! As Christians look to the future today, we are acutely aware that we stand at a crossroads in history - where the challenges and demands seem almost more that we can bear at times. The sensitive Christian of today is all too aware of the challenges the cause of Christ is facing in today’s world. While we may have enthusiastically answered the call of Jesus as Lord and Savior and have (at one time) responded to his command to "Come - Follow Me!" too many of us keep looking back at the boats we left and are sifting down at the sides of the crossroads overwhelmed with exhaustion, bound with fear, and lost wounded from the baffles of the past not sure of our direction in the future and apprehensive about the crosses many of us see in the future.
"Thus saith the Lord, stand by the cross roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it and then you will find rest for your souls." (Jer 6:13-16) And so we must ask today, my friends, where are the old roads and the ancient paths? Do you remember when divorce was rare, prayer was heard daily in our public schools, and the Bible was read before the start of every new day? Do you remember the old ways, those ancient paths, those clear guidelines when right was right and wrong was wrong? Do you remember when no one locked their front doors (or their cars), and we all trusted that a person’s word was all that was needed? And how, we wonder, did we get lost in this wilderness of moral despair and confusion that is America today? And as we gather here today in this sacred space to reflect on the choices before us, we can not help but remember that great "cloud of witness" named in our NT reading who have indeed gone before us and who have lived and died for justice, right, truth, and freedom, and gave their all for God’s Kingdom! I am reminded that Theodore Roosevelt once said that there comes a time in the affairs of men and nations when it is "better to dare mighty things - to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat –" The prophet, Isaiah, that we have heard about in today’s Old Testament reading, did indeed live in such a time as this - a time of great evil - a time of conflict and hope - a time of despair and destruction - a time of change and challenge - a time of beginnings and endings - a time of moral bankruptcy and theological apostasy. In fact, it was indeed a time much like our own. For it was a time in Israel of great evil in which God himself cried out in the Temple "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Is 6:6) For the prophet Isaiah lived in a time in fact that greatly resembled our own time - a time of crossroads - a time of decisions, (for great good or great evil) in the life of individuals, the nation, and the world. For I am reminded constantly as I see the increasing apathy and moral corruption around us of Thomas Jefferson’s declaration of warning: "Indeed," he said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just!" Even so, the Isaiah of old when confronted with the absolute justice, holiness, and righteousness of God cried out in response, "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!" When truly confronted with the sinless awesomeness and perfect sanctification of the divine presence, what else can we do but fall on our face aware of our own unworthiness and desperate need for change, sanctification, growth, and repentance. Even as Moses and Abraham before him were altered by their encounter with God, even so Isaiah stands convicted that his ministry and call need renewal and that his life needs purification. Isaiah stands today as one of the greatest prophets in religious history —not because he was perfect — but because he was willing to admit his imperfections and ask for deliverance. What we do know is that God responded in mercy and grace to Isaiah’s cry of repentance: "Then flew one of the Seraphim unto me," Isaiah says "having a live coal in his hand from which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said ‘Truly this hath touched thy lips and the guilt is taken away and thy sin removed.’" It is only after this that Isaiah records, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord God saying, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I! Send me!’" After this encounter we know that Isaiah’s prophetic ministry spanned over 45 years of the most difficult period of Hebrew history. He is considered by most to be the greatest of the prophets. His writings are unsurpassed in beauty, sensitivity, brilliance, and power. We do know that finally during the reign of the wicked King Manasseh, he was sawn in two and met the fate of a martyr with bravery and courage. He stands today among "the great crowd of witnesses" referred to in Hebrews of "whom the world was not worthy." And yet, my friends, the miracle remains that we still worship a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! We still worship a God that scripture says "shall deliver us from every evil work, and will preserve us unto his heavenly kingdom - to whom will be glory forever and ever!" (II Tim. 4:8) We do live in perilous times much like the days of Isaiah! But, these times of crossroads are also times of great promise - for in those days Jesus said, "The Good News of the Gospel will be preached to all nations!" For Satan is, my friends, already a defeated foe! Should we be surprised then - that in these, His (Satan) last days, that he should roar about "like a lion seeking whom he may devour." Surely, our hearts will fail us in these days as Jesus warned if we do not today stand in the assurance of the truth of the revelation given to John the Apostle in Rev. 11 that "after those perilous times are completed, the kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Rev. 11:15) Do we fear? YES! Will we fail? NO! For there are still Christians here today crying out, as did Isaiah of old, "How long, oh Lord. How long?" And God would respond to us today, as he did to Isaiah of old, "Until the cities be wasted…. and the land…. desolate." (Is 6:11) For God stands today again saying to each of us here as he did of old: "Whom shall I send and who will go for me?" Will we answer as Isaiah did, "Here am I - send me!" (Is 6:8) or will we answer as so many already have "Not me Lord - send someone else!" For God is standing in our midst today - in our nation - in our land - in this church - looking for the Isaiahs of today who are willing to stand up, to speak out, and to go forth for the healing and salvation of ALL people! May each of us here cry out with Isaiah "Send me, Lord!" May we not keep silent, my friends, in such a time as this! For who knows, my brothers and sisters, if you here today have not come to the Kingdom for exactly such a time as this! For our New Testament Epistle that I read today from Hebrews 11:40 made it very clear that "Because God had something better and greater in view for us, these heroes and heroines of faith should not come to perfection apart from us - that is before we could join them!" (Heb. 11:40) For scripture is extremely clear that without us - you and me - the work and sacrifice of the heroes of old will not and can not be completed. For no part of true Christian community can be complete without the rest! Just as God’s Kingdom can not be brought to completion unless we here today, continue that work which others have labored for so hard! May it be that we here today shall be also willing to pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of God’s Kingdom! For you, here today, are a chosen generation - a royal priesthood who stand at a crossroads of history today, my friends, with a unique opportunity to reach out to the lost and sick and wounded these perilous times. For we gathered here today are nothing less than soldiers enlisted in God’s army - preparing our minds, hearts, and souls for the Baffle of the Ages that is before us as we face these perilous times. May it not be said of any of us that the trumpet sounded and we refused to answer! For God is calling individuals - people like you and me. God is calling now, urgently! For the people of God stand in situations and seasons where we may all surely perish unless the women and men of God can stand now with Isaiah and say enough is enough - here we stand - and if we perish, we perish! My brothers and sisters, God has called, God does call, and God is calling today. God is calling for the Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s of our time to stand up and be counted! God is calling for women and men today who love truth more than comfort! God is searching for men and women today who love righteousness more than popularity! God is seeking for a people today who love justice more than the ease of acceptance! God is crying today for a people who will be risk-takers for the truth. God is weeping today for people who will say YES to God and NO to the evils of mankind! God is searching today for all those who are willing to say with Isaiah: "Here am I, Lord. Send me!" For we know that scripture does indeed say "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, neither male or female. (Paul) For God is seeking all of his people today who believe that God’s word will prosper in that for which it is sent to accomplish! For you my friends are indeed called to the Kingdom for such a time as this! For we here today, as Christians of this chosen generation, are called to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle - "rejoicing in our hope, and patient in tribulation." And when the Kingdoms of this world shall indeed have become the Kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, may it be said of each of us that we did not turn back from our God who today again asks: "Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" (Is. 6:8) May it be said of each of us that generations to come in God’s Kingdom that shall last a thousand years: "This was their finest hour!" May it be recorded in the very book of Heaven that those here today said "Here am I, Lord - send me!" Send me to a lost and dying world - send me to the hungry, the broken-hearted, the hopeless, the afflicted, the lonely! Send me to those drowning in sin and moral confusion and ignorance? Send me Lord to hold that wavering hand that reaches out for hope in this hopeless world. Send me Lord! For may we all today hear again in a new way from Revelation 12:10 that "loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down.... And we overcame by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of our testimony, and we loved not our own lives unto death. Therefore, rejoice Ye heavens, and you that dwell in them!" For you, my friends, have indeed come to God’s Kingdom for this exact time! For God is calling faithful men and women, to the Kingdom for exactly such a time as this! For that contribution which only you can make in God’s Kingdom will not be made unless you today can say - "Here am I, Lord, send me! I give you my mind, my life, my intellect, my talents, my gifts, my lips, in your service, Lord! For I have heard your people crying in the night. Here am I! Send me!" "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses - let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us - looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith - who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross - despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of God to whom is glory forever and ever." (Hebrews 12:1-2) So May It Be - Amen Return to Devotions Page |