Humbled and Sent

“What do you hope people will say about you after you die?”

Question posed by Diane Sawyer in an interview with Rev. Billy Graham in 1992.

Honestly, what would you hope people say about you? He was a hard worker…He loved his family…he was a good man, a nice guy…he loved the Lord…he was generous…

“I don’t want them to say big things about me because I don’t deserve them. I want to hear one person say something nice about me and that’s the Lord. When I face Him, I want Him to say to me, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ But I’m not sure I’m going to hear it, but that’s what I would like to hear.”

2.2 Billion People have heard him preach.

2.2 Million People responded over the years to the gospel during his crusades.

He met and spoke with 13 US Presidents From Truman to Trump

Spent 4 months every night preaching a crusade in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Preached to over 250,000 people in one night in Central Park, New York City. 1991.

“I don’t care what anyone else has to say. I don’t deserve to have them say good things. I only want God to say one nice thing about me. I want to hear well done from Him, but I don’t even deserve that.”

Billy Graham stood before millions of people, but he understood something that every servant of God eventually has to learn: The closer you get to the glory of God, the less impressed you become with yourself.

Isaiah 6:1-13

That's exactly what happens to Isaiah. He sees the Lord high and lifted up, and his first response isn't, “God, you've found the right man.” It's, “Woe is me! For I am lost.”

God's call doesn't begin by showing Isaiah how great Isaiah is. It begins by showing Isaiah how great God is.

God humbles us before He sends us.

Isaiah 6:1–13 ESV

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.

God humbles us with His glory.

In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. Kings and rulers and prophets live and die, they come and go, but God will always be alive and well and sitting on His throne.

This was a pivotal moment. Uzziah was a great King of Judah. He conquered nations and expanded Judah’s territory. He strengthened and fortified the walls around Jerusalem. Everyone considered him to be a great king and unfortunately he did to. He became proud and went into the temple to burn incense which he was not allowed to do. When the priests tried to stop him, he got angry and God struck him with leprosy.

He remained leprous and separate from God’s people and God’s house until the day that he died. So here Isaiah is in the place where his king had fallen.

And God shows up. Isaiah sees God in his glory. The train or the hem of His robe filled the Temple. Just the hem is filling up the room.

Then there’s fiery angels flying around the throne and they’re singing.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” — There is no one like our God.

“The whole earth is full of His glory.” — That means it’s full but not that the earth can hold it all. It’s full and overflowing.

And then after this the Temple shakes and the Temple is filled with smoke.

There’s several different ways that we get to see God’s glory today.

His creation. Stuff on earth stuff out in space beyond our atmosphere.

Hebrews 1:1–2 “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

God’s glory is found in His Word. Read and look at all that God has done. Look at Jesus and what He did and what He has done for you.

Then take a moment and think about the good things in your life. Those are evidences of God’s goodness and blessing in your life.

When you see how great God is it will show you just how small you are. You are not the star of the show that is this world.

God humbles us with His glory and then His glory humbles us in another way.

Isaiah 6:1–13 ESV

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.”

God’s glory humbles us by revealing our sin.

When Isaiah saw how great and how holy God was, he was immediately made aware of how unholy and sinful he was.

“Woe is me! For I am lost…” Lost is not I don’t know where I am here. Lost is our sense of a lost person who doesn’t know Jesus. But this conveys a more vivid picture. KJV says undone, NLT says doomed… I kinda like that better.

The word literally means to be destroyed. Isaiah felt utterly devastated in the presence of God. And to be fair God told Moses that no man could see God and live and part of that is because of our sinfulness.

Isaiah says I’m unclean, everyone around me is unclean, and I have seen God the King. I’m a dead man.

Isaiah confesses and God then purifies and cleanses him symbolically. Fire is used as a picture of cleansing in the Bible.

The angel tells Isaiah that he is forgiven. His sin has been taken away.

If you spend some time looking at who God is, you will see how far you fall from measuring up. Look at Jesus. Look at His care for others. Look at the standard in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t hate anybody, don’t look at a person lustfully, don’t lie or make false promises, don’t do good deeds for the world to see and give glory to you, etc…

No one measures up. And this doesn’t sound like good news and it isn’t at first. But the good news is that Jesus did come to take away our guilt.

This coal on the altar was wood but not just wood. This was wood that was soaked in the blood and fat of the offerings that had been made on that altar.

The coal can take away sin because the coal is a symbol of a Sacrifice that was coming. There was going to be another altar, other wood, and a perfect sacrifice. Jesus came to our world, God in our flesh. He never sinned. But He died in our place for our sin. He was the burnt offering made for our sin.

And when we confess our sin humbling ourselves before God, we are forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus.

Our sin should humble us not just because we are sinful, but because Jesus loved us enough to come and die for us. This is what leads to Isaiah’s call.

Isaiah 6:1–13 ESV

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.”

God humbles us before He sends us.

God doesn’t have to tell Isaiah to go. Isaiah is ready! As soon as God says I need someone to go, Isaiah is the overeager kid in class falling out of his desk jumping in the back of the room yelling, “oo oo oo pick me pick me! Oh please pick me!”

Isaiah is ready to go because God is great and even though he is not, God has forgiven him and allowed Isaiah to stand in His presence.

Do you see that in yourself today? Do you see that God is great, do you see the sin that God has forgiven and how He now allows you to stand in His presence? That should motivate you to tell others about Him so they can know His greatness, be forgiven, and live in His presence.

I want to continue on with what Isaiah says yes to and what you are saying yes to.

Isaiah 6:1–13 ESV

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.

God is sending us into a world that is lost without Him.

God’s people were not listening. They had been refusing to listen for a while. And now God was telling Isaiah that they were not going to listen to what God had to say.

Cool…so why am I going?

Isaiah has a message of hope. Even though he would preach destruction and judgment. He would also tell of the virgin that would conceive and give birth to Immanuel. He would tell of the child who would be born, the son that would be given, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace…

The holy seed at the end of our passage is a remnant of hope for Isaiah and God’s people. God is going to judge Israel, but some will remain. There will be a faithful contingent that would remain. And ultimately God’s promise to Israel, to Abraham to bless all the peoples of the earth would remain.

God was still going to bring redemption through the people of Israel.

For us we need to realize that we will encounter stubborn people in this world unwilling to listen. But before we go and judge them and call them dumb, maybe take a second and humble yourself with how stubborn and hard of hearing you can be sometimes.

And know that through all the “no thank you’s” or “leave me alone’s” or “why do you believe that mess” …there are some who will say yes. There are some who will come to Christ. And that is not for your glory but for God’s that you get to be a part of that.

God humbles us before He sends us.

Are you humble today? Do you see God’s glory? Do you see your sin? Do you see a world desperately in need of God’s mercy and grace? Do you see the grace God has extended to you?

If you do, what is keeping you from going and telling others about Jesus?

Maybe you’re here and you need to respond to God’s conviction of sin your life. Maybe you need to make that decision to follow Jesus for the first time today.

God is calling all of us to go somewhere, will you say Here am I. Send me?