Here Am I; Send Me

INTRODUCTION

Open your Bibles and turn to Isaiah 6:8. We’re going to read this verse out loud together to begin our teaching tonight.

Isaiah 6:8 KJV 1900

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

*show a picture of the beach where Jim Elliot was murdered.

On January 8th, 1956 — a 28 year-old missionary named Jim Elliot was murdered by Auca Indians in remote Ecuador. *show a picture of Jim Elliot

Jim Elliot is famously remembered to have written in his journal — “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Simply put, it’s not foolish for a Christian to give his temporal life for the sake of the gospel which lasts for eternity.

How could he say that? What led him to be able to give his life for the sake of the Gospel? How could anyone come to a place where they can say — Here am I; Send me?

Isaiah 6:1-8 gives us 3 motivators that compel us to say — Here a I; Send me.

First,

SEE GOD

Look with me at Isaiah 6:1-4

Isaiah 6:1–4 KJV 1900

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

You and I will never be able to say Here Am I; Send Me without seeing God rightly.

These verses give us a glimpse of God and we see three characteristics of God:

God is King. (vs.1) As he sits on his throne, he rules over all.

God is holy. (vs.3) He is totally unique and separate. There is nothing and no one like him. (Revelation 4)

God is to be worshiped. (vs.1,3) Notice where Isaiah sees God. He’s in the temple to be worshiped. (Psalm 67)

As the great missions Psalm declares… Psalm 67:3

Psalm 67:3 KJV 1900

3 Let the people praise thee, O God; Let all the people praise thee.

This is the goal of missions and the mission of the church, that the nations turn to God and worship him alone!

For Jim, the passion to reach the unreached grew out of a passion he had to know Christ from a young age. He learned that the way we see God directly influences how we see others.

This is motivator number 2:

SEE OTHERS

Let’s continue in our passage with Isaiah 6:5.

Isaiah 6:5 KJV 1900

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

We’ll come back to talk about Isaiah in a moment… but notice again… His seeing God affected how he saw others. And compared to God, the Israelites were filthy. And compared to God, all of humanity is filthy.

And this runs contrary to the way our culture perceives itself. You are told by culture that you’re good. Deep down inside, you are good.

But this is not what the Bible tells us.

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament proclaim the same truth — none are righteous. Translation… no one is good.

It gets worse… Isaiah later tells us that even our attempts at doing good are seen by God as filthy rags. Why?

Because compared to God, all of humanity is filthy.

And Isaiah knows the consequences of uncleanness which leads him to cry out — Woe is me!

Because the unclean, as Revelation 21:27, cannot enter into heaven and live with God eternally. And this leaves the nations under the judgment of a righteous God. And that creates some difficult questions for us to think about.

There was a question submitted that asks — If someone is never reached with the Gospel how can you get saved? Like, if you are oblivious to Christianity, why do they go to hell? Do they go to hell?

And this is a tough question that we all must wrestle with. What does God do with the unreached nations of the earth? Or maybe, how could God judge them for their sins?

Here’s a question that I want you to answer that’ll help us:

Are the unreached people of the earth sinners? (Yes)

What is God’s response to unrepentant sinners? (eternal separation from God in hell)

Now, the question really is… does God deal with people differently based on their access to the Gospel?

Listen to Romans 1:16-20

Romans 1:16–20 KJV 1900

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Paul writes that through Creation, mankind can know there is a God which leaves them without excuse. They are dead in their trespasses and sins. Christ died for their sins. But they don’t know that. The only way they’ll ever know that is if they’re told. Like what we’ve read the last two weeks in Romans 10… they will never accept the Gospel without someone telling them the Gospel.

And this weighed heavily on Jim Elliot. In high school, Jim felt a growing burden for unreached people groups, a burden that only intensified while he was in college. He prayed and fasted for 10 days seeking God’s will about reaching the Auca Indian tribe with the Gospel.

When Jim Elliot told his parents of his desire to go overseas, they urged him to stay, pointing to the spiritual need in the U.S. But Elliot was convinced that he could not stay home while people elsewhere had virtually no access to the Gospel.

Jim’s frustration was that the American church did not see God rightly, which led them to not see others rightly and recognize their need for the Gospel.

What is it for you? What keeps you from seeing God rightly and others rightly? Do you have the Word of God sitting in your room but never allow it to enter into your heart? Do you fail to see the need of those around you? How can you get to the point of surrender which says, “Here am I; Send Me?”

See God. See others. But there’s one more motivation for Isaiah. He saw himself.

SEE OURSELVES

Look back at Isaiah 6:5

Isaiah 6:5 KJV 1900

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah identifies himself as one of the unclean.

Because compared to God, Isaiah was filthy. Isaiah’s righteousness was filthy.

Here’s what Amanda and I have been teaching Logan to recently… it’s a question that he’s supposed to answer.

We ask him… What’s your problem? You know what the answer is? Sin. They we tell him that Mama and Daddy have the same problem.

Here’s the reality. You have no right to look at another person in judgment and condemnation because you are just the same as them.

But then Amanda and I ask Logan this all important question… Who can fix our sin? What’s the answer?

If you’re a believer, the only real difference between you and any other human in the world is not how much money you give to missions, how often you’re at church, how much you read the Bible, or who your parents are… The only difference between you and someone else is Jesus! Because it’s in Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)

We have been made clean through Christ.

Isaiah experiences this himself. Look at Isaiah 6:6-7

Isaiah 6:6–7 KJV 1900

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

His iniquity is taken away and his sin is purged! What’s happened is he’s been forgiven.

Sit in this for a moment.

If you’re a believer in this room, you have been forgiven. Those angry words you’ve spoken to your parents… you’ve been forgiven. The hatred that you have toward someone in your life… you’ve been forgiven. You name it… it’s been forgiven.

If you’re not a believer in Christ Jesus tonight… the best news I could ever tell you is that Christ is waiting to forgive you.

And this point is all important… Isaiah saw God, but it didn’t alone seem to move him towards surrender and service. Isaiah saw others, but again, that alone didn’t seem to move him towards surrender and service. But once Isaiah experiences the power of God through forgiveness… or once he experiences God, then he’s able to say… Here am I; Send me.

And that’s Jim Elliot in a nutshell. He lived in the reality of his forgiveness, which led him to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. He had experienced Christ’s forgiveness and wanted others to experience Christ’s forgiveness.

His life challenges us to live with eternal purpose and hold nothing back in our obedience to Christ. Whether we share the gospel with neighbors across the street or we travel across the globe, the call is the same: to lay down our comforts, preferences, and even our lives so that others might know Him.

How could Jim Elliot and the prophet Isaiah declare Here Am I; Send Me… Because Christ is worth it.

CONCLUSION

Teenager, I want our youth group to be filled with people who have said, “Here am I; send me,” because we believe Christ is worth it.

I want my life to bear witness to the fact that I believe Christ is worth whatever obedience costs me.

So, how might you take one step in participating in missions?

Maybe you need to believe the gospel and experience the forgiveness we've talked about tonight.

Maybe you need to stop merely thinking about sharing the gospel and actually tell someone about Jesus.

Or maybe tonight you need to surrender—to honestly tell God, “Here am I; send me. Whatever you want from my life, I'm willing.”

We're going to take a minute or two by ourselves and pray. Respond to what God has shown you tonight. Thank Him for His grace. Confess your sin. Pray for someone who needs Christ. Ask Him for boldness. And surrender yourself to Him.

Because Christ is worth it.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTION

What is most likely to keep you from saying, “Here am I; send me” to God? How does seeing God, others, and yourself rightly challenge that hesitation?

SMALL GROUP PRAYER PROMPTS

Pray for surrender. Ask God to help each person in your group believe that Christ is worth whatever obedience may cost, and to genuinely be willing to say, “Here am I; send me.”

Pray for people who need the Gospel. Pray specifically for friends, classmates, family members, and people around the world who need Christ. Ask God to give you compassion for them and boldness to take part in reaching them with the Gospel.