NOTE:
This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.
› Engagement
Much of the time when we pray, our prayer is pretty self-centered. We tend to pray when we want something from God, either something for ourselves, or, if we’re really spiritual, we’ll ask God to give something to a loved one or friend or fellow Christian. So most of our prayers are for things like health, or financial needs, or a job situation, or for safe travel. We even make our own plans and then ask God to bless them. There is certainly nothing wrong with most of those prayers and we should keep on praying for those things.
But, as I hope you’ve seen in this series, Dangerous Prayers, there is a deeper level of prayer that focuses on offering our lives up to God and asking Him to use us for His purposes, plans, and ways. So far, we’ve looked at two prayers:
• Search me. That’s a dangerous prayer because we are opening up our lives to God’s scrutiny and asking Him to reveal our blind spots and our hidden sins. And that is dangerous because once God reveals those things, we have an obligation to make some changes, sometimes some radical changes, in our lives in order to address the things we have now become aware of.
• Break me. This is undoubtedly the hardest of these prayers to pray and the one that most of us are reluctant to pray. When we pray that prayer we’re telling God that we are willing to be totally sold out to serve Him regardless of the cost. And there aren’t a lot of Christians who are willing to do that.
› Tension
The final prayer that we’ll look at in this series is “Send me”. We’ll be developing that idea by looking at Isaiah’s call in Isaiah chapter 6, so go ahead and turn in your Bibles to that chapter.
Before we read part of that chapter, I want to talk about three possible responses that we can make to God’s call on our lives. And in order to do that, I need to explain what I mean by God’s “call”. It is one of those theological words that we tend to throw around without always understanding what we mean by it. Let’s begin with a definition:
“call” =
God’s initiative to bring people to Jesus and to participate in His redemptive work in the world.
In that definition, we can see that there is both what we could label a “general call”, as well as what I’ll term a “specific call”. The general call is the universal call that God issues for people to enter into a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus. That call is probably best expressed by this familiar verse:
John 3:16 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Whoever is willing to believe in Jesus and put their faith in Him receives eternal life. And praise God, most of you joining us today have responded positively to that call. And that call is a prerequisite to every “specific call”.
By a specific call I am referring to the specific plan that God has for each individual. Each person could have a number of those calls in his or her life and those calls are going to be different for each of us. And although what I’m going to share today also applies to some degree when it comes to that general call to follow Jesus, I’m going to primarily speaking about these specific calls on our lives.
THREE POSSIBLE RESPONSES TO GOD’S CALL:
I haven’t really mentioned it so far, but I am indebted to Pastor Craig Groeschel from Life Church for the idea for this sermon series. So far in this series, while I have watched and/or read his messages, my sermons have taken a direction that has been quite different from his. But this morning, some of the principles I’m going to share are derived directly from his sermon so I want to make sure to give him proper credit. And that is true when it comes to these three possible responses to God’s call on our lives.
• Here I am; I’m not going
This was Jonah’s response to God. God called him to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, but initially Jonah ran from God and from that call. Jonah only reluctantly agreed to do what God had called him to do after being swallowed by a large fish and spending three days in its belly.
Before we’re too quick to criticize Jonah, I’m pretty sure that all of us have done that, too. We’ve sensed that God is calling us to serve Him in some way, but we choose not to heed that call - at least until God brings something into our life to get our attention.
• Here I am; Send someone else
This is how Moses responded to God. God calls Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt and Moses tells God that he is not qualified and that God ought to use his brother, Aaron, instead.
Frankly, this is probably the most common response I see within the church. Whenever there is a need or an opportunity for service, many immediately just assume that someone else should do it.
• Here I am; Send me
This is how Isaiah responds. Look at verse 8 of Isaiah chapter 6:
Isaiah 6:8 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.”
This is certainly a dangerous prayer for Isaiah. And I want you to notice what Isaiah doesn’t do before He prays that dangerous prayer. He doesn’t ask God where God is going to send him. He doesn’t try to negotiate his salary. He doesn’t ask about the cost of living or the schools there.
So here is the main idea we’re going to develop today:
When I pray “send me” I am giving God a “ blank check ” and offering to let Him use me however He wants
Are you willing to do that? I’m going to be honest with you. If you do pray this prayer, God might lead you in a lot of different ways. He might call you to move to another city. He might lead you to a different job. He might do something completely unexpected in your life like He did in mine when He called me to be a pastor. I sure didn’t see that coming.
› Truth/Application
But Isaiah doesn’t make that commitment in a vacuum. Let’s look at the rest of the beginning of this chapter and identify...
THREE PREREQUISITES TO PRAY “SEND ME”
Isaiah 6:1–8 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.
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.”
Isaiah experienced three things here that prepared him to pray “Send me”:
• A genuine encounter with God’s presence
It’s not completely clear from the structure of the book of Isaiah but it seems likely that Isaiah had already begun his prophetic ministry. But in the face of the death of King Uzziah and the crisis that Judah faced, he wanted to make sure he heard from God before entering the next phase of his ministry. So he goes to the temple to meet with God. Obviously, God’s presence is not limited to any building, but at that point in the history of God’s people that is where He had chosen to manifest His presence among His people.
And as he entered the temple, he had a vision in which he was able to see God in all His glory, surrounded by angels who were constantly praising God and singing “Holy, holy, holy”. This is very similar to the scene in Revelation 4 where John has a vision of heaven where the four living creatures are singing that same song.
In Hebrew literature repeating a word or phrase three times like this is used for emphasis. So God is not just holy - He is holy beyond our ability to comprehend. And it’s also likely that the threefold use of “holy” is also a reference to the triune nature of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Obviously our encounter with God’s presence probably are going to be a lot different than Isaiah’s. We don’t have to go to the temple to experience His presence. And even though God certainly could appear to us in a vision if He wants, it is much more likely He is going to reveal Himself through His Word. So every day I have an opportunity to experience the presence of God as I read the Bible.
But it is also helpful to regularly find time to get away from all the distractions of the world so that I can just be with God and listen to Him speak through His Holy Spirit.
I still remember one of the first times that I ever did that and what a tremendous impact it had on my walk with Jesus. When we were younger, Mary and I and our kids had the privilege of attending a Navigators family retreat at Glen Eyrie near Colorado Springs. The retreat center was in a beautiful location and for me one of the highlights was the free time that we had to just get alone in the surrounding forest and spend time with God in His Word. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was using those that experience to prepare me to one day be able to pray “send me”.
So since then, I’ve tried to make sure that I find time for some of that quiet solitude with God from time to time. For me, there is something about being out in nature that seems to heighten that experience for me, whether that is walking along a mountain stream with my fishing pole in hand or hiking one of the trails in Catalina State Park.
For you, your favorite place to be with God might be completely different, but what I can promise is that the better you get to know God, to know that He is sovereign and holy and that He loves you and wants what is best for you, the more likely you will be able to pray “send me”.
• A genuine awareness of my sinfulness
As soon as he got a vision of God and His holiness, Isaiah immediately recognized his own unworthiness. The same man who had already been busy proclaiming woes against Judah, now cries out “Woe is me!”. He confesses that he is lost and is a man of unclean lips.
We see here that the closer we get to God, the more aware we will become of our own depravity. We talked about this just a couple weeks ago, but most of you who have been disciples of Jesus for a while have experienced this personally, haven’t you? One would think that the more we get to know God, the less we would sin. And that is hopefully true. But at the same time, the more we get to know God, the more we begin to recognize our own sinfulness to a greater degree than we had done before.
One of the biggest lies in our culture today is that most people are basically good people. But that is certainly not what the Bible says about us. A couple weeks ago we looked at a passage from Jeremiah that reveals that our hearts are deceitful and wicked.
You will never be able to honestly pray “send me” until you recognize your sinfulness. If you go around thinking that you’re a pretty good person, you’re also going to think that you can serve God however you decide to serve Him. You’ll make you own plans and when God comes along and tries to get you to go another direction, you’ll stubbornly hang on to those plans, thinking that you know better than God.
• A genuine understanding of God’s grace
It was one thing to recognize his sin, but that was only a starting point. Isaiah then had to surrender his life to God and let God cleanse him from his sin.
One of the seraphim takes a burning coal from the altar and touches Isaiah’s mouth and proclaims that God has taken away his guilt and atoned for his sin. This was a type or a picture of the way that our guilt is take away and our sin atoned for through the blood of Jesus.
You and I are incapable of doing anything to cleanse our lives from the sin that separates us from God. But the good news is that Jesus has already done that for us through His death and resurrection. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, He did everything that was necessary to take away our guilt and pay the penalty for our sin. What He did on the cross makes it possible for us to be clothed with His perfect righteousness so that when God looks at us all He sees is the righteousness of Jesus and not our sin.
That is a free gift that He offers to all. But like any other gift, I must receive the gift in order to benefit from that. And the way I do that is to trust in Jesus Christ alone and not in anything I can do.
When you understand the grace of God, it transforms everything! You will no longer begrudgingly pray “send me” out of some sense of obligation. Instead your attitude will be “I get to do this. I get to serve God. I get to use the talents, gifts, abilities and resources that He has entrusted to me for Him and His kingdom”.
› Action
When I pray “send me” I am giving God a “ blank check ” and offering to let Him use me however He wants
This prayer, like the others we have looked at in this series, is not just a one time prayer. I don’t just pray it once and then I’m set for life. It ought to be a daily prayer. Every day I need to wake up and ask God to give me His marching orders for the day.
But if you’re willing to do that, prepare to be surprised by God. He is very likely to take you to places you never expected. But I promise that He will do that in a way that is for your good and His glory.
› Inspiration
As we close, I want to take a few minutes to share how God has worked through this prayer in my life. I’m not doing that to call attention to myself. As you’ll see, I’ve certainly not done this perfectly, or even well, at times. What I hope you’ll see is how God can use you in ways you never even dreamed of if you’re willing to pray “God send me”. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the Readers Digest version.
When I first began to sense God calling me to a place of vocational ministry, I tried to take things into my own hands. So I applied for a position as an executive pastor at a large church here in Tucson. Although my business background and my land development expertise was uniquely suited to the needs of the church at that time, I was not hired for the position. But I soon came to realize that was a good thing because God had something else in mind. I also quit trying to do what I wanted to do rather than waiting for God to show me what He wants me to do.
When I finally put things in God’s hands and prayed for Him to send me wherever He wanted, it wasn’t long before I was called to my first ministry position - an unpaid position at - of all places - the Korean Baptist Church here in Tucson. Since I didn’t speak a word of Korean, and I really wasn’t fond of the smell of kimchi cooking in the fellowship hall every Sunday morning, my initial thought was that God must really have a sense of humor.
Needless to say, I was immersed in a culture that was really unfamiliar to me. My primary role was to teach and preach the American men, mostly ex- military, who had married Korean wives. But over the next months as I served there, including a preaching to the entire congregation with the Korean pastor translating my sermons, I really came to love the people there. So when God called me to my next ministry position, it was hard to leave.
I left there to become the pastor of a small church in southwest Tucson that was about a 35 mile drive from my home. There I served as a bi-vocational pastor and was paid for 20 hours per week even though, like most Southern Baptist churches as the time, I was expected to preach Sunday morning and Sunday night and prepare a devotional for the prayer meeting on Wednesday night. And on top of that I was expected to visit the homes of the church members on a regular basis, teach the high school Sunday School class, and organize Vacation Bible School in the summer.
In that church, I was also called to serve a community that was quite unlike my own. And although I loved serving the people there, it became apparent that the church really needed a different kind of pastor. So after a year and a half there, I resigned, For a long time I thought that I had made a mistake in going there in the first place. I thought maybe I had somehow missed God’s call and had taken that position based on my own desires. But looking back now, I understand that is exactly where God wanted me at that time and He was using my time there to eventually lead me to where He wanted me to be.
When I resigned from that church, I really began to doubt God’s call to be a pastor, but I was still praying for Him to send me wherever He wanted. A few months later, an acquaintance asked me if I was willing to help him with a church plant in Oro Valley, so I figured that was where God was leading. A few months later the church planter moved to Florida and the church plant got dumped in my lap.
I’ll be honest, the next several years were a real struggle. I hadn’t really been in on the initial planning for the church plant and our sponsoring church was struggling so they didn’t really provide us much support. So after a period of struggling to stay afloat, we finally decided to just meet at our home over the summer and seek God’s direction.
That is when I received a call from Denny Howard one day. Denny was the pastor here at TFC at the time and the church was struggling and Denny was getting near retirement age. So the church was looking for another church that might consider merging with them. I’ll spare you all the details, but that’s how I ended up here at TFC in 2004. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Since I first prayed “send me” over 25 years ago, God has certainly taken me places I would have never gone on my own. And even though some of those places were difficult for me and my family, I wouldn’t trade that experience for something easier. God has taken me to places I never dreamed I would be and used me in ways I never could have expected.
A couple of years ago as I continued to pray this prayer, I sensed that God wanted to keep me here at TFC, but in a different role. So as I enter into this next season of serving God, I look forward to serving beside Ryan for as long as God and this church deem it to be profitable.
It is a risk to pray any of the prayers we have looked at in this series - search me, break me and send me. But it is a risk that is well worth taking. If you’re willing to pray those prayers, God will very likely take you to some places you never dreamed you’d go. And He might even take you through some hard times. But the great news is that He will be able to use you in ways that you never dreamed possible. And in the process, you will come to know and love God to a degree you never thought possible.
