Whom shall I send?
Mark Christian
Have you ever received one of those phone calls congratulating you on some fabulous vacation that you have won? They usually go something like this: “Congratulations, you have won a cruise, or a Disney vacation, or a 3-day getaway to beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee”, or maybe it is a free stay at some beach resort, but whatever it is, we understand that there is a catch somewhere. Maybe we will have to sit through a sales pitch, or maybe we will have to pay a small reservations fee to lock in our vacation, but we know that there is always a catch. Because we know that the trip will not be all it is cracked up to be, we usually don’t go.
God has sent people to one place or another, and sometimes their journeys weren’t easy, but God always went with them on their journeys.
Exodus 4:1-14a
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, `The LORD did not appear to you’?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground.
"Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake,
and he ran from it.
4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 a) Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses…
Moses had every reason to go where God sent him, and every excuse why he didn’t want to go. In Exodus chapter 13, we read about Moses out tending his father-in-law’s sheep when he saw the burning bush. When God called to him and said, “Moses! Moses!” he replied, “Here I am”.
God then explains that He has seen the misery of the Israelites in Egypt and plans to free them. He tells Moses that He is sending him to Pharaoh to lead the people out. Moses then replies, “Who am I…”
God then reassures Moses by telling him, “I will be with you.” He even explains to Moses that the elders will listen to him, that God will use his mighty hand against the Egyptians, and that the Israelites will plunder the Egyptians on their way out.
In chapter 14, we pick up where God tells Moses that He would work miraculous signs to show that Moses was indeed from God. Even after all of this, from the burning bush to the miraculous signs and God’s reassurance, Moses says, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Now look at God’s reaction.
Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses.
Even though Moses did go on to serve God, what we see here is a bad example. Moses was face-to face with God and said, “Not me, Lord. Send someone else.” And when he did, God’s anger burned against him.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 6. We are going to read verses 1-8 together.
Isaiah 6:1-8
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him were seraphs, 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 seraphs 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!"
What a difference in his answer and Moses’ answer!
I don’t know if Isaiah is describing actual events that happened for him in the flesh or if he is describing a vision that God had given him. We could argue either way, but regardless of whether the experience was in the flesh or in a vision, the experience was real. I want you to try to imagine that scene with me for a moment. Close your eyes and listen to the description that Isaiah gives of these events.
He starts with what he saw. Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. We may all have different pictures of God on His throne, but what majesty there is! How powerful God is! How fitting that He should be high and exalted!
Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. Isaiah is the only author in the Bible to use the word seraph or seraphim. The original Hebrew word refers to burning. Isaiah even says that as the seraphs were calling to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty” the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
It would be amazing to be in the presence of only these seraphs, but Isaiah was in the presence of God Himself.
When Isaiah was struck with the realization of where he was and whose presence he was in, he was overcome with fear and woe! He said, “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." Isaiah knew that even though he was God’s prophet, he was unclean.
Isaiah had been commissioned by God to speak for him to Judah. Israel and Judah were split at this point, and neither was truly faithful to God. Isaiah had the best job in the world and the worst job. He got to be God’s messenger, and what a privilege it is to speak God’s words. But often, Isaiah was required to speak unpopular messages to the people because they weren’t right with God. When Isaiah said that he was a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, he was referring to living among God’s chosen people. Isaiah knew that they were unfaithful and deserving of judgment.
But just like Moses, Isaiah was reassured. Moses had God’s explanations and miraculous signs. Isaiah had the seraph who purified him to make him acceptable in God’s presence.
In my eyes, the greatest difference in Moses and Isaiah comes in their replies to God. When God sent Moses, Moses said, “O please Lord, send someone else...”, but when God asked, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah replied, “Here am I. Send me!”
Turn with me now to John chapter 3. We will read verses 16-18, some of the most read verses in the Bible.
John 3:16-18
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
God sent Moses and he argued. Isaiah volunteered and said, “Here am I. Send me!” God sent Jesus, and Jesus obeyed in love. He loved the Father, and he loved you and me, so He obeyed.
Finally, turn with me to Matthew 28. We have so far looked all the way back to Moses, then forward to Isaiah and Jesus, and here we will read what is commonly known as the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
When we talk about the Great Commission, I know that the word “commission” has as much to do with commitment as anything else, but in this situation, I like to think of the word as “Co-Mission”. This is a mission that we share. We share it with like-minded Christians who say, “Here am I. Send me!” And we share the mission with God. God has sent us, and just like Moses, Isaiah, and even Jesus in the flesh, we can count on God’s help in the mission.
God may be saying today, “Whom shall I send to speak to the prisoners?” Stacy said, “Here am I. Send Me!” But God may want more of us to go. God may be saying, “Whom shall I send to prepare and teach lessons for vacation bible school?” Several of you have already said, “Here am I. Send me!” But God may want more of us to join in. And God may have more places to send you. After God sent Moses to Egypt, He sent him to the desert and then within sight of the Promised Land. God may be saying,
• “Whom shall I send to speak to the kids at the Junior High?”
• “Whom shall I send to speak to the couple in that struggling marriage?”
• “Whom shall I send to encourage the single mother?”
• “Whom shall I send to hold the hand of the dying?”
• “Whom shall I send to befriend the lonely?”
• “Whom shall I send to talk to the teachers?”
• “Whom shall I send to talk to the doctors?”
If I haven’t hit close to home yet, I want you to open your mind for a moment. God is sending you somewhere. It may not be to a foreign land or to an erring nation. He may not be sending you to save the whole world with your blood, but He is sending you with a Co-Mission. You know at least one person who is not right with God. Who is it? Write down their names. Do it now. I will wait. Now, pray over them. Whom shall God send?
Understand that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) He will help us as he sends us. We know that God went with Moses on his mission. He went with Isaiah as he spoke to Judah. He was in Jesus as He came to save the world. Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
God is still asking you, “Whom shall I send?” What is your answer?
(prayer)
