Here Am I. Send Me!

HEYO! We pulled out the old volleyball net last night and actually got a little bit of volleyball in (usually we just end up playing Nuke'em, an inferior game mode in my opinion). No offense to those of you who enjoy Nuke'em, it just isn't my favorite compared to volleyball. Anyway, starting out was a struggle because no one wanted to be a team player and some of us were a little rusty at the game. However, with a little bit of coaching we got people up to par to the point that ball would consistently go over the net. Uhh, returns, on the other hand, were rare (for both sides). We have some work to do before we can really play the game. Bump, set, SPIKE!

Mrs. L. was back with us after a couple of weeks on sick leave, and we were glad to see her on the mend! I managed to lose a massive game of UNO, and I know everyone is excited to see me lose. :)

Anywho, our message last night was focused on another of the early church's devotions: prayer. This is based out of Acts 2:42 - "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." We opened the message time with some singing - Take Me In by Kutless and Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin. I strongly recommend looking up the lyrics to these two songs as they tie in quite nicely with the message. I also shared my new morning routine, which is as follows:

1. Emilie's first alarm goes off at 6 AM - I wake up to it, she does not.

2. Emilie's next alarm goes off at 7 AM - she wakes up and takes a shower, then gets back into bed.

3. Emilie's next alarm goes off at like 7:27 AM - she gets up and gets ready for work. From this point on the phrase "Hey Michael - Wakey Wakey" will be on repeat until I finally get up.

4. I finally get up, remote start Emilie's car, brush my teeth and get ready, and then I drive Emilie to work.

5. We sit in the car for a bit (because we get there a little early), I pray over her day - that she has patience, that her students listen to her, and that her coworkers are a help, not a hindrance. Then she goes in.

6. Once she goes in, I pull out my phone, update my game on my phone (sitting in the car), wave to one of the dads as he brings his son in to the school, then drive to Wawa for my morning coffee (Cuban dark roast with Irish Cream dairy-free creamer). Then I return home.

That is my morning from Monday to Friday, my new routine. Now, there is so much more to talk about with prayer than I could possibly cover in a blog post (or a Wednesday night message, for that matter) and we talk about it a lot (look back at the "Prayer - What Does It Do, Exactly?" blog post). This message will focus on being devoted to prayer, and what that means for us.

Our passage for this topic is Isaiah 6:1-8, which reads: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, 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 seraphim 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!”

This passage comes from a time before Jesus, when even the people of God (Israel) did not have direct access to Him. They were separated from His presence because of sin and could only come near to Him through animal sacrifices at the Temple. They had to atone for their sins and become pure in order to be in His presence, or else they would be struck dead (this had happened before). In the passage, Isaiah finds himself in the direct presence of God, in His throne room. Check out this diagram of the Jewish Temple below:

All of those lines represent walls and curtains which separated people from the next area, and then at the very center (toward the top), is the "Holy of Holies", or the "Most Holy Place". This is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and it symbolized the footstool of God's throne. So in our passage, Isaiah is likely standing near there, at the feet of God, and he is able to see all that is happening in God's heavenly throne room. For some context, the Holy of Holies was where the presence of God on earth could be found (God is omnipresent - everywhere at once - but if a person wanted to experience the direct presence of God, it was in the Holy of Holies). Once a year, the high priest of Israel was permitted to go in there and burn incense, sprinkle animal blood and pray for the atonement of the sins of all the people. If he went in without first making the proper sacrifices, he would be overwhelmed by God's holiness and die on the spot. That's how serious it was to be in right standing with God.

Getting back to our passage, this is the exact predicament Isaiah finds himself in - he is impure, unholy, and sinful. He has absolutely no business being in God's throne room and he knows it. He knows that he is about to die. But then an angel of the Lord comes and purifies him with a burning coal, and he finds that his sins have been atoned for and his guilt removed. He is made righteous before God and is allowed to stay. It is at this moment that Isaiah overhears God asking for someone willing to be sent out as God's representative and Isaiah immediately responds, "Here am I. Send me!"

A sinner comes before God, is purified by God, and then offers himself to be a representative of God in the world. This is what it looks like to commit your life to Jesus Christ. This is what it looks like to be a Christian. "But Michael," you might ask, "what does this have to do with prayer?" Well, I'm glad you asked! Let's turn over to Luke 10:2 - "[Jesus] told them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.'"

Prayer has two focuses: God and people. Through prayer we seek out God to spend time with Him, get to know Him, and learn about His will for us. His part of that conversation can be found in Scripture (God's Word), and He also speaks through His Holy Spirit in our minds, and through other believers. Through prayer we also seek out God's help for ourselves and for others. And when Acts 2 says the early church was devoted to prayer, it means that they were devoted to spending time with God and praying for all the people (believers and unbelievers). Most importantly for our purposes today, they were devoted to praying daily.

In the passage with Isaiah, he experiences the presence and mercy of God, and he talks with God! In the conversation he is made aware of God's will, His desire for a representative on earth, and so Isaiah responds with "Here am I. Send me!"

In Luke 10:2, Jesus explains that there is a vast world of people just waiting to hear the Gospel message, just waiting to be told about Jesus, and yet there are so few people willing to go out and tell them. The world is the harvest, Christians are God's workers. And Jesus says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field".

This is an every day thing - every day we need to be asking God to send out His workers into the harvest field, to spread the message about Jesus and make disciples. So, the challenge from this week is something called the Luke 10:02 Challenge. Every day at 10:02 (AM or PM is up to you), take a few minutes to pray. Pray for God to reveal Himself to you, pray for God to work in your life, and pray for God to send out His workers to spread the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And, if you have any specific requests or praises, you can talk to Him about those, too. Do this once every day (like a daily routine), and let it be a time for you to respond as one of those workers, saying "Here am I. Send me!"