“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!” He said, “Go and tell this people.” Isaiah 6:8-9
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 12:2
We never missed church or Sunday School in the Southerland household. The rule was simple: if you spent the night in my Dad’s house on Saturday, you were going to church with the family on Sunday. That was true when I was a kid. That was true when I was an adult.
I have appreciated that upbringing over the years. I have a love for God and a knowledge of the scripture that are rooted in my parent’s commitment to raise us in church.
I have been familiar with the story and calling of Isaiah from my childhood on. Isaiah has two amazing experiences that are recorded in Isaiah 6. First – he has a vision of God. Second – he has a commission from God.
The commission is seemingly simple. Following this amazing vision of God, The Almighty asks “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And Isaiah responds with “Here I am. Send me!” And in the following chapters, we see that God does indeed send Isaiah.
That always struck me as a cool story because God called and sent Isaiah. But his story of calling never had a lot of personal meaning for me.
And then I became a Christ follower at age seventeen. The boy who had never missed church or Sunday School now signed up to follow Jesus. I went from knowing about God to knowing God. I went from head knowledge to heart knowledge. I went from “these are cool stories in the Bible” to “God is writing me into His story.” And I went from a Bible story centric faith to a Jesus centric faith.
And that is when I found Hebrews 12:2 that simply declares “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
I have always been a linear thinker. One plus one has always equaled two for me. So tying Old Testament stories to New Testament truths was easy and natural.
Until I tied these two passages together and realized that the same God who was looking for someone to send and sent Isaiah is the same God who never changes and is always the same. And that meant that God was still looking for someone to send – and He was sending me!
I am sent! I am called! I have been tasked to take the Good News of Christ to those who do not yet know Him!
This moment of revelation came to me about a month after I gave my life to Christ as a seventeen year old senior in high school. And on that day, I tied my seven year old experience as a kid sent on an errand by my dad to my seventeen year old calling to be a kid sent on an eternal errand by my heavenly Father. I was once again being sent. But this time, I was not going after peanut butter. This time I was being asked to partner with God in plundering Hell and populating Heaven. That is our calling: to join Jesus in plundering Hell and populating Heaven.
Why is it that we so quickly embrace the idea that God wants to save us but so often run from the idea that He also wants to send us?
The plan of God is to offer relationship and redemption to all of humanity. And His plan is to do that through the local church. I have heard all my life that the local church is God’s plan to reach the world.
But the life changing realization is this: I am the church. I am the sent one. I am the plan.
God’s plan for reaching my neighbors is me.
God’s plan for loving my friends is me.
God’s plan for telling my co-workers is me.