Return to Sender

Isaiah 6:1-8

June 11, 2006

“Return to sender.”  No, much to your disappointment, I am not going to sing an Elvis tune for you this morning.  The song refers to a letter which is undeliverable, and so is returned to the sender.

That is not the case here today.

Our topic today is the fact is that we are all created by God, given the gift of life; we are sent out into the world to share God’s love with others, and to serve God as the Body of Christ.

And for the most part, we try to answer our calling.

But many of us have forgotten that our calling is a lifelong endeavor, or we’ve gotten a bit rusty at serving.

And so we need to return to the God who created us in the first place and sent us into the world so that we may be reminded, be re-invigorated and be re-energized to serve as the Body of Christ.

The calling of Isaiah gives us the classic example of how to return to God.  And by following his example we once again recognize who God is, we reconcile our lives to God, and we then respond to God’s call upon our lives.

If you have your Bibles with you, turn to today’s scripture, Isaiah chapter 6.  The first thing we notice is that Isaiah comes into God’s presence where the throne of God was surrounded by angelic beings shouting and singing God’s praises saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The doorpost and the threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke representing God’s power and presence. What an awesome scene!

I was reminded of that scripture this past Friday and Saturday when I was at the Promise Keepers Conference with some of the men from our church in Baltimore .  Close to twenty thousand men were waiting for the conference to begin and someone began a chant, “We love Jesus yes we do, we love Jesus how ‘bout you?” The other side of the stadium erupted with the same chant back, only louder. This went on for several minutes until the entire arena was filled with the sounds of praise and honor to Jesus.

And that’s important for you see, in order to serve God we must first recognize who God is—our holy Creator—and realize that God is worthy and deserving of our worship.

Now I know that many of us come to worship for various reasons.  We are grieving or we are hurting. We are lost, or we are lonely. Some even may come to worship because we are struggling with God. And our attendance at worship is part of our search for answers.

Still others may be here against our will. You come here because your parents make you and they are bigger than you are. Or your wife made you come – maybe she’s bigger than you are.

The story is told of a man who was enjoying a pleasant sleep in bed when his wife suddenly yanked the covers off the bed and announced, “Time to get up and get ready to go to church.”

Meekly, the man told his wife, “I don’t wanna go to church today. Just let me stay here and sleep in this one day.”
Without any compassion, his wife looked at him and said, “Look Bozo, you have to go to church today. You’re the pastor.”

By the way, that is NOT an autobiographical story.

So we must recognize who God is—the one who is worthy of our worship, and true worship focuses on God. In Isaiah, the prophet goes to the Temple , and he says “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.” It is the presence of God that fills the worship, because true worship always focuses on God.

True worship also helps us understand ourselves and our shortcomings and to seek God’s forgiveness, in order to be reconciled to God. In the presence of Holy God, the prophet cries out, “Woe to me!” And he speaks of his own sinfulness. And our hearts should do the same when we come into God’s presence.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said (Rom 3:23 ), “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” As people who have fallen short of the glory of God, it is impossible to approach God’s presence in worship without being aware of our own shortcomings and sins.

However, the good news in today’s scripture is that Isaiah’s lips are touched with a burning coal, which purifies him and his “sins are blotted out.”

And the really Good News is that we have that same cleansing available to us, and believe me, our version a lot less painful.

In one of John’s New Testament letters, (I Jn 1:8-9), we are told, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You see, recognizing who God is and worshiping him in spirit and in truth always leads to the experience of God’s forgiveness, mercy and grace if we are honest with God and seek forgiveness.

Although we are imperfect in the eyes of God, we can be cleansed and reconciled to God.

Perhaps you’ve heard it this way: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life.” (John 3:16)

When we recognize who God is, it is by God’s grace and mercy that we are reconciled by God through the blood of Jesus Christ.  And that should elicit a response in us, a response to answer the call, the call to serve God and to share the love of Christ.

We hear Isaiah’s call when God asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

God issues a holy “help wanted” advertisement for messengers on mission to proclaim His truth to a wandering nation.

Isaiah responds to God’s holiness, to God’s forgiveness and mercy by answering, “Here am I. Send me.”

And in the same way God is calling each of us here today.  The “help wanted” signs are all over: in your homes, in your communities, in your workplace, in your church.

God is not looking for super-talented people.  He is simply asking “who will go for us?” He will equip you for the task ahead, he just asks for your life.

Romans 12, “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sister, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God ‚ this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Worship, reconciliation, and service.

Being an usher or greeter is service to God. Cleaning the church is serving. Teaching Sunday school is serving the Lord. Doing sound and running power point is serving Christ. Visiting the shut-ins is service.  Being on a ministry team is serving God.  Singing in the choir, or playing the piano or singing in the praise team is an act of service. Praying for one another is serving.

However God has gifted you is a way that you can serve, to be the Body of Christ to minister to those who need to feel God’s love.

“Enter to worship, depart to serve.” That phrase is frequently found on worship bulletins. It is the encapsulation of the model offered to us by Isaiah.  In the Christian life, one cannot have true worship without service to follow.

So I ask you today: Do you truly know God and worship him?  Are you reconciled to God and feel God’s call on your life?  How has God called you?  And most importantly, will you respond to the call?

We must return to our Sender so that we may recognize our call, be reconciled with our Creator, and ultimately respond to the call with a confident, “Here I am Lord, send me.”