What Do You Say to the Great I AM?

February 18, 1990

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, "Here am I; send me!"

Introduction:

What do you say to God? [I know, it depends on how big your understanding of God may be! "Now I lay be down to sleep!" is perfectly appropriate for a two or three-year old.] As we come to grasp the greatness of God— not that He is less than loving, nor less than caring— but as we come to grasp that this Sovereign of the Universe wants to speak to us— what is appropriate?

What do you say to God? "Anything He wants you to say! Look how BIG He is!" ... but no! .. that is not really how it is! At least, not always!

I. THE PROPER THING TO SAY TO GOD IS: "PRESENT!"

  1. When God speaks to us, believe it or not, it is always because there is an exciting, wonderful, life-changing prospect ahead for us.

    God doesn't deal in trivialities! God deals in LOVE!

  2. We are always trying to bring God into our reality, and into our standard of values. If talking with God doesn't make us richer, or doesn't seem to be amusing, or seems as though it might cost us comfort (deferred gratification) then it is hard for us to see what a high honor and privilege to be addressed by the great I AM!
  3. The real story of the Bible is the life-history of men and women who said: "Here I am!" when the Great I AM called their names:

    People like:

    • Abraham (Covenant of faith)
    • Moses (Shaper of the Nation of the Poeple of God)
    • Isaiah (Messiah's fore-teller (text)
    • Mary ("Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord!")
  4. Saying "Here I am!" does not entirely mean we are "passive" before the God and the truth of the Bible. But GOD DOES HAVE TO CALL US FIRST! And when He does! a proper response is: "Here, Lord! I'm HERE!"

    But just how simple is it to report "Present" to God?

II. INITIALLY, IT MAY BE JUST AS SIMPLE AS THAT!

  1. If we can be open and simple with God, God can be direct and even confrontational and forgiving and cleansing with us!
  2. Can you remember when God spoke to YOU? And you said, "Here I am!" ??

III. BUT TO CONTINUE TO SAY "PRESENT" TO GOD WE HAVE TO LEARN TO SAY "ABSENT" OR NO! TO OTHER THINGS!

  1. We have to learn to say no to bad things like sin and guilt and anxiety.
    1. Like SIN. Going against God's will. God gently leads us. (Illus: Herb Frame and his cigarettes.)
    2. Like GUILT. God doesn't expect perfection of performance from any of us. But He can and does expect our best, and our honest love! Openness. Confession.
    3. Like anxiety. I'm working on WORRY!
  2. And, believe it or not, we have to learn to say no to "Good" things like somebody else's expectations that overload and sink our little boats.

    There is a tremendous power in expectations. We tend to fulfil the prophecies of those we let influence us! How else to explain dynasties of doctors— of politicians— of merchants— of ministers?

    It is hard to over estimate the power of positive and loving expectations within a loving community! [And the opposite is sadly true, too!] [MORE ABOUT EXPECTATIONS LATER]

  3. WE NEVER SAY "NO" TO GOD! But we sometimes need to distinguish between GOD and God's people and God's various organizations.

    We have to be alert to the claims of competing values: we want to be liked/loved/appreciated. We want to value ourselves and people who "can."

    It helps to have a personal "Mission statement." DO YOU?

    We need to say "yes" to the tasks of the church that we can do, and that God approves of. To say "no" to church tasks when we are simply loaded down with selfish agenda is to deny the kingdom.

    But God is a reasonable Boss- of we want to use that title.

    [Certainly He is our Master; and this is His church— so He is the Boss!] No one should be so busy that she cannot stop and listen for the great I AM when He speaks!

  4. So, we need to say "No" to that which complicates and ruins our lives!!

    This is not to say that we do not bear one another's burdens. That is not a matter of "expectations."

Conclusion:

HOW DO WE TALK TO THE GREAT "I AM" ??

I said just a moment ago: 'It is hard to over estimate the power of positive and loving expectations within a loving community!' What a power it is to know that people love us, and think we're the greatest!

People care about what we do, what we choose!

But if that is true about PEOPLE, how greatly true it is about GOD! THE GREATEST POWER THAT CAN BE RELEASED IN OUR LIVES IS GRASPING THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS THAT GOD HAS FOR EACH OF US!! GOD MADE US AND HE KNOWS WHAT WE CAN BECOME!

[Isaiah, already well on his way to being a good, even great servant of God— but not aware of JUST HOW GREAT! God reveals Himself to Isaiah! Isaiah says: HERE AM I! PRESENT!]

[Say "YES" to Jesus, and He will help you to say "No!" Can we build a church with people who say "No!"?? If they have said, "YES!" then we surely can and will!]