Download Dan Walters - Our Savior

Rev. Mark Gieschen
25th Anniversary of Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church
Preached: 2/4/07 at Our Savior, Springville, NY
Text: Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
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!”
“Here am I. Send me!”
Dear members and friends of Our Savior congregation,
Today is what? Super Bowl Sunday? Yes, it is, and of course we are all rooting for the
Chicago Bears, right? Even if you are not a Bears fan, if you watch NFL football, you certainly
have heard of their middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. He is a very good football player; not
flashy, just a solid tackler and the heart of their defense.
Do you know where Brian grew up? In a small town in the southeast part of New
Mexico. It is kind of out a ways from bigger cities. In fact, to get to a regional airport of any
size you have to drive to Lubbock, Texas, more than two hours away. And in this little town
Brian Urlacher grew up, played football, and has become a hero of that town. Today he plays in
the biggest game of the season, perhaps the biggest game of his life.
You people also live in a small town. I don’t know if you have any famous people who
grew up in Springville. But I do know that each and every one of you is important in God’s
eyes. For through your baptism and your faith in Christ Jesus each of you is a child of God.
And that, dear friends, means a lot. It means so much for you now and in the future.
But I have been asked to preach a sermon about the past. Yes, the past. Some 25 years
ago! And that first trip down to Springville from my home in the Town of Greece will always be
remembered. The first trip on s Sunday afternoon in January took much longer than one would
expect. For, as some of you remember, Western New York got hit with a real for life blizzard.
Snow drifts piled several feet high and blocked one lane of traffic along the county highways.
But we can also remember what greeted us when we came. For as we stepped into the
home of Mike and Lill, there was singing coming from the basement. The singing of Christian
hymns! Yes, you Christian people who were looking to be served with the truth of God’s Word
were singing hymns of praise to your Lord. That, too, will never be forgotten. From that first
meeting, and then on to the first worship service held at the VFW two weeks later, your
congregation has grown to where you can worship in a beautiful sanctuary, your pastor and his
family can live in a comfortable home, and you and your children can grow in the Word in your
new building addition. How the Lord God has blessed Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church!
But I don’t want to talk only about the past history of your church. I also want to share
with you a message from God’s Word. It is a familiar section of the Book of the prophet Isaiah.
In this section of God’s holy Word you and I will be hearing a call from our Lord. It is a call to
get the message out. To tell people near and far about the grace of God which is clearly seen in
the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son Jesus Christ.
The setting for our sermon text is a vision which the prophet Isaiah received from the
Lord God. In this vision Isaiah sees the Lord God seated on his throne. And around the throne
are seraphs flying. Now seraphs are a rank of angels. Isaiah describes them as each having six
wings: two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two by which they were flying. Then
the prophet writes, “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” What an amazing sight and sound that must
have been. To be in the presence of the Lord God himself and see these mighty angels flying
around.
So frightened was Isaiah that he responded, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of
unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, an my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty.” Do you see yourself in those words of Isaiah? I want each of us to consider this
morning what it is that we’re saying when we tell the Lord God, “Here I am. Send me!” For
when we reflect on who we are by nature, that too ought to make us quake with fear. But when
we reflect on what we have become by God’s grace, that should move us to serve the Lord.
“Here I am.” You and I, like Isaiah, might first say, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” What
we learn from Scripture is that every one of us is a sinful human being. We have transgressed
God’s Law in many ways. Or as Isaiah says, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips.” Just taking a look at a couple of God’s commandments, we see where
we have sinned with our unclean lips. God says, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord
your God.” Anytime we use God’s name in a way where we show disrespect to him, we are
sinning. We have unclean lips. Again, God says, “You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor.” Anytime we say something hurtful or harmful about someone else, we are sinning.
We have unclean lips.
So when we stand before God today, we know who it is who says, “Here I am.” That is
you and me, a sinner, broken and inept at doing what God asks of us. He calls out, “Whom shall
I send? And who will go for us?” Can I say, “Here I am?” I’m a sinner. I have trouble with so
much in my life because I am broken through my guilt. And now I am supposed to take your
Word, Lord, and spread it to others? You certainly don’t want me.
But then we are reminded that God has chosen us. He has chosen us through his Son to
be His children. As the apostle Paul writes, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
(Galatians 3:26-27) You and I have complete assurance that we belong to God and are His own
because we have been baptized. How does this work? The suffering and death which Christ our
Lord went through on the cross on Golgotha outside the city of Jerusalem has made us justified
before God. We have been cleansed from our sins through the precious blood of Jesus. That is
the picture, then, in Isaiah’s vision. The prophet tells us, “Then one of the seraphs flew to me
with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my
mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned
for.’”
Now when each one of us says, “Here I am. Send me!” we know that God sees us as his
redeemed children. Instead of a sinner, I am holy through the precious blood of Jesus. Instead
of broken, I am now at peace with God. Instead of inept and unable to carry His Word to others,
I am able to spread the Word concerning the salvation of all people, that “God was reconciling
men to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” (II Corinthians 5:19a) You and
I have the promise that God will give us His Spirit to guide us into the right words to say. We
will be overflowing with joy in getting the good news out to our neighbors and friends, to our
family members and to people in other parts of the world.
And for you children, there might even be a special place out there where you can tell
others what great things Christ our Lord has done for us. Maybe someday you will go forth from
this small town of Springville and take God’s Word to more and more people. The Lord is
calling, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” May you answer, “Here I am. Send
me!”
Amen.