Global Mission Service: Send Me

Read Isaiah 6:1-13

• What do you notice?
• What is challenging for you?
• What parts do you have observations or questions about?

Discuss

Isaiah 6 follows an extended passage showing God’s grief and disappointment that Israel is not as He has intended them to be; they are rebellious, arrogant and unjust. This is exemplified in the story of King Uzziah (whose death begins the passage in Isaiah 6) – he is militarily powerful thanks to God’s help, but then acts pridefully, enters the temple to make a sacrifice himself and is afflicted with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26).

• In what ways do you think that NZ culture is not as God would want us to be?
• In what ways do you think that we personally are not as God would want us to be?
• How does this awareness affect our expectation that God might want to use us?

In Isaiah 6, we see the holiness and power of God revealed, and Isaiah is confronted with just how unworthy he and his people are. But God’s response is to first purify Isaiah and then commission him to be His spokesperson.

• What might it look like for us to receive God’s forgiveness and purification (through Jesus’ sacrifice - Heb. 9:11-14)?
• If we have been made right with God, and He considers us clean, what stops us from taking the next step and saying with Isaiah, “Here I am. Send me”?
• How can we encourage one another to take the next step in that journey of obedience?

Sometimes we are held back by fears like, “what if people don’t listen to me?” In Isaiah 6:9-10, the voice of the Lord isn’t focused on outcomes, but on obedience – He basically says that He is sending Isaiah to a people who won’t listen.

• Would you rather start out a task super optimistic, or with a warning that it is going to be difficult and not likely to bear fruit?
• How do we help each other keep going when it doesn’t look like anything is happening?
• Does this passage mean that we should always put our effort into people we think will not listen? How does this compare with Jesus’ teaching in Luke 10:1-12?

Pray that we can each listen for God’s call in different areas of our lives, that we can respond to His invitation, and that He would direct us to people whose hearts are open.