The Layman Says "Send Me"

Isaiah said it, and we have it recorded in Chapter 6, verse 8 of the book that bears his name:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send !"

With that calling, Isaiah changed his life direction. Before that he had been a simple historian. In 2nd Chronicles we read "The other events of Uzziah's reign...are recorded by the prophet Isaiah  son of Amoz." We also read in that chapter about Uzziah's death, how after a long and successful reign he lost sight of the goal, sinned, and was afflicted with a skin disease that prevented him from ever entering again into the temple.

This appears to be on Isaiah's mind, as he marked his calling has having taken place "in the year that King Uzziah died." I suspect Uzziah's fate weighed heavy on Isaiah's mind. He wrote the history of it; he knew it well. We don't know for sure whether the call came before or after Uzziah's death, but clearly it was in close time proximity to it. It was important enough that that's what Isaiah remembered when he wrote about his call.

Today in our adult Life Group, instead of a typical lesson we listened to a sermon. Penny McCawlay, one of our members, is aiming to become a chaplain. Her educational program includes a class on preaching. That class required her to preach a sermon, video record it, and have the class complete evaluation forms. That took place today in Life Group.

Penny did a great job. She focused on the call of the layman, using examples from her own life: from work and church. She had a good mix of scripture, illustration, and commentary. Her preparation was clearly effective and her delivery was fine.

Well done, Penny. I hope you get a good grade.