Sometimes a phrase from the Bible chases me down the street like a meth-house pit bull. This week I can’t get away from the last words of Isaiah 40:9 “Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’” Aren’t these the words we long to speak to our towns? To those in the sin-fog of small town addictions or lost in the bright emptiness of affluence.
I desperately want us (the church here) to be able to say to the hopeless “Here! Here is your God!” Not, “Here is another group of religious folks huddled in a corner.” Nor “Here is a cool church with a great worship band and lattes in the foyer.” As is often the case, my longing has turned into an inarticulate prayer—an ache toward God.
I just flat-out don’t know the answer to the ineffectiveness of the church. I know all the usual answers. Greater holiness! More prayer! More cultural relevance! More good works! Back to the Bible! Forward to revival!
But in the midst of all this theological chatter, I remembered there is another place where the bold word “Here” is used. In chapter 6 Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me!” when he heard God ask, “Whom shall I send?”
We should not underestimate the power of the word “Here.” We are often tempted to think of how we will serve God somewhere else, at another time, or in different circumstances. In many ways it easier to surrender our future to God than our present. To get to God’s “there” we have to give him our “here”.
I still don’t know the answer, but I think these two “heres” are connected. I think we have to say the first “here” to God if we are ever going to say the second “here” to our towns. I want to make certain I am standing before God and, with all that is within me, saying, “Here am I. Send me.” I can’t say much else. Other words fail.
But I am certain there is power in being fully present to God. Power for our lives, power for our churches. Power to say to the world, “Here is your God!”
