Here I Am | Pastor Joe Little | 07.26.26

Isaiah 6 opens in grief, in the year that King Uzziah died, when a stable, prosperous season for the nation suddenly broke apart. Isaiah shows up to the temple with sorrow in his hands, and God is there. The house of God becomes the place where grief, shame, doubt, anxiety, and fear can actually be handled, because what changes a nation is not a new king, a new candidate, or a new policy, but an experience with the presence of God.

The vision lifts Isaiah’s eyes from national loss to the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne, with the train of his robe filling the temple. The seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy,” and the doorposts shake. Isaiah had spent five chapters saying, “Woe to you,” calling out empty worship, pride, corruption, greed, drunkenness, and injustice. But when the holiness of God fills the room, Isaiah’s words change to, “Woe to me.” The presence of God ends spiritual comparison. The bar is not the neighbor, the spouse, the small group leader, or the favorite YouTuber. Full righteousness in Christ is the bar, and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The live coal from the altar shows that Isaiah cannot fix himself, free himself, heal himself, or clean himself. Grace has to come down. On the Day of Atonement, priests brought coal to create smoke, a veil that shielded them from the presence of God. But in Isaiah 6, an angel brings coal from God to Isaiah, and direct contact with the presence of God takes guilt away and atones for sin. Isaiah gets a glimpse of what Jesus would secure forever, when the veil was torn and the blood of Christ opened bold access to the holy place.

God’s question, “Whom shall I send?” meets a man who has just been ruined, cleansed, and restored. Isaiah does not ask for all the details. Isaiah forcefully inserts himself and says, “Here am I. Send me.” The call is not safe, easy, or applause-filled. Isaiah will be rejected, just like Jesus and Paul were rejected. But faithfulness is not measured by the response of the audience. Faithfulness is measured by obedience, by a life that says, “God, anything you want, here I am.”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. What soothes cannot sustain The gospel does not aim merely to calm a person down long enough to survive another night. Living water goes deeper than a vice, a relationship, a job, or any temporary comfort that only rocks the soul back to sleep. Christ offers sustaining life, not just short-term soothing, and that difference exposes how shallow many comforts really are. [48:38]
• 2. Grief belongs in God’s house Isaiah’s grief does not push him away from the temple. His sorrow becomes the very road that carries him into the presence of God. The house of God is not too fragile for grief, shame, doubt, or anxiety, because God meets broken people there with throne-room reality. [51:31]
• 3. Holiness ends spiritual comparison Isaiah moves from “woe to you” to “woe to me” when the presence of God fills his vision. Human comparison can make sin feel manageable, respectable, or smaller than it is. God’s holiness removes the scale entirely and reveals the true need for a Savior. [57:59]
• 4. Grace came down first Isaiah does not climb up to the altar and make himself clean. The coal comes from God, touches his lips, and declares guilt removed and sin atoned for. Jesus fulfills that picture completely, because the torn veil announces direct access through his blood, not through human striving. [67:59]
• 5. Obedience outruns rejection Isaiah says yes before receiving every detail about the cost. Rejection does not cancel the call, because Jesus kept preaching after rejection and Paul kept proclaiming the kingdom after rejection. Faithfulness rests in obedience to God, not in being liked, understood, or applauded.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [42:03] - Isaiah 6 and “I Am”
• [45:10] - Sleep Training and False Sustaining
• [48:38] - Living Water Sustains
• [50:46] - Uzziah Dies, God Is Still on the Throne
• [53:21] - Holy, Holy, Holy
• [56:10] - Spirituality Is Not Relative
• [57:59] - From Woe to You to Woe to Me
• [62:05] - Every Person Needs a Savior
• [63:59] - The Day of Atonement
• [66:33] - The Veil Torn by Jesus
• [69:21] - Here Am I, Send Me
• [75:55] - Rejection Cannot Silence Obedience
• [80:02] - Invitation to Receive Jesus

Bible Reading

Isaiah 6:1-8
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” [50:41]

Romans 3:23
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” [58:47]

Hebrews 10:19-20
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,” [01:06:47]

John 4:10
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” [49:28]

Observation questions

1. In Isaiah 6, what details show the greatness and holiness of God in the temple scene? What do the seraphim say, and what physical things happen in the room? [53:45]
2. What change happens in Isaiah’s words after he sees the Lord? How is “woe to me” different from the pattern of “woe to you” that marked the earlier chapters? [57:59]
3. What exactly does the seraph do with the coal, and what is declared over Isaiah after it touches his lips? [01:02:27]
4. In these passages, what words describe what Jesus gives and what Jesus opens for people who come to him? Compare “living water” in John 4:10 with “confidence to enter the holy places” in Hebrews 10:19-20. [49:41]

Interpretation questions

1. Isaiah comes to the temple in the year King Uzziah died, during a time of loss and instability. What does that suggest about where grief is meant to go, and why might sorrow sometimes become the doorway into a deeper encounter with God? [51:37]
2. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. How does that truth confront the habit of measuring spiritual life against other people instead of against God’s holiness? [58:54]
3. The coal comes from the altar to Isaiah; Isaiah does not go get it for himself. What does that reveal about grace, atonement, and the inability of a person to fix or cleanse himself? [01:08:02]
4. Isaiah says, “Here I am! Send me,” before he knows the full cost of the assignment. What does that reveal about the nature of obedience, especially when faithfulness may lead to rejection instead of visible success? [01:17:55]

Application questions

1. When grief, anxiety, shame, or fear rises up, where is the first place usually turned to for relief? What would it look like this week to bring those things more honestly into the presence of God instead of only reaching for something that numbs or distracts? [52:21]
2. What has been acting like a temporary soothing tool lately—a relationship, a habit, a job, a screen, a vice, or something else? How has it calmed things for a moment without truly sustaining the soul? [48:38]
3. Spiritual comparison can hide sin instead of exposing it. Who tends to become the measuring stick—friends, a spouse, a church leader, or someone online? How might God be inviting a shift from “I’m doing better than them” to “Lord, show me what is true in me”? [59:33]
4. Grace came down first. Where is there still an attempt to clean up, prove worth, or become more acceptable before coming honestly to God? What would it look like to come as you are and trust the cleansing Christ already provides? [01:08:18]
5. “Here I am” is a strong, willing yes to God. In this season, where might God be stirring fresh availability—in serving, sharing the gospel, reconciling with someone, leading, or simply obeying in a quiet area that has been resisted? [01:12:20]
6. Fear of rejection keeps many people silent. In what setting is there the most temptation to stay quiet about Jesus—at work, with family, in friendships, or somewhere else? What would bold but humble obedience look like there? [01:16:25]
7. Faithfulness is measured by obedience, not by applause. Where has discouragement set in because the response from others has not been what was hoped for? How might that area look different if the goal became simple obedience to God? [01:18:00]