A Gospel Snapshot: Here I Am, Lord! Send Me! Please Lord, I'm Ready, Willing And Able!

Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Isaiah responded, "Here am I! Send me!" (Isa 6:8). It is a commendable thing to be willing to serve the Lord. In fact, every Christian should have this desire deep in them - whether it's overseas long term missions, short term missions, our local communities, or even just our own church. Acts 1:8 speaks of witnessing (a) in Jerusalem, (b) Judea, (c) Samaria, and (d) the uttermost parts.

Being Called vs. Being Chosen

But Jesus narrows the field in Matthew 22:14, when he declares, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Jesus said this in context of the wedding feast. The king had called people to attend, but they weren't willing to. So the king had his servants go out and gather anyone at all - both BAD and GOOD - to come in (Matt 22:10). Don't miss this: he called both good - and BAD.

But the next verses show us there was something required. One man did not have on the proper wedding coat. Now, this could not have been something he should have brought. He'd been called from the streets, and he could even have been a terrible sinner. The wedding coat was something that had to be PROVIDED by the king for his guests to wear, but this man chose not to accept it and wear it.

The man was thrown out of the wedding - into darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. We immediately think he was sent to HELL, but commentaries say this is not true. It is Hebrew terminology for really being remorseful, repentant, and in grief - like 'pouring ashes on your head.' It doesn't mean he was damned.

We Are All Given the Wedding Garment

Paul asks: "What do you have that you have not been given?" (I Cor 4:7). The answer is NOTHING. We have nothing in ourselves.

We are all given ALL things by our Father, in our marriage with his Son. We're both bad and good -depending on our judgment of what is bad and good- formed in our minds from the forbidden tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. If I don't lie, cuss, steal, cheat and lie, - and you do, - then I'm better than you. Or visa versa.

But the fact is, without the wedding coat provided by Father for the wedding feast, we are excluded, - even if we are 'good.'

Being Chosen Does Not Depend On My Being 'Good'

God wants us to be good and do good. I've said it a lot: Christians should do more good than others, because of all Christ has done for us, and the Holy Spirit inside of us. We should do good! But being a Christian is not predicated upon us doing good!

It was not our sin that was keeping us out of heaven, and headed for hell. It was the sin of Adam that was imputed to us. Also, it is not our obedience and righteousness (us doing good) that gets us into heaven. It is the righteousness of Christ. Read Romans 5:11-21. As Christians, we have his righteousness (II Cor 5:21).

A follow-up article to this will be: "Aren't I Called, Lord? Don't You Need Me, Lord? Why Don't You Send Me, Lord?" I can't make these Snapshots too long or they won't be 'Snapshots.' But to conclude this, we put on the new man, created in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). We put on the whole armor of God (by the way, each piece of the armor describes an aspect of the gospel). Paul says we 'put on Christ' - as though he were a costume. Christianity is about what we have been given - on what we RECEIVE. What you'll see next is that we are all called, but few are chosen - for a very specific reason.