Sermon - "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Sermon preached by Dr. B.J. Hutto at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church on Sunday, September 7, 2025.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
Thank you choir.
So in the spirit of a newacademic year I thought this
morning I would begin with astory from college.
Two of my friends at Walfordended up being roommates their
freshman year and early in theirfirst semester one night they

(00:28):
were lying in bed talking andthey had this exact
conversation.
Hey, cut off the light, wouldyou?
Let's go to sleep.
I don't want to cut the lightoff.
You cut it off.
Dude, you were the last one up.

(00:49):
Just cut off the light.
I'm comfortable.
If you want it off so bad, youget up and cut it off.
Now, they were just messingaround with one another, of
course, but all that night, thatlight stayed on.

(01:12):
And the next night, laying inbed, one says to the other, so
are you going to cut that lightoff or not?
Nope.
And the light stayed on.
The next night, dude, just cutthe light off.
I cannot sleep with it on.

(01:32):
No way, man.
You do it.
Once again, the light stayed on.
By the second week of this, therest of us had caught wind of
what was happening and hadstarted to egg them on.
By the end of week three, one ofthem had started sleeping with

(01:53):
their pillow over their head.
And by the end of week four, theother one had made a nest on the
floor of his closet just to getaway from the light.
But that light, it stayed on.

(02:15):
In fact, the light in their dormroom stayed on for the rest of
that entire semester until theRA went in there doing room
checks at break, found that theyhad left it like that, and
turned it off himself.
A couple of things here.

(02:37):
The first is that that is anabsolute 100% true story.
The second is that both of thesepeople ended up growing into
functional, successful adults.
One of them is actually amedical doctor.
And the third is that alongsidebeing true, This story is also

(03:02):
something of a parable.
It is a small story thatillustrates something larger
about our world.
You and I, it's easy to see whatneeds to be done in our world.
But we live in a world where itis significantly more difficult

(03:27):
to find people who are willingto take responsibility and
actually do them.
I think this is one of thereasons why for generations
people have found our Isaiahtext so compelling.
Uzziah, the king in Jerusalem,has died.

(03:49):
He had reigned for 50 years,which at that time in history
was itself something of amiracle, but even beyond that,
they were 50 good years.
50 good years in a period ofIsrael's history marked by
broader uncertainty.

(04:12):
And now he was dead, and theuncertainty was back.
And at his funeral, as thatuncertainty loomed, Isaiah heard
a word from the Lord.
Who will go for us?
And he answers.

(04:34):
Notice, by the way, that Isaiahhas his doubts.
He doesn't have any delusions ofgrandeur.
He knows exactly who he is.
I am a man of unclean lips, hesays, living amongst a people of
unclean lips.
He knows he is not perfect.

(04:58):
But he answers.
Here am I, O Lord.
Send me.
This morning in our worshipservice, we are installing a new
class of deacons.
Eight of you, seven of whom haveserved before, and one of you,

(05:22):
Mary Nell McCoy, who will beordained and serve for the first
time.
Now, in two weeks, we willordain Mary Nell a second time,
but that's a different story.
And we are doing this todaybecause the eight of you have
done something unusual andsurprising and, in fact,

(05:44):
countercultural in our world.
You said yes.
You said yes when you could havesaid no.
You said, here I am, send me,when you could have said, I am

(06:04):
too busy, or I'm just notinterested, or it's just not the
right time, or I'm just not theright person.
That's what Isaiah could havesaid.
But he didn't.
That's what any of you couldhave said.

(06:25):
You did not either.
In some Baptist churches, and Ithink it's probably safe to say
in most Baptist churches, whenyou agree to be a deacon, you
are agreeing to a position thatcomes with a fair bit of
prestige.

(06:45):
You become the chair of acommittee.
Your office puts you in aposition of leadership within
the congregation.
But as is so often the case hereat HAB, things are a little bit
different.
Here at HAB, deacons don't lead.

(07:06):
They serve.
At deacons' meetings at HAB, wedon't discuss the budget or
personnel questions or propertyissues.
We discuss who's been in thehospital, which homebound
members need just a little bitmore TLC, who in our church
needs to be served.

(07:31):
Because that's what you do whenyou agree to be a deacon.
You agree to serve.
And yet, because you havestepped forward and answered the
call to serve, the eight of youhave actually also proven
yourself to be leaders, to bethe kinds of people that the
rest of us should follow, shouldseek to exemplify, should look

(07:56):
up to.
Because in a world where mostpeople would never volunteer to
look after their neighbors inneed, where most people would
rather just keep to themselves,focus on themselves, where
institutions of all types, frombowling leagues to civic groups,

(08:19):
and yes, even religious familiesare in decline, and where people
are less and less interested ininvesting in the lives of their
neighbors, it remains a stubborntruth that you and I serve a

(08:39):
Lord who calls.
We serve a Lord who expectssomething of us.
Love, service, faith, grace.
A Lord who offers us a role inhis work in this world.

(09:06):
And so by doing what you havedone today, by making a decision
to invest yourselves in thelives of this community and in
the lives of your neighbors,you've actually done something
even more than chosen to serve,and quite frankly, even more
than having chosen to lead.

(09:27):
You have chosen to bear witness.
As deacons, you will be signs ofGod's love in this world.
Love for people who need it.
Love for people who usuallycan't reciprocate it.

(09:50):
There is no quid pro quo here.
This isn't some devious way togain favors or get ahead in the
world.
They will not scratch your backafter you have scratched theirs,
so to speak.
Sometimes it will be love forpeople who don't always appear

(10:10):
grateful for it.
After all, you're going to beserving a group of Baptists.
And as we all know, Baptists,and yes, sometimes even older
Baptists, can be ornery fromtime to time.
So it's just love and serviceand gift.

(10:38):
In a word, my friends, It'sgrace.
And because of that, as youserve this congregation as its
deacons, you will bear witnessto the rest of us, and to
everyone who is around us, ofthe abiding, overwhelming,

(11:07):
unearned, and eternal love ofour God.
And because of that, we who arehere today are grateful.

(11:29):
Amen.