Here Am I, Send me

Recently my three-year-old daughter has been telling me that she is my big helper and wants to help me in various things from cooking to vacuuming to doing some other chores.  Her desire to help is a “here am I” kind of attitude that the Lord wants us all to cultivate in our service in His kingdom.  Isaiah recorded these words in his account of his call to the ministry: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me” (2 Nephi 16:8, Isaiah 6:8).  From this the most natural interpretation is that Isaiah was the one to answer the call and offer to be sent to preach the word to the people.  But another scripture helps us see that we can also interpret Isaiah’s words as the Savior answering a question at a different time.  In the book of Abraham we read this account of the premortal council in heaven, “And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first” (Abraham 3:27).  The Savior offered to be sent to atone for the sins of mankind and to be our perfect Exemplar on earth.  We perhaps each have to answer for ourselves this same question.  When He needs missionaries or ministering brothers and sisters or teachers or someone to serve in some other way, He asks the question, “Whom shall I send?”  We must determine if our answer will be like the Savior’s and Isaiah’s and so many others who have answered the call of the Lord to do difficult tasks: Here am I; send me.

That verse in Abraham, though, contains a warning that mere profession of desire is not enough.  Lucifer, the son of the morning, said the exact same words as the Savior.  He too offered to be chosen and sent—so what was the difference?  Clearly it was one of intent and purpose, one of humility and love.  Christ loved His Father, submitted to His Father, and sought only His Father’s will.  Satan, on the other hand, wanted the glory for himself: “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor” (Moses 4:1).  He sought to take glory to himself and so his offer was rejected.  The Lord declared in this dispensation what is required if we want to be sent by Him: “Let the residue continue to preach from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long-suffering… an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:3). He used three different ways of saying humble—meek, lowly in heart, and humble—clearly emphasizing that an absolute necessity for being sent by the Lord in His service is humility.  That was the difference between the Savior and the adversary, and it makes all the difference for us in our service in the kingdom, wherever that may be.