For most of my adult life, I have had the honor of working with kids either through church, as a public school educator, or with my own kids. In doing so, I found it fun to appreciate the wild variety of names that parents choose to name their children. Though many people tend to mold their personalities from their names, a name is probably a greater reflection of their parents. Some conform to the trends of the culture, some carry on a family name, and some plain jump off the culture train while it's moving. Names are amazing. Some seem to fit them like a glove and others are like a round peg in a square hole. I even love thinking of names like Doug, Bob, or Stan while their moms hold them as infants. There is nothing wrong with those names, it’s just hard to connect with cute little baby Bob. It makes you wonder what kind of person they will become. If you have an unconventional name and you introduce yourself to me, you might get an awkward pause from me because I’m imagining you swaddled. Sorry.

Hank? Yep, that’s me.

I even question holding a swaddled infant Hank. That had to be hard, Mom. It’s almost like Hanks are destined to wear oil stained coveralls and overly bent-billed trucker hats while they give you directions after having just replaced an oil filter. I imagine a Hank talking a little too slow as he uses words like yonder to describe obscure landmarks that you may pass to identify an upcoming turn. Living in Texas, you would think the name Hank would be fairly common. In truth I didn’t run into a human Hank until I was in my mid-twenties. Most of the Hanks I came across were dogs, horses, or some kind of pet you put in an aquarium. The first human Hank I met was a crusty old Vietnam vet who was an incredible rifleman. Us Hanks are pretty rare. On another note, I almost went against the grain by taking on my wife’s maiden name…Williams! How cool would that have been! Hank Williams isn’t necessarily at the top of my ‘likes’ playlist, but I definitely could have ran for some kind of political office or at least gotten a free meal at Arby’s in Texas. I don’t remember why I was talked down from that.

Norman

The other day I was watching a friend’s little league coach pitch game and one of his teammates struck out. The parents encouraged NORMAN to keep his head up. Norman! The little guy was named Norman! I love it. Immediately I imagined mom holding infant Norman. I imagine a grown up Norman inadvertently getting caught up in a CIA operation because he grabbed the wrong bag at an airport while heading to a Microsoft Excel conference in Peoria, Illinois. I absolutely love the name Norman. It was great to hear the fans yell “Go Norman” as he swung his oversized bat.

Norman in a Sherman

That evening I decided to watch the movie Fury. A movie about an American Sherman tank crew of a tank nicknamed Fury during World War 2. My dad and I really liked watching war movies together. We didn’t share a lot in common but being veterans we could always connect with a good military story.

My dad, who passed away earlier this year, was an army tank commander for a season of his life. There were several times when he took my brother and I to watch the tanks do target practice at Fort Hood. These were great experiences and memories for a couple of suburban boys. The movie Fury was one of our favorites.

The main character of Fury was a low ranking enlisted typist kid named Norman. Norman reluctantly gets stuck as a replacement gunner for the tank, Fury. The main arc of the story is about the other battled torn soldiers teaching Norman to be a warrior. The contrast was between the morally compromised seasoned warriors with a hope filled and pure replacement named Norman. Norman slowly embraces the tank team as he gradually earns the right to be on the team.

Two Norman’s in one day! I’m paying attention now.

The Nudge

I’ve learned as I walk with God that these little “coincidences” aren’t actually coincidences. I’m learning that many times it is God giving me a little nudge encouraging me to pay attention. These happen enough in my life that I may come off as a little weird to some people. I’m sure it would be helpful to not talk about them, but I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I love when these little “nudges” happen. Have you experienced these? Most of the time God uses these as a conversation starter to perk our spiritual ears up. God wants us to get curious and talk to Him about something. Some of us ignore the “nudges” because we don’t want to over spiritualize things. But what if God, your maker, is laying bread crumbs to a greater participation to what He is doing and saying. (Side note: I literally just had a “nudge” while writing this paragraph. So fun!)

The movie Fury has its moments, but definitely shows the dark side of war. Very high in violence and language. I wasn’t watching for entertainment at this point, I was watching for another bread crumb from God… and it finally popped up. At the very end of the story the Sherman tank crew was broken down at a crossroads in Germany. After doing a little reconnaissance they find out there is a whole Nazi battalion of soldiers on the other side of a ridge that would later come right at them. They had a choice, run and live to fight another day, or sacrificially stay and take out as many Nazis as they could.They chose the latter.

Then the scene I was supposed to watch played out on my tv. With hatches buttoned, the Fury tank crew waited for battle knowing that they all would most likely die. You could sense that they were all scared and were wanting some ray of hope and purpose. One of the crew asks the Bible quoting warrior (Shia Lebeouf) what his favorite Bible verse was. He pauses for a second and says, “Then I heard the Lord’s voice. He said, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send me!” The wise yet gritty tank commander, nicknamed Wardaddy (Brad Pitt), surprisingly identifies the verse, “Isaiah 6.” The darkness and tragedy of the movie turnes holy. Each of the soldiers, no matter how muddied their past, knew they were doing something righteous. They all grabbed their ray of hope and purpose.

Isaiah 6

If you haven’t read the story of Isaiah 6, Isaiah has a vision of the throne room of God. God on his throne with a robe that fills the temple. Angels of fire with wings everywhere. The place was shaking violently filled with the smokey glory of God. Isaiah is so overwhelmed he cries out that he is not worthy of being in the presence of so much power and glory, that he is an unclean/unholy man. One of the angels then comes over and cleanses Isaiah’s lips with a hot coal from the altar. All of his sins forgiven. Without getting a chance to register what happened, verse 8 happens.

“Then I heard the Lord’s voice. He said, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

Isaiah, without knowing what the assignment was, chooses to accept the invitation. Like a man on death row who had just been forgiven, Isaiah surging with hope and purpose, accepts the invitation.

Nudge Bombs

Then the “nudge” bombs come. That same verse would pop up in multiple different forms in my life the next week. I read it in a fictional book about Navy Seals. I saw the actual Isaiah 6:8 clip of the movie Fury on social media. Then it popped up one more time that week. (I know, maybe the internet was listening and it pulled up on my feed, it was still a cool nudge) I would soon get the opportunity to teach about it at church. Usually the burden of the message goes away after I teach it, but the Isaiah 6 “nudges” continued. They keep happening and haven’t relented months afterwards.

Either the message is really important or I have not RSVP’d to God’s invitation. Or both. What would you do if God kept highlighting such a profound moment in scripture to you?

Yes?

Outside of a close relationship with God, the invitation that Isaiah received would have been terrifying. Saying yes to something that you have no idea what you're getting into seems foolish. What was it that caused Isaiah to boldly accept the invitation of God? I believe Isaiah 6:6-7 gives us the answer.

“Then out of the smoke, one of the angels of fire flew to me. He had in his hands a burning coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See? The burning coal from the altar has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away; your sin is blotted out.“” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭7‬)

Isaiah’s sins were totally forgiven. Completely set free. Like a man who is about to receive the death sentence on his day in court….set free.

Have you ever imagined the magnitude of what it means to have your sins forgiven? Our lies, adultries, idols, selfishness, greed, pride, gluttony, you name it, are all punishable by death. God is life and sin is death (Romans 6:23). The religious scholars of Jesus’ time were right when they said “only God can forgive sins.” When it happens, the surging fountain of life that flows from God enters us.

The astronomical impact of forgiveness should launch us into a vibrant life in God. The amount that we recognize how much we are forgiven directly correlates to the surge of love and life that fills our hearts (Luke 4:47).

When Isaiah answers the call of God to be sent, the freedom and life of being forgiven had just entered his being. He would have done anything for the one who just let him off the hook from the death penalty. If the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), Isaiah wouldn’t stand a chance. In comes God’s mercy and forgiveness.

He who is forgiven much, loves much.

As we deflate in motivation and find ourselves weary and tired, we can look to the power of God’s forgiveness to launch us into action towards our calling. Being forgiven doesn’t just get us off the hook but opens a door for the explosions of God’s grace to enter our life. Paul says, “therefore in view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). We need to view the mercy of God to tap into the God given motivation to live a sacrificial life.

Most of us in the west don’t see much change when we give our lives to Jesus. That is mostly due to the lack of understanding what we have been forgiven from. We don’t realize the significance of what we were set free from. When we see someone who radically lives a sinful life coming to Jesus, they recognize what they were forgiven from. Their view of God’s mercy is in high definition. Their yes to God is surging with a revelation of God’s mercy. For the one who’s life didn’t change much after giving their life to Jesus, we need to set ourselves to gaze upon the mercy of God. If we felt like we just got forgiven from stealing a stick of gum or got caught cheating on our homework, our life’s response would be insignificant. “Gee, I’m sure glad I got out of that one.” But if we knew that God’s forgiveness got us out of everlasting death we’d have a very different response.

We all want to live a life of value, adventure, purpose, and significance. We all think that we would be like the men of Fury or Isaiah when the courageous call to step up is upon us. None of us want a mundane life that cowers away from the great call of God. If our motivation is depleted. If the day to day of doing the same insignificant things has weighed us down. Let’s shift our focus on the distance of which God has set you free from. We all deserved the punishment of sins. I’m not saying we need to gaze at our sin. Let us never brag about how sinful we were. We need to give focused attention on the significance of how much mercy God has given us. Let us VIEW His mercy.

We deserved everlasting death. None of us are worthy of forgiveness. Yet, He gave it anyway. Jesus took the death blow of sin for us on the cross.Knowing the significance of the cross will catapult you into authentic life. Everlasting life NOW, not just when we die.

Ask for forgiveness . Believe in Jesus and say yes to the call of God on your life. It is okay if you don’t know what you are getting yourself into. Jesus is good. He is the only one who has the power to forgive us our sins. He promises to keep forgiving us as long as we keep coming back to him. How many more times will we get “nudges” before it is too late? How many times will we keep putting the invitation back into our massive pile of junk mail? What if you finally said , “Yes.”

Here I am Lord, send me!

-Hank Lee

Transformation Center Pastor