By: Jeremy
“it is too small a thing…”
God’s a little ridiculous sometimes. He just doesn’t make sense. He has all these grand plans, but calls us to do it. It’s almost like He is this eternal optimist, idea person, who wants to get everything done. Check it out in Isaiah 49. He says, “It is too small a thing for you…to restore the tribes of Jacob,” go also and reach out to all the Gentiles. If you stop to think about it for a second, the tribes of Jacob by this point are all in disaster mode. There have been wars, defeats, exiles; it’s definitely not the glory days of Israel. So, not only was Isaiah called to restore that, but why not go out and reach out to everyone else as well. Can you almost hear the sarcastic response “sure God, whatever you say” to Him? I’ve already got one impossible task, why not another?
When we think about church, normally we are pretty satisfied if we can contribute in some way. Maybe it’s being part of a worship team or small group, or serving in the community. Perhaps we’ve even thought about starting a ministry. But anything beyond that? No way. It’s much more comfortable and realistic to do something safe within our church community.
Listening to our speakers during missions month, I hope, gave you a glimpse of something larger. I hope it gave you a glimpse of where God is moving in this city and in this world. The stories that we hear don’t necessarily start with individuals and groups being called to a church. Instead, it starts with God calling people to the city, to those in need, to the vulnerable, and marginalized. It’s a call for us to seek the welfare of the city. Perhaps, we need to hear God say to us “it’s too small a thing to be focused on our church, go reach out to the world as well.”