It Can't Stay Too Small

Isaiah 49 carries a kind of music within it, like the tension on a guitar string. Without tension there is no sound, no harmony, no song. The Bible is much the same. It holds ideas together that seem to pull in different directions—particular and universal, here and there, one people and all people. That tension does not need to be erased. It is what allows the story of God to sing.

In the prophet’s words, the servant is formed to bring Israel back to the Lord. The calling sounds focused and specific—and it is. Yet immediately the message widens: this mission is “too light a thing.” The servant will also be a light to the nations so that salvation may reach the ends of the earth. Is the servant for Israel or for everyone? The answer is both and. The gospel refuses to live inside small borders.

That rhythm runs through Scripture. God calls Abraham—one family—yet promises blessing for all nations. Moses leads one people out of Egypt, yet they are shaped to be a kingdom of priests for the world. Jesus comes in one body, one place, one moment in history, yet through that life God embraces all people in all times. The good news is always larger than the boxes people build for it.

This truth shapes the life of the church. Care must be for one another and for neighbors beyond the walls. Mission must be rooted in North Durham and open to the whole world. It is too light a thing for Jesus to belong to one nation, one flag, or one circle of friends.

The question remains: where is God inviting the next step—across the street, across the city, across a border? Anything smaller than that will not do.