the ends of the earth

"And now the LORD says... 'It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'"

My daily struggle is balancing the call to serve the good people of St. Paul's, Foley and the call to serve the good people of Foley. I fear that the balance is impossible to find. I love this church. I love the people in this church, but I know that preaching to the choir and tending to the 99 is not what Jesus calls us to. I know that somehow, someway I need to be in the community helping the poor, the needy, the widowed, the orphaned. I know that somehow, someway I need to be in the world sharing the good news of God in Jesus Christ with those who have not heard, those who have heard and have not believed, and those who have heard and had at one time believed. But it is hard to get there. Sermons, teachings, bulletins, pastoral visits, administration, etc., etc. means that most of my time is spent "restoring the survivors of Israel." Now, a part of that is equipping the good people of St. Paul's, Foley to "reach the ends of the earth," but I, myself, have got to do that work too.

That seems to be the call for me today. As I approach my ordination to the priesthood it will be easy to forget my ordination to the diaconate. It will be easy to get comfortable in my office dealing with people I know. I know, however, that "it is too light a thing" to be called to serve only those who already have heard and believed. I know that my call is much larger than that. I know that the vision of St. Paul's, Foley is larger than that. I guess I just needed Isaiah's reminder of that today.