January 16th Reflections - by Bill Lynch

1 Samuel 9:27-10:8 (NRSV)
Samuel anoints Saul king
As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God."

Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, "The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage: When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, 'The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: What shall I do about my son?' Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from them. After that you shall come to Gibeath elohim, at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person. Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you. And you shall go down to Gilgal ahead of me; then I will come down to you to present burnt offerings and offer sacrifices of well being. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do."

Reflection
Anointing as king seems to take place twice. At least with Saul and David. The first anointing is a private anointing. There isn't nearly as many people involved and the first anointing seems to leave the candidate to ponder the call. The first anointing in Saul's case was also at a half-way point. Saul was about half-way in his travels at the time. So, here we have a private gathering for Saul's anointing to mark Saul and set Saul apart for a new duty. Public anointing will take place later.

In our own anointing, it may be public or private. For many who have been called, the call comes at a private moment, when only a few are gathered. It's about half-way to the acceptance or the rejection of the call. It may be either. Then there is a response. Sometimes immediate, and sometimes a pause for prayerful consideration. For so many there is some resistance to the call. And for others there is time for debate. This is all at the half-way point.

Then the response. Yes or No, if you have given careful determination and prayer to the call, you are open to the Spirit's guidance and direction.

Some of us have life-time calls, to professions and other's have situational calls. Calls that come daily, even moment by moment. Some have both. You will be called, however as a Child of God. It's a wonderful, frightening and joyful experience. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, I try but I can't imagine all the calls that will be made this day. May each candidate carefully listen to your call, pray and respond. May each candidate listen for the guidance you have in store for them. Argue when needed and research hearts as appropriate. I give you thanks for calling me daily and to so many tasks of wide variety. Many times to the unknown. --- Amen