Claim Check

During the season of Epiphany the stories of God appearing to and calling people to serve remind us that God continues to call and claim us for God’s service. The readings from Sunday, January 18 were the story of God calling Samuel to be a prophet and of Jesus calling disciples to follow him. Another related theme in Epiphany is that of anointing and baptism. The word Christ means “anointed one,” and in our baptism we are anointed for service in the name of Christ. The first Sunday of Epiphany is always the story of Jesus’ baptism, and the prophet Samuel is a key figure because he anointed Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David. The Readings from I Samuel speak of the sometimes stormy relationship between Samuel/God and Saul. How does the sometimes challenging relationship between God and God’s anointed, such as Saul and David, help us describe and navigate our own relationships with God?

The New Testament readings on Monday and Tuesday remind us that Christ’s claim upon us is indeed significant. II Corinthians 6 reminds us of this, as does the hard story of Ananias and Sapphira, who, in the presence of God, claimed to be something they were not. Both these readings are sobering, reminding us of the seriousness of God’s claim upon us.

When God called Samuel, Samuel was still a child and Wednesday’s readings remind us of the way God welcomes and blesses children, even those in very difficult situations, such as Ishmael, who we hear about in Genesis 16.

How do these readings help us understand God’s claim upon us? What questions do they raise for our own discipleship?



Monday, 1/19
I Samuel 9:27-10:8
II Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Tuesday 1/20
I Samuel 15:10-31
Acts 5:1-1

Wednesday 1/21
Genesis 16:1-14
Luke 18:15-17

Read Psalm 86 each of these three days