Week of 1 Epiphany: Saturday, Year 2

Above:  A Donkey

Saul:  “An odd thing happened when I was chasing my father’s runaway donkeys.”

JANUARY 13, 2024

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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1 Samuel 9:1-4, 15-19; 10:1ab (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth; and he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man.  There was not a man among the sons of Israel more handsome than he; from his soldiers upward he was taller than any of the people.

Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost.  So Kish said to Saul his son,

Take one of the servants with you, and arise, go, and look for the donkeys.

And they passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them.  And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there.  Then passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

…

Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel:

Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.  He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the affliction of my people, because their cry has come to me.

When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him,

Here is the man of whom I spoke to you!  He it is who shall rule over my people.

Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate, and said,

Tell me where is the house of the seer?

Samuel answered Saul,

I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said,

Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel?  And you shall reign over the people of Israel and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about.

Psalm 21 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 The king rejoices in your strengh, O LORD;

how greatly he exults in your victory!

2 You have given him his heart’s desire;

you have not denied him the request of his lips.

3 For you meet him with blessings of prosperity,

and set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him:

length of days, for ever and ever.

5 His honor is great, because of your victory;

splendor and majesty have you bestowed upon him.

6 For you will give him everlasting felicity

and will make him glad with the joy of your presence.

7  For the king puts his trust in the LORD;

because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not fall.

Mark 2:13-17 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them.  And as he passed on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him,

Follow me.

And he rose and followed him.

And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples,

Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them,

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

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The Collect:

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Week of 1 Epiphany:  Saturday, Year 1:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/week-of-1-epiphany-saturday-year-1/

Matthew 9 (Parallel to Mark 2):

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/week-of-proper-8-friday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/proper-5-year-a/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/third-day-of-lent/

Luke 5 (Parallel to Mark 2):

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/fourth-day-of-lent/

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Saul, son of Kish, woke up one day.  He probably thought that it would be just another day, not all that different from recent ones.  His father sent him and a servant on a mission to find two runaway donkeys.  This assignment was below Saul’s social standing, but there is no evidence that he complained about this fact.  So Saul and the servant searched long, far, and unsuccessfully for the wandering animals.  They were gone for a long time, probably long enough to cause Kish concern for the safety of his son and servant.

Saul did not find the donkeys; another person did that (1 Samuel 9:20).  He found Samuel, instead.  The surprising end of Saul’s donkey chase was his anointing as the first human King of Israel.  Certainly he did not foresee that on the morning of the day he set out to seek runaway donkeys.

This was a surprising call.  There is no hint of Saul’s bad end in this, our introduction to him.  At this point in the narrative there is still hope that he might be a good king, one who protects his subjects.

We read of another surprising call in Mark 2.  Matthew/Levi was a Roman tax collector, a literal tax thief for the occupying power.  But he answered our Lord’s call to pursue a different vocation, apostleship, which ended in martyrdom.

When will God call you?  What will the results be?

KRT

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