In reviewing the daily lectionary readings, there are times one wonders if there is any connectivity among the assigned scriptures for the day. Sometimes yes and other times no.
After reading the passages and letting them settle in my mind and heart, I began to see the threads of what people of faith refer to as a “call” in each. While the circumstances, settings and people involved were each different — in the Numbers reading it is the elders of Israel; in 1 Corinthians Apollos and Paul were called to be servants of God; and in John it is a woman who is simultaneously in a state of wonder and confusion having just encountered Jesus. There was a “call” or an invitation to be in the presence of God for each of these people.
For us this “call” is not necessarily religious in nature. It may be a hobby, a change in habit, a redeployment of some of your gifts and skills or a different focus in your life, and some of this may expand your faith journey or faith expression.
The invitation or “call” varies for each of us just as our gifts vary. For some it is a faint echo or whisper, for some an intermittent tug at your side, and still for others it may be a clamorous or raucous shifting of events. The vehicle that presents this also varies — it can be a life-altering event, a chance encounter with someone, a geographical relocation, and an unexplained nagging, etc.
In this reflective season of Lent, what is your “call” that tugs at you or that you have been attempting to quash?
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Numbers 11:16-17,24-29
Psalm 99 or Psalm 27:1-9
1 Corinthians 3:5-11
John 4:28-31
