I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

Whether We Live or Whether We Die--July 22, 2014


You had more than your share
of scorn and contempt, Lord Jesus.

In the end even your disciples deserted--
there was no way for you to survive or escape.

Teach us how to live to you, how to die to you,
in the sure knowledge that whether we live
or whether we die, we are yours.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86
Josh. 8:1-22
Rom. 14:1-12
Matt. 26:47-56

Selected Verses
Ps. 123:4
 Our soul has had more than its fill
          of the scorn of those who are at ease,
          of the contempt of the proud.

Josh. 8:22
And the others came out from the city against them; so they were surrounded by Israelites, some on one side, and some on the other; and Israel struck them down until no one was left who survived or escaped.

Rom. 14:8
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 

Matt. 26:56b
Then all the disciples deserted [Jesus] and fled.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)