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.

Though the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom--Nov. 15, 2022

[From Nov. 20, 2012 arhive]

 

            Selections in today's lectionary include Habakkuk 3:1-18.  Some years ago I composed words for a hymn based on verses 17-19 of this chapter.  I am straying from my usual postings and substituting the hymn.  The first three verses of my hymn parallel the last three verses of Habakkuk.  I have added a fourth verse that summarizes what I tried to say in the other three.  

 

            The scripture appears below, followed by the hymn words.  Finally I am posting a thanksgiving sermon I preached that expanded upon the words of the hymn and concluded with singing it.  For the tune I used St. Flavian (CM), familiar in Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread (p. 505 of the Presbyterian Hymnal).

Habakkuk  3:17-19

17Though the fig tree does not blossom,

            and no fruit is on the vines

Though the produce of the olive fails

            and the fields yield no food;

 

though the flock is cut off from the fold

            and there is no herd in the stalls,

18yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

            I will exult in the God of my salvation.

 

19God, the Lord, is my strength;

            he makes my feet like the feet of the deer,

            and makes me tread upon the heights.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

 

Though the Fig Tree Does Not Bloom ©

Ev’n though the fig tree does not bloom,

            And vines no fruit have borne;

Though produce of the olive fails

            And fields bring forth no corn;

 

And though the flock can’t reach the fold,

            No herd is in the stalls,                       

Yet I will in the Lord rejoice;

            Who saves, whate’er befalls.

 

In God, the Lord, is all my strength;

            In him my soul delights;

He makes my feet like feet of deer 

            To tread upon the heights.

 

O God, whose love is steadfast though

            Our way be dark and hard,

Still grant us grace to sing your praise;

            O, ever-gracious Lord.

                                                Elmer E. Ewing

 

 

Though the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom

Sermon preached at Owego Union Presbyterian Church, November 22, 2009         

 

Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Habakkuk 3:17-19

 

Natural disasters have been in the news.  I heard on National Public Radio the definition of a natural disaster.  An expert explained that in order for a hurricane, for example, to qualify as a natural disaster, there must have been human casualties.  Someone had to be there.  This reminded me of the old conundrum about a tree falling in the middle of a forest.  If a tree falls in the middle of a forest, and there is no one there to hear it, does it make any sound?  If a hurricane churns up in the middle of the ocean, and no one is present, is it a disaster?  Today I want to add a third question: if God bestows a favor, and no one says thank you, was it a blessing?

 

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” are the words of the Doxology.  We shouldn’t find it difficult to praise God for the blessings that flow toward us.  After all, we know what it is like to give a gift and receive no thank you for it.  We know what it feels like if a child begs and pleads for a present, and we yield to the pleadings with a gift, and then the child does not bother to say thank you.  It hurts, not only because we are entitled to gratitude, but also because it pains us to think that the child has not learned to be grateful.  Lack of gratitude is a character defect.  Then why do I so often forget to thank God for the mercies I receive? 

            Sometimes I wonder if we lack true gratitude because we have been spoiled by having too many material things, like a child overwhelmed with Christmas gifts.  Habakkuk did not have this problem.  Habakkuk was not overwhelmed with abundance.  Instead of thanking God for an abundant harvest, how about praising God in spite of a total crop failure?  Habakkuk did that.  

No figs on the trees, no grapes on the vines, no olives, no grain, no sheep, no herd—no food.  Famine looming, dead ahead!  Famine looming, death ahead!  Even so, Habakkuk says that he will rejoice in the LORD, exult in the God of his salvation.  That doesn’t sound sensible!  Still, in today’s New Testament reading, Paul says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  

 

Some 40 years ago an army chaplain named Merlin Carothers published several praise books.  The books were based on our three verses from 1 Thessalonians and on similar instructions Paul gave in Philippians.  Carothers advocated that we thank God for every situation that comes our way, good or bad.  Thank you, God—Carothers taught people to pray—for the loss of my job…for my divorce…my illness.

 

I read his books, and for a while I tried to thank God for the bad things in my life.  Even though this was extremely difficult to do, I thought—and I still believe—there was some merit to the idea; but I’m not sure it was sound theology.  When we thank God for the destruction wrought by a flood, or for the death of a loved one, or for our own suffering, maybe we are in effect blaming God for what God had no intention of causing.  Habakkuk doesn’t say that God made the crops fail.  He just said he would rejoice in God if the crops did fail.  And Paul doesn’t say give thanks for all circumstances, but give thanks in all circumstances.

 

Did God cause the catastrophes the world has been enduring?  The earthquake in Indonesia, drought and famine in the horn of Africa, typhoons and flooding in the Philippines?  Did God cause the suffering from HIVAIDS and malaria?  Or the carnage from war and terrorism—did God cause all that?  Some say yes, to punish us for sin, to cause us to repent.  We can find passages in the Bible that seem to support that view, and other passages that do not.  

One of the religious leaders I most admired was the Rev. William Sloan Coffin, who died 3 1/2 years ago on Maundy Thursday.  While senior minister at Riverside Church, Rev. Coffin lost his 24-year old son, Alex, who drowned in an automobile accident.  Coffin did not blame God for the death of his son; rather, Coffin’s reaction was that God was crying too.  

 

Ten days after he lost his son, Coffin preached a sermon on what had happened.  “My own consolation,” said Coffin, “lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s heart was the first of all hearts to break.”  Coffin could praise God even when his son died because he was confident that God shared his grief.  Coffin knew that God is compassionate.

 

That is the important part.  Whether or not we believe that God predetermines our fate, whether or not we believe that God makes bad things happen to good people, we can still follow the examples of Habakkuk and Paul and Coffin.  We praise God because God is good, and the goodness of God is not conditioned by whether we think our lives are going well. 

 

Whatever the circumstances of our lives, we are called to praise God—even when calamity strikes.  But to be able to praise God in bad times, we need to have practiced praising God in good times.  If we praise God every day, praise becomes part of our spiritual DNA.  Only then are we likely to be able to take the next step—the step that Habakkuk and Paul and Coffin took—praising God in the midst of disaster.

 

To praise God in disaster is not lunacy or masochism or denial of reality; it is not groveling for mercy or challenging God to “bring it on.”  It is an expression of our trust that God is compassionate—one who suffers with us in our suffering and one who wants the best for us.  It is at the same time an expression of our confidence that—though it may be a paradox beyond our power to comprehend—God is in control.

 

Where do we find the strength?  Habakkuk says, “God the LORD is my strength.”  Then he launches into an odd simile:  “God makes my feet like the feet of the deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.”  These lines about deer feet treading upon the heights are borrowed from a victory song attributed to King David.  David used the image as he sang praise to God for help against King Saul.  

 

Habakkuk went a step farther than David did.  Habakkuk was able to tread upon the heights because God gave him the strength not just to conquer his enemy, but the strength to be thankful even in the face of disaster—crop failure and famine.

 

The deer of their songs is a roe deer, a little cousin of the whitetail deer that has become a pest in our gardens and a hazard on our highways.  My wife hit a deer just as she was about to turn into our driveway--$4000, it cost the insurance company to fix her car; but you know, I have to admire the deer that run behind our house.  We have a deep gully there, and I can’t get over how sure-footed the deer are when they scramble up the banks.  The little roe deer in Palestine are even more nimble, more agile, and more graceful than our whitetail deer.  As the roe deer has nimble feet to escape the hunter, so God made David nimble to escape his enemies.  The deer bounds up the mountainside, up to where it can survey the danger below.  Up in the heights, it can walk secure.  We can imagine a sense of triumph, even majesty, associated with the high ground.  David, and after him Habakkuk, say that God will make our feet like feet of the deer to tread upon the heights.

 

There may not be high places near us like the heights around Jerusalem, but in our mind’s eye we can see them.  We may lack the time or the physical ability to hike mountains, but God will give us the ability to tread upon the spiritual heights.  God makes the feet of our minds, our spiritual feet, like feet of the agile little roe deer.   

 

Trapped down in the valley, the valley of humdrum, of worry, of sorrow, the valley of pain and loss, we need the chance mentally and spiritually to tread upon the heights.  God gives us strength to do that in our imaginations, even if we cannot walk there physically.  Ruminate on that.  God will take our awkward spiritual feet — clodhoppers though they may be—and make them like feet of roe deer, nimbly to dance from rock to pinnacle and from pinnacle to summit.  Way up there at the summit, we praise God.

 

William Sloane Coffin did not die suddenly.  His was a protracted, debilitating illness; but I think God made his feet like feet of deer to tread upon the heights.  In reflecting upon the end of his life, Coffin closed one of his last books with this sentence:

For the compassions that fail not, I find myself saying daily to my loving Maker, “I can no other answer make than thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”

 

There the sermon ends, except for a postscript.  

 

The last line of the Habakkuk passage is an inscription, “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments,” clear evidence that this was a psalm, intended to be sung.  When I read the verses out loud several years ago, they almost sang themselves, and I paraphrased the words in the form of a poem.  Then I found a hymn tune that fit the meter.  I’ve been singing the resulting hymn to myself on a fairly regular basis.  When I am discouraged or depressed, when things have gone badly, when I am anxious or worried, I find comfort and strength in the singing.

 

Maybe you, too, will find the rhymed paraphrase helpful.  It is printed on the bulletin insert.  I would like to sing the hymn while you read the words; then I will ask Joan to play the tune through once, and we will stand to sing it together.

 

 

Separated, Not Alone--Sept. 27, 2022

[From Oct. 3, 2006 archive]

 

The fear of you before our eyes,
purge from our hearts all wicked thoughts;
transgression's voice that speaks to us
in cynical and doubting tone
from deep within our hearts remove,
and make us cling to you alone.

 

And if the fear be too severe,
remind us of your covenant
with animals and flying birds
and creatures creeping on the ground;
abolish bow and sword and war,
that safely we may all lie down,

 

or kneel together on the beach
to pray our prayers with ones we love;
then say farewell and board our ship,
separated, not alone--for you are near
to see us all our journey through,
whom in our hearts we trust and fear.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7

Hosea 2:16-23

Acts 21:1-14

Luke 5:12-26

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 36:1
Transgression speaks to the wicked 
          deep in their hearts; 
there is no fear of God 
          before their eyes.

 

Hosea 2:18
I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.

 

Acts 21:5b-6
There [outside Tyre] we knelt down on the beach and prayed and said farewell to one another.  Then we [Paul and companions] went on board the ship, and they [disciples and their families from Tyre] returned home.

 

Luke 5:22
When Jesus perceived [the questionings of the scribes and Pharisees], he answered them, "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ..."


We Do Not Wait in Vain--Aug. 18, 2022

Friends, 

Since 2005 I have tried to post every day on this blog.   If something unexpected caused me to miss a day or two, I would do my best to post even if late, and if I knew I was going to be away from my computer, I posted in advance with a setting that would cause the posting to take place “on time.”  I am sorry that I will need to deviate from this routine.

On August 18, 2022, I am scheduled to have a hip replacement, necessary because last May’s insertion of three screws to repair a fracture in the femoral neck failed to do the job.  I do not know when I will feel able to restart my postings, nor do I have time to post in advance, but I suspect that a week or more may elapse.  Meanwhile I will be grateful for your prayers and for your patience.  [Perhaps it is appropriate that my post for today is about waiting.  It is from the archive for Aug. 20, 2020.]

 

It is dark.

We are waiting.

We are waiting for you.

 

We are not waiting for bad news;

too much bad news has come already. 

 

We wait for someone to sit beside us,

to comfort us, to help us understand.

 

O loving God, may we be strong, 

may our hearts take courage.

 

When we wait for you,

we do not wait

in vain.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 36; 147:12-20; 80; 27

Job 1:1-22 

Acts 8:26-40

John 6:16-27

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 27:14

Wait for the LORD;
          be strong, and let your heart take courage;
          wait for the LORD!

 

Job 1:19

“…and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”  [A messenger, to Job]

 

Acts 8:30-31

So Philip ran up to [the chariot] and heard [an Ethiopian court official] reading the prophet Isaiah.  He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 

 

John 6:16b

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to [his disciples]. 


Gladness That Silver Cannot Buy--Aug. 17, 2022

[From Aug. 21, 2018 archive]

 

When we think we have lost everything, 

that we have nothing left, 

remind us, dear God, of the child's lunch

with which you fed a multitude.

Gracious God, put gladness in our hearts,

gladness that silver cannot buy.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 15; 147:1-11; 48; 4

Judg. 18:16-31

Acts 8:14-25

John 6:1-15

 

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 4:7

You have put gladness in my heart 
          more than when their grain and wine abound.

 

Judges 18:24a

[Micah] replied [to the Danites, “You take my gods that I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left?  …” 

 

Acts 8:20

But Peter said to [Simon], “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!  …”

 

John 6:8-9

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to [Jesus], “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.  But what are they among so many people?” 


Until You Have Mercy Upon Them--Aug. 16, 2022

[From Aug. 22, 2006 archive]

 

The world is full of suffering,

people whose eyes look to you,

until you have mercy upon them.

 

And the world is full of brutal people,

people who suppose you support them

as they attack the innocent and unsuspecting.

 

It is not new, this persecution by the self-righteous,

who view it their God-appointed privilege to eradicate

all who differ from them and then to appropriate their land.

 

It is not new,

not to have

            your love in us.           

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86

Judg. 18:1-15

Acts 8:1-13

John 5:30-47

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 123:2 

As the eyes of servants 

            look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

            to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

            until he has mercy upon us. 

 

Judges 18:10 

“…When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people.  The land is broad—God has indeed given it into your hands—a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.”  [Five spies report about Laish to the Danite tribe, urging its capture.] 

 

Acts 8:1b 

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 

 

John 5:42 

“…But I know that you do not have the love of God in you.  …  ”  [Jesus, to the authorities]


You Only Want Our Lives--Aug. 15, 2022

[From Aug. 15, 2016 archive]

 

Truly you astonish us, Lord Jesus; 

you astonish us, and your works astonish us. 

 

We rejoice in you and give thanks to your holy name. 

 

Forgive us when we try to manipulate you 

by indulging in pious acts and ritual, 

when all you want us to do is 

to give you our lives.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 135; 145; 97; 112

Judg. 17:1-13

Acts 7:44-8:1a

John 5:19-29

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 97:12 

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, 
          and give thanks to his holy name! 

 

Judg. 17:13 

Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.” 

 

Acts 7:59 

While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 

 

John 5:20 

“…The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.  …”  [Jesus, to his disciples]

 


The Power of Weakness--Aug. 14, 2022

[From Aug.20, 2006 archive]

 

Your power, O God—

 

sometimes known by its loss,

sometimes shown by weakness,

sometimes grown stronger in death.

 

Grant us power to listen to you

and to walk in your ways,

even if in weakness.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 19; 150; 81; 113

Judg. 16:15-31

2 Corr. 13:1-11

Mark 5:25-34

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 81:13

O that my people would listen to me,

            that Israel would walk in my ways.

 

Judg. 16:30c

So those [Samson] killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life.

 

2 Cor. 13:4a

For [Christ] was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God.

 

Mark 5:30

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”


The Secret of Our Strength--Aug. 13, 2022

[From Aug. 18, 2018 archive]

 

God, you are our shield and our strength; 

you take pleasure in your people

and adorn the humble 

with victory. 

 

When we yearn for pleasures of the past,

when in our hearts we turn away,

unwilling to obey, and turn

our backs on you,

 

then we forget the secret of our strength;

but when we open our hearts to you

and do your work, then you 

will be working in us. 

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 104; 149; 138; 98

Judg. 16:1-14

Acts 7:30-43

John 5:1-18

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 104:4

 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; 
          he adorns the humble with victory. 

 

Judges 16:9

While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, [Delilah] said to [Samson], “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”  But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fiber snaps when it touches the fire.  So the secret of his strength was not known.

 

Acts 7:39

“…Our ancestors were unwilling to obey [Moses]; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt…”  [Stephen, to his persecutors]

 

John 5:17

But Jesus answered [those who criticized him for working on the Sabbath], “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”


Reasons to Plead for Mercy--Aug. 12, 2022

[From Aug. 12, 2016 archive]

 

God of steadfast love, there are many reasons 

I might kneel to plead for your mercy: 

a loved one is sick or even dying; 

 

or my intentions were good, 

but then the outcome was not, 

and so I ask for your forgiveness; 

 

yet my greatest need to kneel is when, 

having supposed myself to be blameless, 

my self-righteousness has led to vengeance. 

 

God of compassion, blot out my transgressions.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 51; 148; 142; 65

Judg. 14:20-15:20

Acts 7:17-29

John 4:43-54

            

Selected Verses 

Ps. 51:1 

Have mercy on me, O God, 
          according to your steadfast love; 
according to your abundant mercy 
          blot out my transgressions. 

 

Judg. 15:3 

Samson said to [his wife's father and family], “This time, when I do mischief to the Philistines, I will be without blame.”

 

Acts 7:24-25 

“…When [Moses] saw one of [the Israelites] being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.   He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand. …”

 

John 4:49-50a 

The [royal] official said to [Jesus], “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.”   Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”


Justice for Men; Injustice for Women--Aug. 11, 2022

[From Aug. 11, 2016 archive]

 

For me, the boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places; 

I am a man; I have a goodly heritage. 

For my sisters in the faith, the places are not as pleasant. 

Jesus' disciples were astonished that he 

spoke to a woman. 

 

Stephen addressed his defense to brothers and fathers; 

women were not allowed. 

Samson liked the looks of a Philistine woman 

and asked his father to get her for him, 

as a child might ask for a toy.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 97; 147:12-20; 16; 62

Judg. 14:1-19

Acts 6:15-7:16

John 4:27-42

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 16:6 

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 
          I have a goodly heritage. 

 

Judg. 14:3 

But [Samson's] father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among your kin, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she pleases me.” 

 

Acts 7:1-2a 

Then the high priest asked [Stephen], “Are these things so?”  And Stephen replied:

“Brothers and fathers, listen to me.  …” 

 

John 4:27 

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?”


Even the Young Ravens, When They Cry--Aug. 10, 2022

[From Aug. 10, 2016 archive]

 

Beneficent God, you know 

our need for food and water. 

You give to the animals their food, 

 and to the young ravens when they cry.

 

Manoah offered food to your messenger, 

and when thirsty, Jesus asked for water. 

 

Forgive us when we neglect to nourish 

the hungry and attend to the thirsty, 

especially the children, whether 

near us or far away. 

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33

Judg. 13:15-24

Acts 6:1-15

John 4:1-26

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 147:9 

[The LORD] gives to the animals their food, 
          and to the young ravens when they cry. 

 

Judg. 13:15 

Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Allow us to detain you, and prepare a kid for you.” 

 

Acts 6:1 

Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 

 

John 4:7-8 

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)

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Our Soul Longs for You--Aug. 9, 2022

[From Aug. 15, 2006 archive]

 

Our soul longs for you, O God;

as a deer longs for flowing streams,

so our soul longs for you.

 

We are of the earth, 

our thoughts are of the earth;

we belong to the earth 

and speak about earthly things.

Tell us of heavenly things.

 

We do not ask where you come from;

we do not inquire as to your name,

but we would listen to your words.

 

And if we do not like what we hear from you,

grant us grace  not to fight against it,

for no one can overthrow your will.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133

Judg. 13:1-15

Acts 5:27-42

John 3:22-36

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 42:1

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

            so my soul longs for you, O God.

 

Judg.13:6-7a

Then the [wife of Manoah] came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘You shall conceive and bear a son. …’ …”

 

Acts 5:39

“…but if [this plan] is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”  [Gamaliel, to the council]

 

John 3:31

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things.  The one who comes from heaven is above all.


Earthly Things, Heavenly Things--Aug. 8, 2022

[From Aug. 13, 2012 archive]

 

How can we understand heavenly things 

if we do not share your concern for earthly things?

 

Give us courage to take our lives in our hands, and

open the doors of our self-made prisons--free us 

to give justice to the weak and the orphan, 

to maintain the right of the lowly and 

destitute, and to rescue the needy 

from the hand of the wicked.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29

Judg. 12:1-7

Acts 5:12-26

John 3:1-21

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 82:3-4

“… Give justice to the weak and the orphan; 
          maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.   

Rescue the weak and the needy; 
          deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

                        [God, to the divine council]

 

Judg. 12:3

“…When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hand, and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand.  …”  [Jephthah to the men of Ephraim]

 

Acts 5:19-20

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought [the apostles] out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”

 

John 3:12

“…If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  …”  [Jesus, to Nicodemus]


A Prayer for the Perishing--Aug. 7, 2022

[From Aug. 9, 2020 archive]

 

God, you know how we were made;

you know how we neglect you

until we are in trouble,

then run to you.

 

Jesus, you became weak

to join the weak in suffering;

you defended those who stumbled,

and Jesus, you cared for the perishing.

 

Now the whole world is in trouble,

most of all, the poor and weak

are perishing of pandemic,

starvation, and war. 

 

God have mercy, 

Christ have mercy, 

on all who suffer

and die.

 

Lectionary Readings                                                          

Ps. 103; 150; 117; 139

Judg. 11:1-11, 29-40

2 Cor. 11:21b-31

Mark 4:35-41

 

 

Selected Verses

Ps. 103:14

For [the LORD] knows how we were made;
          he remembers that we are dust.

 

Judg. 11:7

But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father's house?  So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?”

 

2 Cor. 11:29

Who is weak, and I am not weak?  Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant? 

 

Mark 4:37-38

A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”