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.

September 20, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 28, 54, 99
2 Kings 5:19-27
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Matthew 5:27-37

II. Selections
Ps. 54:1
Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.

2 Kings 5:25a
He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?"

1 Cor. 5:8
Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Matt. 5:34-35
But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

III. Meditation: Where have you been, Gehazi?
"Where have you been, Gehazi?" The unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is difficult to come by when we are confronted with an uncomfortable question. To protect our guilt shall we by your name swear our innocence? Shall we expect you by your might to vindicate us in our wrong-doing? No, we may call upon your name as we confess our sin, but not to insulate us from it. We ask for your vindication, but as sinners forgiven in Christ.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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