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 24, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 100, 122
2 Kings 11:1-20a
1 Corinthians 7:10-24
Matthew 6:19-24

II. Selections
Ps. 100:3
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

2 Kings 11:13-14
When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people; when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!"

1 Cor. 7:22-23
For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.

Matt. 6:22-23
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ..."

III. Meditation: Your free and servant people
You are our God. It is you that made us, and we are yours; we are your people, and the sheep of your pasture. Give us a clear eye, a healthy eye, that we may be filled with your light. Our ultimate loyalty is to you, not to a king or any other human leader, no matter how many captains and trumpets there are to herald that leader. Real treason is rebellion against you. You bought us with a price, and you call us to be free. At the same time you call us to be servants; if we belong to you, we are your servant people, as you are our servant Lord.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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