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.

October 10, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 97, 112, 135
Jeremiah 36:11-26
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Matthew 10:5-15

II. Selections
Ps. 112
[ The righteous] have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn is exalted in honor.

Jer. 36:19
Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are."

1 Cor. 13:4-6
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

Matt. 10:7-8
As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

III. Meditation: What endures forever
The kingdom of heaven has come near. We have received without payment; teach us to give without payment-to distribute freely and give to the poor. Lead us in the way of love-make us patient and kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. May we not insist on our own way, or be irritable or boastful, or rejoice in wrongdoing; rather, show us how to rejoice in the truth. And if, as Jeremiah found, the earthly reward for truth includes hardship and persecution, strengthen us in the knowledge that your kingdom and your righteousness endure forever.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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