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.

December 01, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 18, 62, 126, 147:12-20
Amos 4:6-13
2 Peter 3:11-18
Matthew 21:33-46

II. Selections
Psalm 18:1
I love you, O LORD, my strength.

Amos 4:11
I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the fire; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD.

2 Peter 3:13
But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Matthew 21:33
"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ..."

III. Meditation: Tenants in a vineyard
We love you, O God, our strength; and we wait. In accordance with your promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Like tenants in a vineyard, we wait. Or are you the one kept waiting? When you overthrew others, we were like a brand snatched from the fire; yet we did not return to you. So who is tardy-the landowner or the tenants?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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