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 25, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 47, 57, 85
Esther 4:4-17
Acts 18:1-11
Luke 1:1-4, 3:1-14

II. Selections
Psalm 57:2
I cry to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Esther 4:14b
" ...Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this." [ Mordecai to Esther]

Acts 18:5
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus.

Luke 3:8
" ...Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ... " [ John the Baptizer to the crowds who came to see him in the wilderness]

III. Meditation: First the wilderness call?

O God Most High, we cry to you;
we trust you to fulfill your purpose for us.

But what is your purpose?
How do we find it?

Will it become clear as it did for Esther,
only when the time is right?

Will we find it through faithful service,
the way Paul did in Corinth?

Or must we first respond to John's wilderness call
and bear fruits worthy of repentance?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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