October 05, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 26, 116, 130
Hosea 4:1-10
Acts 21:27-36
Luke 6:1-11

II. Selections
Psalm 116:8
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.

Hosea 4:1b
There is no faithfulness or loyalty,
and no knowledge of God in the land.

Acts 21:31-32
While [ the mob outside the temple] was trying to kill [ Paul], word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Luke 6:11
But [ the scribes and Pharisees] were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

III. Meditation: The fury of the mob

You have delivered our soul from death,
our eyes from tears, our feet from stumbling.

Why are we so lacking in faithfulness and loyalty? ;
Have we no knowledge of what you have done?

Trivial insults and supposed offenses stir us to uproar;
if not restrained, we too could resort to mob violence.

Remind us-you were the victim of misunderstanding,
the fury of the mob was directed against you.

Your eyes were filled with tears, your feet stumbled,
and there was no one to deliver you from death.