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.

June 06, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 65, 91, 125
Deuteronomy 13:1-11
2 Corinthians 7:2-16
Luke 17:20-37

II. Selections
Psalm 125:1
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Deuteronomy 13:10
Stone [ anyone who entices you to worship other gods] to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

2 Corinthians 7: 6
But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus ...

Luke 17:25
But first [ the Son of Man] must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.

III. Meditation: Reading with discernment

Paul assures us that you
console the downcast;
and we believe you do,
for Jesus endured much
suffering and rejection.

The psalmist promises rock-like security
for all who trust you, which seems right-
though not always physically in this world.

The Deuteronomist declares we must stone
anyone who tries to lure us away from you;
but that sounds horribly, horribly wrong.
If we trust you in the way the Psalmist urges,
why should we kill to avoid "contamination"?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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