July 10, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 7, 12, 36
1 Samuel 15:24-35
Acts 9:32-43
Luke 23:56b-24:12

II. Selections
Psalm 7:16
Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.

1 Samuel 15:33
But Samuel said [ to King Agag],
"As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother shall be childless among women."
And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

Acts 9:39b
All the widows stood beside [ Peter], weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Luke 24:5
The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? [ Jesus] is not here, but has risen. ... "

III. Meditation: Death and remembrance

The friends of Dorcas wept over her death;
they remembered the good she had done.

Samuel remembered the violence of King Agag
and hewed him to death before you in Gilgal.

Remembering how much Jesus had meant to them,
the women were amazed to find his tomb empty.

If the mischief we do returns upon our own heads,
perhaps, by your grace, so does the goodness.