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 12, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 51, 65, 142
Job 29:1, 31:24-40
Acts 15:12-21
John 11:30-44

II. Selections
Psalm 51:4
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.

Job 31:29
" ...If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook me ... "
[ Job]

Acts 15:12
The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

John 11:44
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

III. Meditation: All wrapped up

When we have rejoiced over the ruin of our enemies,
our sin and the evil we have done is against you
as much as against them. We deserve your judgment.

Forgive us, for we are wrapped in our hatred like
Lazarus was wrapped in burial cloths. Unbind us,
that we may be open to the wonders you have done.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)