Our Work, Your Work
I. Readings
Psalms 27, 147:12-20, 126, 102
Genesis 39:1-23
1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15
Mark 2:1-12
II. Selections
Psalm 126:6
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy
carrying their sheaves.
Genesis 39:23
The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.
1 Corinthians 3:10a
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.
Mark 2:3
Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
III. Meditation
Lord, some bear the seed for sowing,
some come home carrying the sheaves.
You have given each of us each work to do, and
each of us must trust others to complete the work.
Sometimes it is ours to lay the foundation,
sometimes to complete what others started;
but the task goes well only if we do it
according to the grace you have given us.
Like Joseph, Paul, or the four who carried the paralytic—
we need you, O God, to prosper and complete the work.
Meditations inspired by readings from the Daily Lectionary as found in the Mission Yearbook of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Elmer E. Ewing
- 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.
"Elijah" - A bronze sculpture by a friend, the late Reverend Gurdon Brewster. Click on the image to see more of his sculptures.
Archives
Samples from the archives
- 3/19/18 Remedy for Hubris--A Child Could Do It
- 2/25/14 Unbind me, Jesus
- 10/26/13 Refreshing hearts, in Christ
- 8/9/13 When things I do displease you, God
- 2/7/13 Freed, saved, gathered in
- 1/1/13 For a joy that is complete
- 11/20/12 Though the fig tree does not blossom
- 11/19/12 Alas, my house is set on high
- 10/14/12 Held in your arms
- 9/14/12 The land cries out against us
- 8/29/12 The snare of false accusation
- 8/5/12 Tie up the strong man
- 4/5/12 We who dip bread
- 9/23/10 The right to be joyful
- 9/18/10 Chief cornerstone
- 7/27/10 Triumph over enemies
- 10/9/08 Our iniquity is great
- 5/14/08 When at night
- 2/17/08 The thin and ugly
- 1/17/07 We do not know you
- 1/3/07 Promises
- 1/2/07 For things not seen
- 10/3/06 Fear of you
- 10/2/06 Little we know
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