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.


To Scoff, Sneer, or Be Amazed?--June 15, 2011


It inflates the ego to sit in the seat of scoffers—
to hold in contempt what others offer you,
to sneer at emotional expressions of worship.

Nevertheless, you are God not of the dead,
but of the living; to you we are all alive.
If we comprehend this, we dance in the aisles.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33
1 Sam. 2:12-26
Acts 2:1-21
Luke 20:27-40

Selected Verses
Ps. 1:1
Happy are those
      who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
      or sit in the seat of scoffers…

1 Sam. 2:17
Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD; for they treated the offerings of the LORD with contempt.

Acts 2:12-13
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this [speaking in strange languages] mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Luke 20:38
“…Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” [Jesus, in rebuttal to Pharisees who scoffed at the resurrection]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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