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.


Pursuing Peace and Holiness--May 7, 2012



We are instructed to pursue peace with everyone,
and also to pursue holiness
if we want to see the Lord.

Though the pursuit of peace is difficult, we have
at least some idea how to work toward it;
but where do we start with holiness?

Moses went through elaborate ceremony
to consecrate the whole tabernacle
and make all within it holy.

By contrast, when Jesus came to announce his
mission in his hometown synagogue,
he did not bother with ceremony.

Rather than sprinkling oil around the building
and upon those who worshipped there,
Jesus sprinkled challenging words.

Perhaps attention to the words of Jesus about care for
the poor, captives, the blind, and the oppressed
is a way to pursue both peace and holiness.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 93; 150; 136; 117
Lev. 8:1-13
Heb. 12:1-14
Luke 4:16-30

Selected Verses
Ps. 93:5
Your decrees are very sure;
      holiness befits your house,
      O LORD, forevermore.

Lev. 8:10
Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.

Heb. 12:14
Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Luke 4:17b-19
[Jesus] unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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