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.

The Weightier Matters--July 10, 2012



We strainers of gnats and swallowers of camels
are highly skilled in ignoring the weightier matters:

JUSTICE,
MERCY,
FAITH.

The poor in our cities have no place of refuge;
despoiled by violence and death,
they long for justice and mercy;
they groan for a haven of safety.

With faith that nothing can separate us from your love,
also give us faith that nothing should separate
us from working for mercy and justice.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7
Numb. 35:1-3, 9-15, 30-34
Rom. 8:31-39
Matt. 23:13-26

Selected Verses
Ps. 12:5
“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
      I will now rise up,” says the LORD;
      “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”

Numb. 35:12
The [six selected] cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer may not die until there is a trial before the congregation.

Rom. 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matt. 23:23-24
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! …" [Jesus to the crowds and his disciples]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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