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.

From the Beginning, Lord Jesus--April 11, 2013


[from May 5, 2011 archive]

From the beginning we have heard it from you:
If we have two coats, our neighbor none, share.
If we have food, our neighbor is hungry, share.

You care about the poor who lie in the dust,
about the needy in the ash heap. You will raise
them up, and you would have us do our part.

The rich and powerful do not impress you,
nor should they impress us.  Human empires
will perish; your kingdom is forever.

We have heard it from the beginning;
O that what we have heard
might abide in us!

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Dan. 2:31-49
1 John 2:18-29
Luke 3:1-14

Selected Verses

Ps. 113:7
[The LORD] raises the poor from the dust,
            and lifts the needy from the ash heap…

Dan. 2:44-45a
“…And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people.  It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.  …”  [Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar]

1 John 2:24a
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.

Luke 3:10-11
And the crowds asked [John son of Zechariah], “What then should we do?”  In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

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