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.

Hands Held out to a Rebellious People--Jan. 10, 2014



Gracious and forgiving God, in
your sight our works are far from perfect.
We confess we are a rebellious people who walk
in a way that is not good, following our own devices.

In spite of this, less than our fathers and mothers would
forsake us, would you do so.  You hold out your
hands to us--you want to wake us up and
to strengthen what remains of our
 attempts to follow you; to gather
up the fragments, even when they are on
the point of death, so that nothing may be lost.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 47; 148; 27; 114
Isa. 65:1-9
Rev. 3:1-6
John 6:1-14

Selected Verses

Ps. 27:10
 If my father and mother forsake me,
          the LORD will take me up.

Isa. 65:2
I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices…

Rev. 3:2
"…Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.  …"   [Words received in a vision of one like the Son of Man, addressed to the Church in Sardis]

John 6:12
When they were satisfied, [Jesus] told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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