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.

Come Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest--June 9, 2015


You were the guest of Zacchaeus, Jesus,
and he was a sinner. We are sinners too.
Will you be our guest?

It's not as if your words have been very far
from us, Jesus; they've been in our mouths
and in our hearts.

Yet as the serpent by cunning deceived Eve,
our thoughts have strayed away from our
devotion to you.

So the poor are despoiled, the needy groan,
and little we do to place them in the safety
for which they long.

When you were the guest of Zacchaeus, he
gave half of his possessions to the poor.
What would we give?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7
Deut. 30:11-20
2 Cor. 11:1-21a
Luke 19:1-10

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.” 

Deut. 30:14
No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

2 Cor. 11:3
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Luke 19:7
All who saw it began to grumble and said, "[Jesus] has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 

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