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.

At Your Wedding Feast, Speechless?--Dec. 4, 2015


God, when the needy plead for justice,
you know how often we push them aside;
yet we ask for mercy, peace, and love,
speedily when we call, and in abundance.
If you ask us how this prepares us for
your wedding feast, will we be speechless?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 102; 148; 130; 16
Amos 5:1-17
Jude 1-16
Matt. 22:1-14

Selected Verses
Ps. 102:2b
Incline your ear to me; 
          answer me speedily in the day when I call.


Amos 5:12
For I know how many are your transgressions,
        and how great are your sins--
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
        and push aside the needy in the gate.


Jude 2
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

Matt. 22:11-12
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?'  And he was speechless. …"  [Jesus, to the chief priests and Pharisees]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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