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.

On Following the Crowd--June 29, 2018


[From June 29, 2012 archive]

It is not always right to follow the crowd.
In the wilderness the crowd complained bitterly.
The crowd ordered the blind men to stop pestering Jesus.

Sometimes the righteous act of one person is more important
than what a whole multitude of people does, especially
if that one person is one to whom the Lord imputes
no iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Such a one was Jesus,
whose act of righteousness
led to justification and life for all.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Num. 20:1-13
Rom. 5:12-21
Matt. 20:29-34

Selected Verses
Ps. 32:2
Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
          and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Num. 20:5
"…Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place?  It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink."  [The people of Israel to Moses]

Rom. 5:18
Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

Matt. 20:31
The crowd sternly ordered [the two blind men] to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, "Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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