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.

Redemption--Aug. 6, 2020

 

God of steadfast love,

can bad come out of good,

or good issue forth from bad?

 

Our object of worship can become a snare;

a stone rejected can become a cornerstone.

 

An insignificant town was the home of

 the most important man who ever lived.

 

O God, we hope in you

and in your power to redeem.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 116; 147:12-20; 26; 130

Judg. 8:22-35

Acts 4:1-12

John 1:43-51

 

Selected Verses

Ps. 130:7

 O Israel, hope in the LORD!
          For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
          and with him is great power to redeem.

 

Judg. 8:27

Gideon made an ephod of [the booty] and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 

 

Acts 4:11

“…This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’  …”  [Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, to the rulers and elders] 

 

John 1:46

Nathanael said to [Philip], “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 


No comments:

Post a Comment