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.

When a Grain of Wheat Dies—Sept. 16, 2020

 

O God, when we put our love of making money 

above doing what is just, remind us:

You feed the young ravens 

when they cry.

 

When we vaunt our knowledge above your mystery,

remind us how little we understand what it is 

like to save our lives by losing them, 

so we can bear much fruit

in service to you. 

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 15; 147:1-11; 48; 4

Job 42:1-17

Acts 16:16-24

John 12:20-26

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 147:9

He gives to the animals their food,
          and to the young ravens when they cry.

 

Job 42:3b

“…Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.  …”  [Job, answering God]

 

Acts 16:19

But when [the slave girl’s] owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 

 

John 12:24-26a

“…Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.  …”  [Jesus, to Philip and Andrew]



Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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