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.

The Breastplate of Faith and Love--Nov. 28, 2021

[From Dec. 3, 2017]

 

For your name's sake, O God, 

pardon our guilt, for it is very great. 

The righteous we have sold for silver, 

and to buy cheap shoes, the needy;

trampling the poor into the dust,

we push the refugees away. 

 

Are we afraid to protest, 

for fear that we will be hated? 

Give us endurance, to put on the 

breastplate of faith and love,

and for a helmet the hope

of salvation.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 24; 150; 25; 110

Amos 1:1-5, 1:13-2:8

1 Thess. 5:1-11

Luke 21:5-19

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 25:11

For your name’s sake, O LORD, 
          pardon my guilt, for it is great. 

 

Amos 2:6-7a

Thus says the LORD:

For three transgressions of Israel,

          and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because they sell the righteous for silver,

          and the needy for a pair of sandals--

they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,

          and push the afflicted out of the way…

 

1 Thess. 5:8

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  

 

Luke 21:17-19

"…You will be hated by all because of my name.  But not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your souls."  [Jesus, to his disciples]


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