Fifth Sunday Of Easter
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII Cycle C
Seasonal Theme
The resurrected Christ becomes a physical presence in the world again.
Theme For The Day
After Easter disciples love each other. It is also a witness to those outside the church who see it.
First Lesson
Acts 11:1-18
Peter's Report
Christianity escapes being another sect of Judaism by overcoming this renewed criticism of Peter for baptizing the uncircumcised Gentiles. We actually read this story twice in Luke's book of Acts. It was a real milestone for the Christian Church when the decision is made to include the Gentiles.
Notice in verse 3 the first criticism against Peter was his eating with Gentiles. Peter just states the facts. The Holy Spirit had come upon Gentiles as well as Jews. You could not argue with that.
Barclay says the number of six witnesses in verse 12 is important, because with Peter, it makes seven. This is the number of witnesses which were necessary in Egyptian law to prove a case. Peter says here are the facts and there are seven witnesses to prove them. Few, if any, are ever argued into the kingdom -- but witness, now that will work!
Second Lesson
Revelation 21:1-6
A New Heaven And Earth
Let's take these six verses one at a time.
Verse 1 -- We have an introduction to the new earth and heaven that replace the older ones which have passed away. (See Isaiah 65:17.)
Verse 2 -- Repeated again in verse 10 this serves as an introduction to more detailed 21:9--22:9. The word bride represents the church. Some scholars maintain that the New Jerusalem symbolizes the saints.
Verse 3 -- This loud voice is not necessarily Christ or God. "The dwelling place" refers to Ezekiel 37:27. For God to be with us can mean victoriously or a wish or prayer.
Verse 4 -- This repeats Revelation 7:17 and is an allusion to Isaiah 25:8. This elimination of death is apocalyptic and often occurred in early Christianity as death being conquered through Christ.
Verse 5 -- Look at Isaiah 43:19. The short speech in verses 5-8 is God and is the only such speech in this book with a brief self-disclosure in 1:8. Then comes the emphasis on the revelation being truthful.
Verse 6 -- Similar to Jesus' final words on the cross (John 19:28). The divine title "Alpha and Omega" is used several times in Revelation -- an emphasis on the absolute power and sovereignty of God or of Christ.
Also we have here an allusion to Isaiah 55:1. There is a nice homiletical link between the invitation to drink and the living water.
The Gospel
John 13:31-35
A New Commandment
Jesus is speaking to those most precious to him and calls them "little children" (used seven times in 1 John). Like a dying father, he gives his most intimate thoughts to his children. It's a new mandate (thus Maundy Thursday) to love each other. This radical new kind of love begins a new age and is the mark by which Jesus' disciples are known (see Acts 4:33). We see in this passage a conclusion to what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus (vv. 1-5) and it provides a final definition of Jesus' "own." To love one another as Jesus loves us according to The New Interpreter's Bible "... is to live a life thoroughly shaped by love that carries with it a whole new concept of the possibilities of community." I like that!
In some ways it's easier to love one's enemies than to love friends who are there most of the time.
I like the idea that the way we love each other will be a symbol to others that we are really his disciples.
Preaching Possibilities
A. All three readings can work together if you have not yet addressed the theme "After Easter Disciples."
1. First Lesson -- After Easter disciples are inclusive, including all kinds of people.
2. Second Lesson -- After Easter people anticipate having a victory over death and their life begins and ends in Christ.
3. The Gospel -- After Easter people have a radical undeserved love for others and each other.
B. The First Reading is also rich with homiletical probabilities. Verse 18b will make a powerful proclamation of the good news that race and gender are not barriers for the Holy Spirit and salvation.
C. Or one could creatively preach from the negative. Those criticisms of Peter that he ate with the Gentiles and that he baptized and made Christians from other than his own people are for today, too. We could put the story in a contemporary setting to make it relevant and close to the ground. Verse 3 might read: "Why did you go to gay and lesbians and eat with them?" Notice the first paragraph under Possible Metaphors And Stories.
D. A quite different approach would be to focus on the Holy Spirit in baptism using verses 15 and 16. Baptism could be presented as much more than special water and a magic Trinitarian formula of words.
E. Another possibility for this Sunday would be a "letter sermon" based on the First Reading. It could be a letter from Peter to his brother Andrew, telling him about the criticism he faced from Jewish Christians and his own reasons for doing what he did. It will preach!
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Begin by relating a time someone uttered very important words just before they died. If you heard them, it makes the story even more relevant.
B. Move to the Gospel for today explaining that Jesus said some very important words to people important to him before leaving them.
C. Read John 13:33, 34.
D. Move to what's new about this mandate.
1. This commandment transcends the ten given by Moses, which are much more legalistic.
2. This love is one we ought to have for others who don't even deserve it.
3. This love has a model in Jesus on the cross to demonstrate God's love for us.
4. This love is a gift that post-Easter people have because of their common discipleship.
5. This love is only possible because of God's Holy Spirit.
E. Move to verse 35 and read, holding the Bible from which you read it in your hands for all to see.
F. Tell your listeners that the promise is that when we love each other in this way those who see it will know we are disciples, so here is a powerful witness to what life in a discipleship community is like.
G. Frame your sermon by returning to your opening story, then giving 1 through 5 above in reverse order.
Prayer For The Day
Teach us to love each other, dear Jesus, and to do it without any expectation of being loved in return. And may we love each other in such a gracious manner that others seeing it will want to be a part of our fellowship. In the Easter Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody often told the story of his trying to join a very prestigious church in Boston. Because he often had brought "street people" into their worship service, the elders tried to postpone his membership as long as possible. They told him he should pray about it for a month and then re-apply for membership. After the month, Jesus told Moody not to be upset -- that he had been trying to get into that church for years!
The headline in the South China Post was: "Bombing Victim's Father Preaches Forgiveness for McVeigh." Bud Welch whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing was crusading in the U.S. Congress and audiences across America by stating: "There is no healing from killing people." The rest of the relatives of those 168 killed were asking to see the execution on television. "They think they will get some type of healing," Welch said. "There is nothing about killing that's going to heal them."
Springing up on Pentecost and Calvary, the church flows through the ages like a river -- that same river, and no other, will flow unchangingly on through the ages until that great day when it will empty completely into the formed sea of eternal blessedness (Wilhelm Loehe, Neuendettelsau, Germany).
In the television special Wallenberg, a Lutheran, who was a member of a wealthy family in Sweden, saved many Jews from the Nazis in Poland and Hungary. He said to his driver upon seeing a death march, "What shall we Christians say about this thing?" The driver answered, "I don't know. I'm not a theologian." Wallenberg responded, "Perhaps we are witnessing the death of God." What horrible things we humans do to each other.
The resurrected Christ becomes a physical presence in the world again.
Theme For The Day
After Easter disciples love each other. It is also a witness to those outside the church who see it.
First Lesson
Acts 11:1-18
Peter's Report
Christianity escapes being another sect of Judaism by overcoming this renewed criticism of Peter for baptizing the uncircumcised Gentiles. We actually read this story twice in Luke's book of Acts. It was a real milestone for the Christian Church when the decision is made to include the Gentiles.
Notice in verse 3 the first criticism against Peter was his eating with Gentiles. Peter just states the facts. The Holy Spirit had come upon Gentiles as well as Jews. You could not argue with that.
Barclay says the number of six witnesses in verse 12 is important, because with Peter, it makes seven. This is the number of witnesses which were necessary in Egyptian law to prove a case. Peter says here are the facts and there are seven witnesses to prove them. Few, if any, are ever argued into the kingdom -- but witness, now that will work!
Second Lesson
Revelation 21:1-6
A New Heaven And Earth
Let's take these six verses one at a time.
Verse 1 -- We have an introduction to the new earth and heaven that replace the older ones which have passed away. (See Isaiah 65:17.)
Verse 2 -- Repeated again in verse 10 this serves as an introduction to more detailed 21:9--22:9. The word bride represents the church. Some scholars maintain that the New Jerusalem symbolizes the saints.
Verse 3 -- This loud voice is not necessarily Christ or God. "The dwelling place" refers to Ezekiel 37:27. For God to be with us can mean victoriously or a wish or prayer.
Verse 4 -- This repeats Revelation 7:17 and is an allusion to Isaiah 25:8. This elimination of death is apocalyptic and often occurred in early Christianity as death being conquered through Christ.
Verse 5 -- Look at Isaiah 43:19. The short speech in verses 5-8 is God and is the only such speech in this book with a brief self-disclosure in 1:8. Then comes the emphasis on the revelation being truthful.
Verse 6 -- Similar to Jesus' final words on the cross (John 19:28). The divine title "Alpha and Omega" is used several times in Revelation -- an emphasis on the absolute power and sovereignty of God or of Christ.
Also we have here an allusion to Isaiah 55:1. There is a nice homiletical link between the invitation to drink and the living water.
The Gospel
John 13:31-35
A New Commandment
Jesus is speaking to those most precious to him and calls them "little children" (used seven times in 1 John). Like a dying father, he gives his most intimate thoughts to his children. It's a new mandate (thus Maundy Thursday) to love each other. This radical new kind of love begins a new age and is the mark by which Jesus' disciples are known (see Acts 4:33). We see in this passage a conclusion to what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus (vv. 1-5) and it provides a final definition of Jesus' "own." To love one another as Jesus loves us according to The New Interpreter's Bible "... is to live a life thoroughly shaped by love that carries with it a whole new concept of the possibilities of community." I like that!
In some ways it's easier to love one's enemies than to love friends who are there most of the time.
I like the idea that the way we love each other will be a symbol to others that we are really his disciples.
Preaching Possibilities
A. All three readings can work together if you have not yet addressed the theme "After Easter Disciples."
1. First Lesson -- After Easter disciples are inclusive, including all kinds of people.
2. Second Lesson -- After Easter people anticipate having a victory over death and their life begins and ends in Christ.
3. The Gospel -- After Easter people have a radical undeserved love for others and each other.
B. The First Reading is also rich with homiletical probabilities. Verse 18b will make a powerful proclamation of the good news that race and gender are not barriers for the Holy Spirit and salvation.
C. Or one could creatively preach from the negative. Those criticisms of Peter that he ate with the Gentiles and that he baptized and made Christians from other than his own people are for today, too. We could put the story in a contemporary setting to make it relevant and close to the ground. Verse 3 might read: "Why did you go to gay and lesbians and eat with them?" Notice the first paragraph under Possible Metaphors And Stories.
D. A quite different approach would be to focus on the Holy Spirit in baptism using verses 15 and 16. Baptism could be presented as much more than special water and a magic Trinitarian formula of words.
E. Another possibility for this Sunday would be a "letter sermon" based on the First Reading. It could be a letter from Peter to his brother Andrew, telling him about the criticism he faced from Jewish Christians and his own reasons for doing what he did. It will preach!
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Begin by relating a time someone uttered very important words just before they died. If you heard them, it makes the story even more relevant.
B. Move to the Gospel for today explaining that Jesus said some very important words to people important to him before leaving them.
C. Read John 13:33, 34.
D. Move to what's new about this mandate.
1. This commandment transcends the ten given by Moses, which are much more legalistic.
2. This love is one we ought to have for others who don't even deserve it.
3. This love has a model in Jesus on the cross to demonstrate God's love for us.
4. This love is a gift that post-Easter people have because of their common discipleship.
5. This love is only possible because of God's Holy Spirit.
E. Move to verse 35 and read, holding the Bible from which you read it in your hands for all to see.
F. Tell your listeners that the promise is that when we love each other in this way those who see it will know we are disciples, so here is a powerful witness to what life in a discipleship community is like.
G. Frame your sermon by returning to your opening story, then giving 1 through 5 above in reverse order.
Prayer For The Day
Teach us to love each other, dear Jesus, and to do it without any expectation of being loved in return. And may we love each other in such a gracious manner that others seeing it will want to be a part of our fellowship. In the Easter Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody often told the story of his trying to join a very prestigious church in Boston. Because he often had brought "street people" into their worship service, the elders tried to postpone his membership as long as possible. They told him he should pray about it for a month and then re-apply for membership. After the month, Jesus told Moody not to be upset -- that he had been trying to get into that church for years!
The headline in the South China Post was: "Bombing Victim's Father Preaches Forgiveness for McVeigh." Bud Welch whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing was crusading in the U.S. Congress and audiences across America by stating: "There is no healing from killing people." The rest of the relatives of those 168 killed were asking to see the execution on television. "They think they will get some type of healing," Welch said. "There is nothing about killing that's going to heal them."
Springing up on Pentecost and Calvary, the church flows through the ages like a river -- that same river, and no other, will flow unchangingly on through the ages until that great day when it will empty completely into the formed sea of eternal blessedness (Wilhelm Loehe, Neuendettelsau, Germany).
In the television special Wallenberg, a Lutheran, who was a member of a wealthy family in Sweden, saved many Jews from the Nazis in Poland and Hungary. He said to his driver upon seeing a death march, "What shall we Christians say about this thing?" The driver answered, "I don't know. I'm not a theologian." Wallenberg responded, "Perhaps we are witnessing the death of God." What horrible things we humans do to each other.
