Sixth Sunday Of Easter
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle B
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 10:44-48 (C); Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 (RC)
Charles Wesley began one of the Methodist ChurchÍs favorite hymns with this line: ñCome, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire.'' Of course tradition now uses the alternate term, ñHoly Spirit.'' Wesley called it the ñfountain of life and love.'' And so it is. Once we experience the Holy Spirit, we know it is exactly that: the source of life and love. The giving of that Spirit into the lives of us all is the point of this passage.
Actually, thereÍs a bit of politics indigenous to the time and place involved here also. The Jews were surprised and perhaps upset that Gentiles should receive what they expected should be exclusively theirs. However, most of them quickly accommodated themselves to the universal gift of the Spirit as Peter made it plain that in fact it was God who gave the gift and that was not to be debated. Apparently, though, this all raised some serious questions among the most orthodox of the people and they asked Peter to remain with them. No doubt they wanted him to help them learn exactly what it meant to receive the gift and, one imagines, to do a bit of refereeing as well.
The serious Bible student may wish to pursue the issue of these religious differences, but for us, the important matter is the universality of the Holy Spirit „ the fact that itÍs a gift available to us all. One suspects that God has very little interest in our choice of church, denomination, or the majority of our religious biases. Sometimes weÍre found to be arguing one faith, or one manner of interpretation, or one church as against another. When we do that we may sound like the people to whom Peter spoke, wanting to prescribe how GodÍs gifts should apply to others. His word to them was, in effect, donÍt question the gift, accept it as it comes to you, letÍs not have any judging of others. Be respectful of the other personÍs faith. So, as we examine the meaning of this precious gift, there are some things it will help to think about.
Lesson 1: Acts 11:19-30 (E)
Lesson 2: 1 John 5:1-6 (C)
John here intermingles love between God and people and people among each other. The two forms of love cannot be separated. Love, as John uses the word, means something more than that emotion which attracts us to each other, however. Many a person who has no religious conviction at all has a love relationship with a lover, and friends whom he or she thoroughly enjoys. This is certainly a necessary dimension to life. Two of my good friends were in a study group with us a few years ago. We were discussing the question: What are the elements in a happy marriage? They looked at each other and smiled. When I inquired why the smile, the husband said: ñWe donÍt know why youÍre having to ask this.'' They have a deliriously happy marriage. We love them. They do not go to church, and I have never heard them refer to any religious beliefs. I mean no judgment at all. IÍm suggesting, though, that John in this passage (and elsewhere) refers to an attitude of commitment to people whom we may or may not like. ItÍs not so much what we feel as it is what we decide to do because the Holy Spirit is working in us, moving us with feelings of caring and responsibility for others.
Lesson 2: 1 John 4:7-10 (RC); 1 John 4:7-21 (E)
(See Easter 5)
Gospel: John 15:9-17 (C, RC, E)
This passage is full of preaching possibilities. ñRemain in my Love'' would be a great sermon title, as Jesus first tells us that he loves us just as God loves him. There is, however, a caveat. ñIf you obey my commands you will remain in my love.'' We must quickly, then, make clear that this is not a return to rules and regulations. It is a statement of reality. If I tell my child, ñI love you, but there is one requirement „ donÍt step off a cliff,'' IÍm not setting conditions on my love. IÍm warning of a reality which, if not understood, could destroy our relationship. Likewise, Jesus is simply informing us of one of the natural laws of the universe: If you wish to remain in a love relationship with God and Jesus, you must obey this commandment „ love other people. If you fail in that, you have, as it were, stepped off the cliff.
One of my all-time favorite passages is verse 11: ñI have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.'' So many people seem to make something grim and funless out of our faith. IÍm convinced that Jesus had a great sense of humor, and while joy means a lot more than mere fun, it certainly must include fun. I would define joy as an inward sense of the richness and goodness of life. I donÍt personally have any close friends who lack a sense of humor because, frankly, I find people who canÍt laugh and joke once in a while rather boring. I meet regularly with two different groups of ministers and frankly, weÍre the noisiest people in the restaurant, all reporting the latest silly thing they did (like one friend who recently opened a service for the citywide womenÍs society with this bit of misspeak: ñAnd now, friends, let us play''), and exchanging the latest joke (most, but not all, usable by clergy).
JesusÍ statement ñYou did not choose me; I chose you ...'' reminds us that the ñHound Of Heaven'' is in swift pursuit. Like a dad running through the neighborhood, calling for his missing child, God has dashed into this world seeking us and, praise the Lord, finding us. Jesus went on to urge ñbear much fruit.'' So, this relationship does urge upon us a contributing and productive life.
Jesus also promised: ñAnd so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name. This, then, is what I command you: Love one another.'' Here is the basis for a sermon on prayer which intermingles the promise with the role that love between people plays in the answering of prayer.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñCome, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire''
Text: Acts 10:44-48
Theme: The Holy Spirit is available to everyone. Today I passed a church with a sign which read: ñBored with religion? Try the Holy Spirit.'' That sounds a little deprecatory toward us mainline churches, but it does make a point. The arrival of the Holy Spirit in an individualÍs life results in profound and permanent change for the better. Incidentally, I notice that the incoming of the Holy Spirit preceded baptism for these people, leading me to conclude that God does what God chooses to do without particularly requiring us to first qualify in some way.
1. The Holy Spirit comes to us in our individuality. WeÍre all unique. At our church, we used the Myers-Briggs tests, based on Jungian psychology. It identifies sixteen separate personality types, based on four categories. Some people derive energy from people (extroverts), some from alone time (introverts). Some people perceive experience through the senses, some through feelings. Some of us require order for emotional comfort, some of us prefer openness with undetermined possibilities. IÍm sure this is all an oversimplification, but it helped us in counseling and in staff assignments. Nevertheless, it follows that different people experience events and experiences in different ways, and itÍs impossible to say that only in such and such way can one truly claim to have received the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit enables us to discover our own inner resources. I often feel that when I pray, God helps me, not by intervening in my life situation, but by enabling me to reach down inside myself to find confidence and courage and strength to do what I am already equipped to do.
3. The Holy Spirit provides us with resources beyond our own. But I qualify this belief to this extent: I think God steps in only after I have done my part. If Mother tells her son to go out and mow the lawn, and fifteen minutes later heÍs back in complaining of the heat, Mother is nuts if she goes out and does the lawn herself. The kidÍll never amount to much. But if, after he works to near-exhaustion, Mom realizes that the boy needs help, then she can step in, help the boy finish his job, and build a deeper relationship in the process.
4. The Holy Spirit helps us identify our purpose in life. I believe every one of us is here for a purpose which is more than a satisfying life. Maybe a better way to say that is that we may never really have a satisfying life until we do discover a meaningful purpose. Paul pointed out that there are a variety of gifts. It takes most of us a while to find just what those gifts are, but I believe the Holy Spirit makes that possible for those who sincerely search.
Title: ñRemain In My Love''
Text: 1 John 5:3; John 15:9-10
Theme: One of the deepest pains in life is the grief over lost love. The death of a dear one. The rejection by a lover who has found another. The betrayal by a son or daughter, or an unfaithful spouse. You could say that the more we love, the more vulnerable we are to such pain. Even in faithful relationships we hurt each other, often unintentionally. Someone has compared marriage to a group of porcupines living on a hilltop in the winter. When they draw near for warmth, they injure each other with their quills. When they therefore part, they freeze without the warmth of another. Just this very day I performed the funeral service for a man who had, if truth be told, been a dysfunctional father. He ended up drinking himself to death. Yet his sons were absolutely devastated by their loss. For all DadÍs failings, the boys loved him dearly. ThatÍs life in microcosm.
This is not meant to be negative. My point is that because God loves most of all, God suffers most of all. Of course our tiny minds canÍt imagine God loving everyone. But I only had one child of my own, and one day I unwisely told the mother of six that I couldnÍt believe she could love each of them quite like I love my one. Wrong. She set me straight. And with God, thereÍs room for all of us.
1. Love charges a price. Every mother understands this.
2. Love is essential for meaningful life.
3. God paid a price for his love for us.
4. If we are to remain in a saving relationship with God, we are to pay the price of loving others.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale always loved a good sports story and one of his favorites was about the Dallas team of the old Texas baseball league many years ago. As the season started, they had seven returning players who had batted over .300 and were considered shoo-ins to win the league championship. They proceeded to go out and lose seventeen of their first twenty games. Morale was rock bottom. Finally, they opened a two-game series against San Antonio, the weakest team in the league. They proceeded to lose, getting only one hit, that by the pitcher. The manager, Josh OÍReilly, and the team were beside themselves with discouragement.
It seems there was an evangelist in the nearby community, a Reverend Schlater, who was conducting healing services in a tent. That afternoon manager OÍReilly walked into the downcast teamÍs dressing room pushing a wheelbarrow and asked each player to pick his two favorite bats and put them in the wheelbarrow. He told the players to stay where they were and he left, pushing the bats before him. An hour or so later, OÍReilly returned with the announcement that Reverend Schlater had blessed the bats, given them power, and now the team couldnÍt lose. The following day, the Dallas team proceeded to beat San Antonio by scoring twenty runs on 37 hits. They ended the season as league champions. It was said that for the next year or two other players would pay almost anything to get their hands on a Schlater bat.
We canÍt know, of course, whether Reverend Schlater ever so much as saw those bats. Even if he did, most of us would have serious doubts about any such blessing as that. But for a change, those men believed. They believed they could win, and they did. That was PealeÍs point: when we believe in ourselves, we can accomplish great achievements, far more than we sometimes think. And thatÍs what the Spirit does, helps us believe in our worth, our own ability, and empowers us to do our very best.
____________
Remember the story Jesus told about the man who had a late night visitor? Local custom required that the host feed a guest, but this man had no food in the house. He went next door to ask food from his neighbor and the man called down from his bedroom window that everyone had retired for the night and heÍd have to come back tomorrow. However, the man refused to accept that. He made it clear that heÍd persist in bothering his neighbor until he got the food. So, the reluctant neighbor came down and gave the man food. Jesus told this, then said that God is like that. His point was not that God is reluctant to answer prayer, but that we are to persevere in prayer, not expecting that every little request will immediately be answered. Rather, when God is convinced that our need is legitimate, then the prayer will be answered. Obviously, itÍs not all quite that simple. More often than not, our prayers are answered quite differently than we wanted or expected. But that there would be a positive response from God is a solemn promise made by Jesus.
____________
One of my favorite authors told of a man and wife in marriage counseling who were making very little progress in spite of good counseling. One day the wife told her pastor that after weeks of praying that her husband would see how his conduct was hurting the marriage, during which time he refused to change, she began instead to pray that God would show her what she must do. Immediately, she said, the message came through that she must examine her own conduct and cease trying to change her husband. One night she left him a note saying that she had realized what sheÍd been doing and had decided to change certain habits. She said prayer had showed her to cease blaming him. A day or so later, she received a note from him saying that since she was willing to change heÍd decided he would too, and maybe she wasnÍt entirely wrong in blaming him. In other words, prayer had led each to quit blaming and begin to do some sincere soul searching.
____________
In the Middle Ages, a popular priest announced that in the cathedral one night he would preach a sermon on the love of God. His people gathered toward dusk and stood watching the fading sunlight blaze through stained glass windows. When the great vault of the cathedral was quite dark at last, the priest lighted a torch and slowly approached the crucifix over the altar. Silently he held the torch before the feet, then the hands, then the face of the crucified Christ. Finally, in continuing silence, the priest held the light above the thorn-crowned head. The people wept, as they beheld the ultimate mystery of love.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 98 (C) „ ñMake a joyful noise to the Lord....''
Psalm 97 (RC) „ ñThe Lord is king, let the earth rejoice.''
Psalm 33 (E) „ ñRejoice in the Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
We fall before Thee, O God, blessed beyond what we might ever have hoped, beneficiaries of the blood of your Son whom we know you loved. Help us to seek to be worthy of this love. In his name we pray. Amen.
Lesson 1: Acts 10:44-48 (C); Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 (RC)
Charles Wesley began one of the Methodist ChurchÍs favorite hymns with this line: ñCome, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire.'' Of course tradition now uses the alternate term, ñHoly Spirit.'' Wesley called it the ñfountain of life and love.'' And so it is. Once we experience the Holy Spirit, we know it is exactly that: the source of life and love. The giving of that Spirit into the lives of us all is the point of this passage.
Actually, thereÍs a bit of politics indigenous to the time and place involved here also. The Jews were surprised and perhaps upset that Gentiles should receive what they expected should be exclusively theirs. However, most of them quickly accommodated themselves to the universal gift of the Spirit as Peter made it plain that in fact it was God who gave the gift and that was not to be debated. Apparently, though, this all raised some serious questions among the most orthodox of the people and they asked Peter to remain with them. No doubt they wanted him to help them learn exactly what it meant to receive the gift and, one imagines, to do a bit of refereeing as well.
The serious Bible student may wish to pursue the issue of these religious differences, but for us, the important matter is the universality of the Holy Spirit „ the fact that itÍs a gift available to us all. One suspects that God has very little interest in our choice of church, denomination, or the majority of our religious biases. Sometimes weÍre found to be arguing one faith, or one manner of interpretation, or one church as against another. When we do that we may sound like the people to whom Peter spoke, wanting to prescribe how GodÍs gifts should apply to others. His word to them was, in effect, donÍt question the gift, accept it as it comes to you, letÍs not have any judging of others. Be respectful of the other personÍs faith. So, as we examine the meaning of this precious gift, there are some things it will help to think about.
Lesson 1: Acts 11:19-30 (E)
Lesson 2: 1 John 5:1-6 (C)
John here intermingles love between God and people and people among each other. The two forms of love cannot be separated. Love, as John uses the word, means something more than that emotion which attracts us to each other, however. Many a person who has no religious conviction at all has a love relationship with a lover, and friends whom he or she thoroughly enjoys. This is certainly a necessary dimension to life. Two of my good friends were in a study group with us a few years ago. We were discussing the question: What are the elements in a happy marriage? They looked at each other and smiled. When I inquired why the smile, the husband said: ñWe donÍt know why youÍre having to ask this.'' They have a deliriously happy marriage. We love them. They do not go to church, and I have never heard them refer to any religious beliefs. I mean no judgment at all. IÍm suggesting, though, that John in this passage (and elsewhere) refers to an attitude of commitment to people whom we may or may not like. ItÍs not so much what we feel as it is what we decide to do because the Holy Spirit is working in us, moving us with feelings of caring and responsibility for others.
Lesson 2: 1 John 4:7-10 (RC); 1 John 4:7-21 (E)
(See Easter 5)
Gospel: John 15:9-17 (C, RC, E)
This passage is full of preaching possibilities. ñRemain in my Love'' would be a great sermon title, as Jesus first tells us that he loves us just as God loves him. There is, however, a caveat. ñIf you obey my commands you will remain in my love.'' We must quickly, then, make clear that this is not a return to rules and regulations. It is a statement of reality. If I tell my child, ñI love you, but there is one requirement „ donÍt step off a cliff,'' IÍm not setting conditions on my love. IÍm warning of a reality which, if not understood, could destroy our relationship. Likewise, Jesus is simply informing us of one of the natural laws of the universe: If you wish to remain in a love relationship with God and Jesus, you must obey this commandment „ love other people. If you fail in that, you have, as it were, stepped off the cliff.
One of my all-time favorite passages is verse 11: ñI have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.'' So many people seem to make something grim and funless out of our faith. IÍm convinced that Jesus had a great sense of humor, and while joy means a lot more than mere fun, it certainly must include fun. I would define joy as an inward sense of the richness and goodness of life. I donÍt personally have any close friends who lack a sense of humor because, frankly, I find people who canÍt laugh and joke once in a while rather boring. I meet regularly with two different groups of ministers and frankly, weÍre the noisiest people in the restaurant, all reporting the latest silly thing they did (like one friend who recently opened a service for the citywide womenÍs society with this bit of misspeak: ñAnd now, friends, let us play''), and exchanging the latest joke (most, but not all, usable by clergy).
JesusÍ statement ñYou did not choose me; I chose you ...'' reminds us that the ñHound Of Heaven'' is in swift pursuit. Like a dad running through the neighborhood, calling for his missing child, God has dashed into this world seeking us and, praise the Lord, finding us. Jesus went on to urge ñbear much fruit.'' So, this relationship does urge upon us a contributing and productive life.
Jesus also promised: ñAnd so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name. This, then, is what I command you: Love one another.'' Here is the basis for a sermon on prayer which intermingles the promise with the role that love between people plays in the answering of prayer.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñCome, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire''
Text: Acts 10:44-48
Theme: The Holy Spirit is available to everyone. Today I passed a church with a sign which read: ñBored with religion? Try the Holy Spirit.'' That sounds a little deprecatory toward us mainline churches, but it does make a point. The arrival of the Holy Spirit in an individualÍs life results in profound and permanent change for the better. Incidentally, I notice that the incoming of the Holy Spirit preceded baptism for these people, leading me to conclude that God does what God chooses to do without particularly requiring us to first qualify in some way.
1. The Holy Spirit comes to us in our individuality. WeÍre all unique. At our church, we used the Myers-Briggs tests, based on Jungian psychology. It identifies sixteen separate personality types, based on four categories. Some people derive energy from people (extroverts), some from alone time (introverts). Some people perceive experience through the senses, some through feelings. Some of us require order for emotional comfort, some of us prefer openness with undetermined possibilities. IÍm sure this is all an oversimplification, but it helped us in counseling and in staff assignments. Nevertheless, it follows that different people experience events and experiences in different ways, and itÍs impossible to say that only in such and such way can one truly claim to have received the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit enables us to discover our own inner resources. I often feel that when I pray, God helps me, not by intervening in my life situation, but by enabling me to reach down inside myself to find confidence and courage and strength to do what I am already equipped to do.
3. The Holy Spirit provides us with resources beyond our own. But I qualify this belief to this extent: I think God steps in only after I have done my part. If Mother tells her son to go out and mow the lawn, and fifteen minutes later heÍs back in complaining of the heat, Mother is nuts if she goes out and does the lawn herself. The kidÍll never amount to much. But if, after he works to near-exhaustion, Mom realizes that the boy needs help, then she can step in, help the boy finish his job, and build a deeper relationship in the process.
4. The Holy Spirit helps us identify our purpose in life. I believe every one of us is here for a purpose which is more than a satisfying life. Maybe a better way to say that is that we may never really have a satisfying life until we do discover a meaningful purpose. Paul pointed out that there are a variety of gifts. It takes most of us a while to find just what those gifts are, but I believe the Holy Spirit makes that possible for those who sincerely search.
Title: ñRemain In My Love''
Text: 1 John 5:3; John 15:9-10
Theme: One of the deepest pains in life is the grief over lost love. The death of a dear one. The rejection by a lover who has found another. The betrayal by a son or daughter, or an unfaithful spouse. You could say that the more we love, the more vulnerable we are to such pain. Even in faithful relationships we hurt each other, often unintentionally. Someone has compared marriage to a group of porcupines living on a hilltop in the winter. When they draw near for warmth, they injure each other with their quills. When they therefore part, they freeze without the warmth of another. Just this very day I performed the funeral service for a man who had, if truth be told, been a dysfunctional father. He ended up drinking himself to death. Yet his sons were absolutely devastated by their loss. For all DadÍs failings, the boys loved him dearly. ThatÍs life in microcosm.
This is not meant to be negative. My point is that because God loves most of all, God suffers most of all. Of course our tiny minds canÍt imagine God loving everyone. But I only had one child of my own, and one day I unwisely told the mother of six that I couldnÍt believe she could love each of them quite like I love my one. Wrong. She set me straight. And with God, thereÍs room for all of us.
1. Love charges a price. Every mother understands this.
2. Love is essential for meaningful life.
3. God paid a price for his love for us.
4. If we are to remain in a saving relationship with God, we are to pay the price of loving others.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale always loved a good sports story and one of his favorites was about the Dallas team of the old Texas baseball league many years ago. As the season started, they had seven returning players who had batted over .300 and were considered shoo-ins to win the league championship. They proceeded to go out and lose seventeen of their first twenty games. Morale was rock bottom. Finally, they opened a two-game series against San Antonio, the weakest team in the league. They proceeded to lose, getting only one hit, that by the pitcher. The manager, Josh OÍReilly, and the team were beside themselves with discouragement.
It seems there was an evangelist in the nearby community, a Reverend Schlater, who was conducting healing services in a tent. That afternoon manager OÍReilly walked into the downcast teamÍs dressing room pushing a wheelbarrow and asked each player to pick his two favorite bats and put them in the wheelbarrow. He told the players to stay where they were and he left, pushing the bats before him. An hour or so later, OÍReilly returned with the announcement that Reverend Schlater had blessed the bats, given them power, and now the team couldnÍt lose. The following day, the Dallas team proceeded to beat San Antonio by scoring twenty runs on 37 hits. They ended the season as league champions. It was said that for the next year or two other players would pay almost anything to get their hands on a Schlater bat.
We canÍt know, of course, whether Reverend Schlater ever so much as saw those bats. Even if he did, most of us would have serious doubts about any such blessing as that. But for a change, those men believed. They believed they could win, and they did. That was PealeÍs point: when we believe in ourselves, we can accomplish great achievements, far more than we sometimes think. And thatÍs what the Spirit does, helps us believe in our worth, our own ability, and empowers us to do our very best.
____________
Remember the story Jesus told about the man who had a late night visitor? Local custom required that the host feed a guest, but this man had no food in the house. He went next door to ask food from his neighbor and the man called down from his bedroom window that everyone had retired for the night and heÍd have to come back tomorrow. However, the man refused to accept that. He made it clear that heÍd persist in bothering his neighbor until he got the food. So, the reluctant neighbor came down and gave the man food. Jesus told this, then said that God is like that. His point was not that God is reluctant to answer prayer, but that we are to persevere in prayer, not expecting that every little request will immediately be answered. Rather, when God is convinced that our need is legitimate, then the prayer will be answered. Obviously, itÍs not all quite that simple. More often than not, our prayers are answered quite differently than we wanted or expected. But that there would be a positive response from God is a solemn promise made by Jesus.
____________
One of my favorite authors told of a man and wife in marriage counseling who were making very little progress in spite of good counseling. One day the wife told her pastor that after weeks of praying that her husband would see how his conduct was hurting the marriage, during which time he refused to change, she began instead to pray that God would show her what she must do. Immediately, she said, the message came through that she must examine her own conduct and cease trying to change her husband. One night she left him a note saying that she had realized what sheÍd been doing and had decided to change certain habits. She said prayer had showed her to cease blaming him. A day or so later, she received a note from him saying that since she was willing to change heÍd decided he would too, and maybe she wasnÍt entirely wrong in blaming him. In other words, prayer had led each to quit blaming and begin to do some sincere soul searching.
____________
In the Middle Ages, a popular priest announced that in the cathedral one night he would preach a sermon on the love of God. His people gathered toward dusk and stood watching the fading sunlight blaze through stained glass windows. When the great vault of the cathedral was quite dark at last, the priest lighted a torch and slowly approached the crucifix over the altar. Silently he held the torch before the feet, then the hands, then the face of the crucified Christ. Finally, in continuing silence, the priest held the light above the thorn-crowned head. The people wept, as they beheld the ultimate mystery of love.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 98 (C) „ ñMake a joyful noise to the Lord....''
Psalm 97 (RC) „ ñThe Lord is king, let the earth rejoice.''
Psalm 33 (E) „ ñRejoice in the Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
We fall before Thee, O God, blessed beyond what we might ever have hoped, beneficiaries of the blood of your Son whom we know you loved. Help us to seek to be worthy of this love. In his name we pray. Amen.
