Lectionary Readings
(from the Revised Common Lectionary)
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This lectionary covers the next thirty days. For full lists, see the seasons and years below.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Fourth Sunday of Easter—Easter, Year B
Summary
The unique emphasis to highlight in this Sunday’s readings comes in John and 1 John: that Jesus is the true Good Shepherd and that his sheep, the church, recognize his voice instinctively.
The ability to tell the difference between teachers and prophets that are commissioned by the Lord, and counterfeit shepherds that only use Jesus’ name, is a gift from the Holy Spirit which all believers are given in their baptism, and their ears are tuned to it by their life of hearing the scriptures.
But identifying the Good Shepherd is not just a matter of internal sense. Christ names his willing sacrifice of his life for the sheep as the defining feature of his ministry. Gillian Welch sang it truly:
The king of heaven can be told from the prince of fools
By the mark where the nails have been
Since the call of the Christian leader is to be the image of Christ, then the way of the cross is not optional for those called to spiritual office. Thus, the sermon today may rightly take the form of a pledge that the preacher’s leadership will conform to the way of the cross and not self-service.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Fifth Sunday of Easter—Easter, Year B
Summary
In the final Sundays of the Easter season, the Gospel readings shift toward Jesus’ words to his disciples at the Last Supper for an important reason: this was the time that Jesus spoke most clearly about how he would remain in his church after his ascension.
The preacher’s job in these weeks is to prepare the congregation to understand the implications of the Holy Spirit’s falling at Pentecost. Two intertwined themes should occupy the preacher’s attention: the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist.
First, the fact that Jesus spoke these words at the institution of the Eucharist should set the context, and this is an excellent opportunity to inform the congregation that their own practice of the eucharistic ritual shares the same context: a special invitation for Christ to abide with us and us in him.
Second, in the Gospel reading, Jesus speaks about the essence and goal of the Christian life: continuing to abide in him so that we bear good fruit. Abiding is an ongoing process, not just a one-time decision. The 1 John reading tells us that we continue to abide in Christ by the Holy Spirit. John 15:4 should be linked with 1 John 4:13 to make clear that abiding with Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit, and not our own strength. Our main job is to remain connected to the vine—and this does not come without effort!—and so be assured that the living water of the Spirit will empower us for prayer and good works.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Sixth Sunday of Easter—Easter, Year B
Summary
In looking forward to Pentecost, the Gospel passage this Sunday continues Jesus’ discourse on abiding at the Last Supper, but this time it is paired with the Holy Spirit falling on the house of Cornelius.
One gets the distinct impression that “abiding” is not a quiescent mysticism, but an encounter with the Spirit of God coming in power. This Gentile Pentecost, though coming chronologically later, helps prepare the congregation to consider the original event by making the link to baptism even more explicit. Though we receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism, the Spirit clearly moves first, being “poured out” on those gathered. This movement of the Spirit also preempts any assimilation to the Jewish way of life, prompting Peter to ask whether anything prevents the inclusion of these believers whom the Spirit has chosen to meet into the covenant community.
The preacher has a couple of good points of emphasis here: first, that the only qualification for baptism is repentance in faith. It is frequent for the congregation to imagine that its sole mission is to assimilate others into its own community--it is a Christian community after all! But the Spirit goes where he will, and like Peter we are called to be truthful witnesses to his work.
Second, the church is only the handmaiden to the Spirit’s work, she introduces people to Jesus and then gets out of the way to let his Spirit move!
Third, the church, above all, is called to love those outside of it with Christ’s supernatural love—itself a gift of the Spirit—as the Gospel passage says.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Seventh Sunday of Easter—Easter, Year B
Summary
On the Sunday after the Feast of the Ascension the table is set for Pentecost. Jesus’ high priestly prayer is appropriately placed here. The prayer is a hinge between Christ’s ascension and the Spirit’s falling at Pentecost. The prayer speaks to the fruitful tension in which believers live their lives.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (v. 16). A state of constant transition between earth and heaven characterizes the church’s identity and mission. All that she has is from God, her unity is accomplished by the same love that binds the Father and Son together (this is supplied by the Spirit). The feet of the faithful are on the ground, but their eyes and hearts are turned to heaven.
The preacher should emphasize that the meaning of heaven and eternal life is not limited to life after death, but it is a present reality that believers inhabit by the Holy Spirit, a divine life. The doctrine of the divine life is perhaps the most critical thing for modern evangelicals to understand before they are prepared to understand the significance of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling at Pentecost. The Spirit brings life, and that life is lived now.
