Third Sunday of Easter
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VIII, Cycle B
Revised Common
Acts 3:12-19
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48
Roman Catholic
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48
Episcopal
Acts 4:5-12
1 John 1:1--2:2
Luke 24:36b-48
Theme For The Day
The risen Christ calls us to be witnesses.
First Lesson
Acts 3:12-19
Peter Calls The People To Repentance
After healing the lame man at the beautiful gate, Peter is surrounded by a curious crowd. At Solomon's Portico he addresses them in his second major speech, crediting God with the healing. He berates the people for rejecting Jesus and choosing a murderer in his place, then bears witness to how he has himself seen the risen Christ. Of the man who has just been healed, Peter says: "... by faith in [Jesus'] name, his name itself has made this man strong ..." (v. 16a). Acknowledging that the people acted in ignorance, Peter calls them to repentance (vv. 18-19).
New Testament Lesson
1 John 3:1-7
Children Of God
John celebrates that those who follow Christ and "do right" are considered children of God. Once again, there is an allusion to the prologue of the Gospel of John: "The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him" (v. 1). The author takes confidence in the future promise of seeing Christ as he is: "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is" (v. 2). He confirms that sin is incompatible with Christian discipleship, and that Christian disciples necessarily display a righteous way of life (vv. 4-7).
The Gospel
Luke 24:36b-48
Proof Of The Resurrection And A Call To Bear Witness
In this, the concluding story of Luke's Gospel before Jesus' ascension, Jesus suddenly stands among the disciples, says "Peace be with you," and shows them his hands and his side. This is to reassure their fears, assuring them that it is him they are looking at, and not a ghost (vv. 36-40). Luke observes that "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" -- a psychologically realistic portrait of human faith (v. 41). Jesus eats a piece of boiled fish -- further evidence of his corporeal existence (vv. 42-43). Jesus confirms that the prophecies of old are fulfilled, and "opens their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45) -- an action similar to what he has just done for the disciples he met on the road to Emmaus (vv. 27, 32). The gospel is to be preached "to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" -- explicitly including the Gentiles (v. 47). "You are witnesses of these things," he says to them (v. 48). Luke then sets his readers up for the account of Pentecost that will follow in the second volume of his work, relating how Jesus charges the disciples to "stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (v. 49).
Preaching Possibilities
"The Third Sunday Of Easter." It seems the epitome of anti-climax -- like being elected second vice-president, or winning the bronze medal, or sitting in the bleachers way up high at a baseball game. Two weeks ago, our churches were filled, and the spirit among the people was electrifying. Now, it's back to business as usual.
And what is our business? It's a fair question. Luke gives us the answer: "You are witnesses of these things" (24:48). Witnesses. Martyres, in the Greek. "You are martyrs of these things."
"Martyrs," as we've come to understand that word, are true believers who sacrifice their lives for the faith -- but our English word "martyr" is really no more than a direct transliteration of this Greek word for "witness." The early church believed that the martyrs -- those who were killed in the arena, or thrown to the lions, or turned into human torches for the diabolical Emperor Nero's amusement -- were witnesses to Christ. Their courage in going to their deaths told the world that what they had heard and seen was quite unlike the proclamation of any other religion.
In a law court, a witness is someone who has seen something important, something the court needs to know. Often we speak of "eyewitnesses" -- those who were right there at the scene of the crime, who can tell the jury firsthand what really happened. Yet Christians are not called to be eyewitnesses when it comes to the good news of resurrection -- how could we? We weren't there! What Christian believers do proclaim about the resurrection of Christ, we proclaim on faith.
The kind of witness Christ needs of us is a witness of another sort. Christ needs us to be "character witnesses." If defense attorneys are angling to undermine the prosecutor's argument, they are likely to call one or more character witnesses -- people who know the defendant, who are willing to vouch for that person, to observe how unlikely it is that their esteemed friend or colleague would ever commit a crime.
That's the kind of witnesses you and I are called to be for Christ: character witnesses. We can't tell firsthand stories about the resurrection -- other than the timeworn, smooth-as-a-piece-of-beach-glass stories that have been passed on across the generations. But we can witness to a personal Christ, a living Lord whom we know, one who has touched our lives and made a difference.
There are times when witnessing will be difficult. The world will try, from time to time, to assail our Christian faith. It will seek to declare that God is not on our side at all: that life is "nasty, brutish, and short," in the words of the grim, seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and that there is no life beyond this one. The world will endeavor to convince us, from time to time, that Jesus did not rise from the dead, that there is no power in this world beyond the orderly forces of nature -- gravity and muscle, magnetism and electricity, and the orderly decay of atoms that fuels the nuclear power plants. The world will try its hardest to win us over to the view that the rush of joy that "strangely warms" our hearts -- in Wesley's famous phrase -- is not the work of the Holy Spirit, but a mere projection of our inner, most cherished fantasies.
Our Lord calls us to be his character witnesses -- "martyrs" in the most ancient sense -- to speak not so much of proofs, or evidence, but rather of the Lord we personally know, and the difference he has made to us. It is not the mind that Christian witness touches, so much as it is the heart.
Prayer For The Day
Lord Jesus, long ago you came among your disciples: you spoke to them, touched them, reassured them. We praise you and thank you that you still come among us today, amidst the gathered fellowship of your worshiping people. As we depart this place, may we fulfill for others the role you filled for those first disciples. May we be for our neighbors the voices of good news they hear, the helping hands they touch, the embrace of love they feel -- for your sake, always for your sake. Make us your witnesses, we pray. Amen.
To Illustrate
When I was a student at Princeton Theological Seminary in the early 1980s, several of us were planning for a special event called the Easter Vigil -- a many hours long extravaganza of worship and the arts, that took place literally all over campus. We were planning an outdoor sequence in which a hidden student, playing the role of God, was to speak out in a booming voice to various other students, who were playing Old Testament prophets. We were short on microphones, and so it made perfect sense for somebody to ask, of the male student reading the part of the Almighty, "What about God? Does he need amplification?"
The question is a good one. Does God need amplification?
***
The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.
-- T. S. Eliot
***
The personal character of Christian witness is captured in a little parable told by the English philosopher Basil Mitchell.... One night in wartime, in an occupied country, a member of the resistance meets a stranger, who deeply impresses him. The two men talk into the wee hours of the morning -- of life and death, of the struggle for justice, of the things that need to happen to make their country great again. Finally, the stranger admits to the partisan that he himself is on the side of the resistance -- and not only that, that he is its commander. He urges the underground fighter to have faith in him no matter what happens. The partisan is utterly convinced at that meeting of the stranger's sincerity and constancy, and decides that he will trust him.
The two men never have a conversation again. But from time to time, the partisan glimpses the stranger from afar. Sometimes he sees him helping members of the resistance -- then he is grateful, saying to his friends, "He is on our side."
Sometimes the partisan sees the stranger in the uniform of the police, handing over patriots to the occupying power. On such occasions, his friends complain that he is no good: but the partisan still affirms, "He is on our side." The partisan still believes that, in spite of all appearances, the stranger did not deceive him.
Sometimes he sends word to the stranger for help, and receives it. Then he is thankful. Sometimes he asks for aid, and does not receive it. Then he observes, "The stranger knows best." Sometimes his friends demand in exasperation, "Well, what would he have to do for you to admit that you're wrong, that he's not on our side after all?"
Always the partisan refuses to answer. He will not put the stranger to the test. And sometimes his friends complain, "Well, if that's what you mean by his being on our side, the sooner he goes over to the other side the better."
But still the partisan is a faithful witness.
***
There is an old story of a Civil War chaplain, who one day happens upon a wounded soldier on the battlefield. The chaplain asks him if he'd like to hear a few verses from the Bible. "No," says the wounded man, "but I am thirsty. I'd rather have some water." The chaplain gives him a drink, then repeats his question.
"No, Sir," says the wounded man, "not now -- but could you put something under my head?" The chaplain does so, and again repeats his question.
"No, thank you," says the soldier. "I'm cold. Could you cover me up?" The chaplain takes off his greatcoat and wraps the soldier in it. Afraid now to ask, he does not repeat his question. He makes to go away, but the soldier calls him back. "Look, Chaplain, if there's anything in that book of yours that makes a person do for another what you've done for me, then I want to hear it."
Acts 3:12-19
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48
Roman Catholic
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48
Episcopal
Acts 4:5-12
1 John 1:1--2:2
Luke 24:36b-48
Theme For The Day
The risen Christ calls us to be witnesses.
First Lesson
Acts 3:12-19
Peter Calls The People To Repentance
After healing the lame man at the beautiful gate, Peter is surrounded by a curious crowd. At Solomon's Portico he addresses them in his second major speech, crediting God with the healing. He berates the people for rejecting Jesus and choosing a murderer in his place, then bears witness to how he has himself seen the risen Christ. Of the man who has just been healed, Peter says: "... by faith in [Jesus'] name, his name itself has made this man strong ..." (v. 16a). Acknowledging that the people acted in ignorance, Peter calls them to repentance (vv. 18-19).
New Testament Lesson
1 John 3:1-7
Children Of God
John celebrates that those who follow Christ and "do right" are considered children of God. Once again, there is an allusion to the prologue of the Gospel of John: "The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him" (v. 1). The author takes confidence in the future promise of seeing Christ as he is: "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is" (v. 2). He confirms that sin is incompatible with Christian discipleship, and that Christian disciples necessarily display a righteous way of life (vv. 4-7).
The Gospel
Luke 24:36b-48
Proof Of The Resurrection And A Call To Bear Witness
In this, the concluding story of Luke's Gospel before Jesus' ascension, Jesus suddenly stands among the disciples, says "Peace be with you," and shows them his hands and his side. This is to reassure their fears, assuring them that it is him they are looking at, and not a ghost (vv. 36-40). Luke observes that "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" -- a psychologically realistic portrait of human faith (v. 41). Jesus eats a piece of boiled fish -- further evidence of his corporeal existence (vv. 42-43). Jesus confirms that the prophecies of old are fulfilled, and "opens their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45) -- an action similar to what he has just done for the disciples he met on the road to Emmaus (vv. 27, 32). The gospel is to be preached "to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" -- explicitly including the Gentiles (v. 47). "You are witnesses of these things," he says to them (v. 48). Luke then sets his readers up for the account of Pentecost that will follow in the second volume of his work, relating how Jesus charges the disciples to "stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (v. 49).
Preaching Possibilities
"The Third Sunday Of Easter." It seems the epitome of anti-climax -- like being elected second vice-president, or winning the bronze medal, or sitting in the bleachers way up high at a baseball game. Two weeks ago, our churches were filled, and the spirit among the people was electrifying. Now, it's back to business as usual.
And what is our business? It's a fair question. Luke gives us the answer: "You are witnesses of these things" (24:48). Witnesses. Martyres, in the Greek. "You are martyrs of these things."
"Martyrs," as we've come to understand that word, are true believers who sacrifice their lives for the faith -- but our English word "martyr" is really no more than a direct transliteration of this Greek word for "witness." The early church believed that the martyrs -- those who were killed in the arena, or thrown to the lions, or turned into human torches for the diabolical Emperor Nero's amusement -- were witnesses to Christ. Their courage in going to their deaths told the world that what they had heard and seen was quite unlike the proclamation of any other religion.
In a law court, a witness is someone who has seen something important, something the court needs to know. Often we speak of "eyewitnesses" -- those who were right there at the scene of the crime, who can tell the jury firsthand what really happened. Yet Christians are not called to be eyewitnesses when it comes to the good news of resurrection -- how could we? We weren't there! What Christian believers do proclaim about the resurrection of Christ, we proclaim on faith.
The kind of witness Christ needs of us is a witness of another sort. Christ needs us to be "character witnesses." If defense attorneys are angling to undermine the prosecutor's argument, they are likely to call one or more character witnesses -- people who know the defendant, who are willing to vouch for that person, to observe how unlikely it is that their esteemed friend or colleague would ever commit a crime.
That's the kind of witnesses you and I are called to be for Christ: character witnesses. We can't tell firsthand stories about the resurrection -- other than the timeworn, smooth-as-a-piece-of-beach-glass stories that have been passed on across the generations. But we can witness to a personal Christ, a living Lord whom we know, one who has touched our lives and made a difference.
There are times when witnessing will be difficult. The world will try, from time to time, to assail our Christian faith. It will seek to declare that God is not on our side at all: that life is "nasty, brutish, and short," in the words of the grim, seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and that there is no life beyond this one. The world will endeavor to convince us, from time to time, that Jesus did not rise from the dead, that there is no power in this world beyond the orderly forces of nature -- gravity and muscle, magnetism and electricity, and the orderly decay of atoms that fuels the nuclear power plants. The world will try its hardest to win us over to the view that the rush of joy that "strangely warms" our hearts -- in Wesley's famous phrase -- is not the work of the Holy Spirit, but a mere projection of our inner, most cherished fantasies.
Our Lord calls us to be his character witnesses -- "martyrs" in the most ancient sense -- to speak not so much of proofs, or evidence, but rather of the Lord we personally know, and the difference he has made to us. It is not the mind that Christian witness touches, so much as it is the heart.
Prayer For The Day
Lord Jesus, long ago you came among your disciples: you spoke to them, touched them, reassured them. We praise you and thank you that you still come among us today, amidst the gathered fellowship of your worshiping people. As we depart this place, may we fulfill for others the role you filled for those first disciples. May we be for our neighbors the voices of good news they hear, the helping hands they touch, the embrace of love they feel -- for your sake, always for your sake. Make us your witnesses, we pray. Amen.
To Illustrate
When I was a student at Princeton Theological Seminary in the early 1980s, several of us were planning for a special event called the Easter Vigil -- a many hours long extravaganza of worship and the arts, that took place literally all over campus. We were planning an outdoor sequence in which a hidden student, playing the role of God, was to speak out in a booming voice to various other students, who were playing Old Testament prophets. We were short on microphones, and so it made perfect sense for somebody to ask, of the male student reading the part of the Almighty, "What about God? Does he need amplification?"
The question is a good one. Does God need amplification?
***
The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.
-- T. S. Eliot
***
The personal character of Christian witness is captured in a little parable told by the English philosopher Basil Mitchell.... One night in wartime, in an occupied country, a member of the resistance meets a stranger, who deeply impresses him. The two men talk into the wee hours of the morning -- of life and death, of the struggle for justice, of the things that need to happen to make their country great again. Finally, the stranger admits to the partisan that he himself is on the side of the resistance -- and not only that, that he is its commander. He urges the underground fighter to have faith in him no matter what happens. The partisan is utterly convinced at that meeting of the stranger's sincerity and constancy, and decides that he will trust him.
The two men never have a conversation again. But from time to time, the partisan glimpses the stranger from afar. Sometimes he sees him helping members of the resistance -- then he is grateful, saying to his friends, "He is on our side."
Sometimes the partisan sees the stranger in the uniform of the police, handing over patriots to the occupying power. On such occasions, his friends complain that he is no good: but the partisan still affirms, "He is on our side." The partisan still believes that, in spite of all appearances, the stranger did not deceive him.
Sometimes he sends word to the stranger for help, and receives it. Then he is thankful. Sometimes he asks for aid, and does not receive it. Then he observes, "The stranger knows best." Sometimes his friends demand in exasperation, "Well, what would he have to do for you to admit that you're wrong, that he's not on our side after all?"
Always the partisan refuses to answer. He will not put the stranger to the test. And sometimes his friends complain, "Well, if that's what you mean by his being on our side, the sooner he goes over to the other side the better."
But still the partisan is a faithful witness.
***
There is an old story of a Civil War chaplain, who one day happens upon a wounded soldier on the battlefield. The chaplain asks him if he'd like to hear a few verses from the Bible. "No," says the wounded man, "but I am thirsty. I'd rather have some water." The chaplain gives him a drink, then repeats his question.
"No, Sir," says the wounded man, "not now -- but could you put something under my head?" The chaplain does so, and again repeats his question.
"No, thank you," says the soldier. "I'm cold. Could you cover me up?" The chaplain takes off his greatcoat and wraps the soldier in it. Afraid now to ask, he does not repeat his question. He makes to go away, but the soldier calls him back. "Look, Chaplain, if there's anything in that book of yours that makes a person do for another what you've done for me, then I want to hear it."
