Sixth Sunday of Easter - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter season

Today’s Readings

We are headed into the final stretch of the Easter season. Next week is Ascension, then Pentecost which closes out the season and transitions us back into Ordinary Time.

The readings of Easter have taken us on a progression:
2nd Sunday Acts – they devoted themselves to community, “doubting” Thomas resurrection story
3rd Sunday Peter preaching, Emmauas road (reinterpreting the tradition)
4th Sunday more Peter preaching, community grows, Jesus the Good Shepherd who takes care of his flock
5th Sunday continued growth, dispute between factions, beginning of Jesus’ farewell discourse
6th Sunday outward growth (Judea, Samaria), promise of the coming of the Spirit

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Acts 1:8 lays out the program for this book: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses 1. in Jerusalem, and 2. in all Judea and Samaria, 3. and to the ends of the earth.
Chps 2-7 mission in Jerusalem 2:14-8:3
Chp 8-9 Judea and Samaria 8:4-9:45
The rest of the book 10:1ff Gentile mission

The lectionary skips over the martyrdom of Stephen. Chapter 8 opens with a reference to a guy named Saul “consenting” to Stephen’s execution. We’ll hear more about this character in coming weeks.

Verse 1 references a severe persecution that scatters the Christians “except for the apostles.” This allows speculation that it was only the Hellenist group that was expelled. It’s obvious from later stories in Acts that the Jewish Christians continued to worship in the Temple. It was most likely the non-Jewish converts who began to openly question the necessity of the Temple and they were likely the ones who denounced Temple worship. Samaria was a prime candidate for their preaching since the Samaritans, too, rejected the Jerusalem Temple as a necessary center of worship.

Verse 5 brings back Philip from chapter 6; he was one of the seven chosen to serve the Hellenist widows. As in previous accounts, we see these men chosen to “serve at table” (remember, the apostles did not want to neglect preaching to do something as demeaning as waiting on tables) but equally preaching the word. This is a good reminder that we are all called to proclaim the good news, regardless of our function within the church. Preaching is a task that stems from our baptism.

Verse 8 says there was great joy in the city. Joy always accompanies God’s work – not a superficial happiness but a deep rooted sense of well-being that stems from communion with God and others.

Verses 9-13 interestingly don’t make it into the lectionary. They concern a man named Simon who hears the preaching and believes but then he wants to buy the Holy Spirit to use for his own ends. He misunderstands what this is all about. The situation gave us the word “simony” – the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges such as pardons or benefices.

Verse 17 has the apostles laying their hands and conferring the Holy Spirit. Up until this point in the narrative, baptism has conferred the Spirit. Here, it’s important to Luke to emphasize the continuity of authority. So he brings the most important apostles on to the scene to confer authority to the Judean/Samaritan mission. Paul will get this same type of confirmation in Acts 15 with the Council of Jerusalem. There is a theological shift in understanding: the coming of the Spirit is no longer the result of baptism but rather communion with the apostles.

How does the Spirit show up in your life today? What power does the Spirit bring?

Who has proclaimed to you the good news in word and deed?

1 Peter 3:15-18

Read the background and overview of this book in the Second Sunday of Easter.

Verse 15 says that we are to always be ready to give a reason for our hope. “Explanation” in this verse is the Greek word apologia, apo=from, logos=intelligent: reasoning or words, a well-thought out response. Christian apologetics in today’s intensely polarized settings are generally defensive and/or combative. But “defending the faith” need not be either; in fact it should not be either. There’s an old saying “you get more flies with honey than vinegar.” Sharing the good news as a relationship with a God who loves us is is far more likely to impact others than teaching the rules and regulations and punishments.

Peter advises us to be ever ready to reply should anyone ask you the reason for your hope. In what words or images would you express your hope? Think of one person you could share this with and challenge yourself to do so.

As the Easter season has progressed, we’ve seen more and more emphasis on the Spirit – moving from the resurrection to life in the Spirit without Jesus’ physical presence. I think it’s significant that this passage puts suffering in the context of the resurrection – we can overcome suffering because Christ has overcome the ultimate suffering.

John 14:15-21

Throughout Easter the Gospel reading comes primarily from the book of John. The passage today begins the lengthy “farewell discourse” spanning chapters 14 through 17. It was common for a patriarch in ancient times to issue a farewell address prior to his death. In it, he would give instructions to his people and also appoint his successor(s). Moses did this in Deuteronomy 31-33.

John’s gospel is loaded with stories that function on multiple levels at once. In the original narrative, Jesus is talking about leaving them to experience death and returning through the resurrection. But John is also talking about Jesus’ ascension – leaving them that way and returning to them through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It’s always worth remembering that John’s gospel is never linear. Even when the author is telling a story, the narrative is functioning on many levels and coming back to the same themes over and over. Each time it hits the same theme from a different point of view.

Throughout this farewell discourse and throughout the Easter season, we’re reminded again and again that the departure of Jesus does not mean he is now absent; rather, it means an ever-renewed presence through the coming of the Spirit to the community. That is our Easter hope and message.

Verse 15 tells us that obedience is linked with love. Obedience is not the requirement of love, it’s the consequence of it. We don’t obey to get God’s love; we obey because God loves us.

Verse 16 talks about the Advocate, the Greek word paraklete – someone called to one’s aid. It’s a word used only in John and 1 John as a reference to the Spirit. It usually carried legal overtones and is also translated counselor, helper, and comforter.

The Advocate is also called the Spirit of Truth in verse 17, which says “It remains/abides with you, and will be in you.” “Remains with you” is present tense that expresses a continuing action and is better translated “is abiding with you.” “Will be in you” is future tense. So we can confidently say that the Spirit is always here with us and always will be here with us.

Verse 18 expands on the legal connotations of the term paraklete. An orphan was someone who had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. If an orphan needed something from the system, they would absolutely have to depend on a helper to work the system for them. Isaiah 1:17 says
“Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.”
An orphan could not legally speak for themselves – they had to have a legal advocate to speak up for their rights. This advocate is going to plead the cause of the orphan, so in the legal sense, they won’t be orphans. An orphan is also someone bereft of a father. And last week there was this whole discussion about the unity of the Father and the Son. So they won’t be orphans in that sense as well – they have the Father through the Son and the paraklete.

That verse also says “I will come to you.” Most scholars interpret this as the resurrection; others see it as the life-giving presence of the risen Christ through the Spirit for all generations of believers. The interpretations can easily stand together: he has come to us through the resurrection and he will come to us again. It’s that multi-layered Advent thing: he is coming, he will come, he is here all the time (don’t I always say the liturgical season blend in and out of each other?!)

Verse 21 creates a bookend, reminding us of the interconnectedness of love and obedience. This time we can read it from another vantage point: we can love and obey with the help of the Spirit.

Reflect on the relationship of love and obedience in your own journey. Have you ever obeyed without love? Or loved without obeying? When have you obeyed out of love for God? What light does this shed on your relationship with Christ?

How has the Spirit been an Advocate/Counselor/Helper/Comforter for you?

Questions to ponder