Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, May 26th

At this point, we are deep into the Easter season.  This is the final Sunday before The Ascension and two Sundays away from Pentecost, the final day of the Easter season.  What does Jesus have left to say or to do?  What else do we need to know?

We also hear the story of Paul's entry into Macedonia, a province of Greece, and the revelation of the New Jerusalem descending to Earth at the end of the age.

In the italicized text below, I have included my initial thoughts and reactions to these readings.  I invite you to use the comment section below to share your thoughts, reactions, and questions.


Acts 16:9 - 15

 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

 11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.  13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.  14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.  15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

- The vision Paul receives comes to him after several attempts to take his ministry into the interior of modern-day Turkey were thwarted by the Holy Spirit.

- Legend holds that Lydia became a leader in the Church at Philippi.

- This would be the beginnings of the community that received Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Psalm 67

 1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

 2 that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

 6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

 7 May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

- “The light of God’s face (shining) upon us” is an image of the Lord’s blessing and favor.

Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5

 10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

 22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.  25 Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there.  26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

- The verses we skip over give a detailed description of the city as it is established on Earth.

- At this point in the vision, there is no need to shut the gates because the Lord has destroyed the anti-Christ and all of his allies.  Anything else that exists at this time is welcome within the city walls.

- I believe that “abomination or falsehood” is not a reference to sinful acts such as adultery and lying but rather a reference to purposeful acts of worship toward things or individuals other than the Triune God.  I will double-check this later to be sure that I am reading this properly.

- The water of life, here depicted as flowing from the throne of God, can be found all around us.  We do not need “special” water from a sacred location.  The presence of the Lord within the water is what makes water the “water of life.”

- The absence of darkness is another way of stating that there is an absence of evil and other entities or forces that oppose the Triune God.  Unfortunately, this contrast of light and darkness has been used to justify racism (i.e. light = white skin, darkness = dark skin), and speaking exclusively within the light/darkness metaphor can be harmful to those who have been harmed by others using this justification.

John 14:23 - 29

 23 Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

 25 "I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.  29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. 

- How do we read, “Those who love me will keep my word…”?  Is this a command to keep all of the Law?  Is this a reference to a smaller subset of the Law?  A reference to his teachings over the previous months and years?  Or is this focused solely on these final instructions in John 13 – 17?

- “Advocate,” if I recall correctly, was a term used in the judicial system.  Formally, it was a reference to a defense attorney.  Informally, it was a reference to anyone who worked or testified in support of the defendant.

- People of “the world” usually give in ways that provide significant benefit the giver.  Jesus’ gift of ‘shalom,’ or wholeness, is for our benefit and not Jesus’ benefit.

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, May 19th

My apologies, everyone.  As we got closer to Holy Week, my schedule got more and more hectic, and I dropped my practice of sharing my first read of the revised common lectionary passages for the upcoming Sunday worship service.  I'm going to try to re-establish this practice over the next few weeks.

This week, we are re-visiting two stories we heard during Holy Week.  In one case, we are re-reading a passage from the evening of Maundy Thursday.  In another case, we are reading Peter's summary of that happened when he met Cornelius, to whom he addressed the speech we read on Easter Sunday.  We also read the image of heaven, the "New Jerusalem," being established on Earth at the end of the age.

There are many directions we can take from the starting points of these readings.  What do you see within these readings?  What seems to be the most important message?  What questions are you left with?  Which portions do you not recognize?  Let's continue the conversation in the comments below!


Acts 11:1 - 18

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.  2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him,  3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"  4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me.  6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.  7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.'  8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'  9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'  10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.  11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were.  12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.  13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.'  15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.  16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'  17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"  18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

- Acts 11 is Peter’s retelling of the Peter and Cornelius story (Acts 10) to a group of Jewish Christians who were upset that Peter had met with and baptized non-Jews.  Peter’s defense is simple: God told me to do it.  By the end of the story, the Jewish Christians who confronted Peter celebrate that the Lord is acting among the Gentiles.

- Who would be the “uncircumcised men” in our context?  What individuals or groups would cause shock and offense within the congregation if I met with them instead of approved individuals or groups?

- Does the quote about baptism by water and baptism by the Holy Spirit appear in Acts 10?

Psalm 148

 1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

 6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

 8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

 9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!

 10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!

 12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!

 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.

 14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

- Did we leave anyone or anything out of Psalm 148?

Revelation 21:1 - 6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."  6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

- I reference Revelation 21 quite a bit.  I love the image of the New Jerusalem coming down to Earth.  To me, this is an important image because it reverses our typical discussion of heaven.  According to this revelation, heaven is not something that we will find far from creation; heaven is something that will be brought into creation and placed among us.

- The Lord’s promises within this passage are that, at the end, the Lord will live among the Lord’s people and there will be no source of grief, sorrow, or pain within the Kingdom of Heaven.

John 13:31 - 35

 31 When (Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.  32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.  33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'  34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

- John 13:34 – 35 and its focus on the command “love one another” formed the central theme of the 2019 National Day of prayer.

- I just preached on this passage in April as part of our Holy Week services.  How do we hear this passage when it is not connected to our Maundy Thursday service?