Category Archives: Lectionary and sermon

Second Sunday of Easter

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Acts 4:32-35
• Psalm
  • Psalm 133
• Second reading
  • 1 John 1:1-2:2
• Gospel
  • John 20:19-31

Gospel reading from John
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Sermon
In his sermon this week Pastor Stevenson mentions three ideas for intrepreting the gospel reading. One is to simply treat this reading from John as the well-known bible story about the doubts of Jesus’ disciple Thomas. A second is concede that we, like Thomas, would like proof, and a third is to go beyond and study the contemporary struggles over this matter. These struggles include those over writings that claim that Christianity consists of superstitions carried over from the stone age. They say that it disagrees with science and and has led to the low church attendance we see. Atheists have tapped into these claims. In his book, Meyer writes that we need some proof. But Jesus said to Thomas “Do not doubt but believe”. John does not say that Thomas actually felt Jesus’ wounds. We assume he did not. It does say that Thomas answered with “My Lord and my God.” Jesus had appeared only to a few people, his disciples. Demonstration was not needed. It is what the Reformation is about. We look for comfort and assurance instead of proof. We believe. We enjoy the workings of faith in our God.

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EASTER SUNDAY

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Gospel Reading from John

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).

Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Sermon

In our gospel reading from John, Mary Magdelene brought two disciples to Jesus’ tomb. The other disciples were likely attending to preparations for a funeral. Their hopes were crushed. And they were confused. But the scriptures taught the meaning of the week’s events. The words “death” and “rise again” appear in the scriptures, our Old Testament. Thomas has yet to probe with his finger. They will soon know however. What does it mean? The cross by itself only meant death. And resurrection was deemed a fantasy. But God defeats death and the devil. On the cross he saw conquest. In a sermon, Martin Luther spoke of death and Calvary as being united with Him through crucifixion and then resurrection. The apostle Paul wrote of being unified. A minister in New York City published an article, just before being diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer. When asked, he says that he only half believes in the resurrection. Pastor Stevenson tells us this week that he was distressed over this. It is a problem in our culture. But we should not be concerned. Does God say his promises are unshakable? If united in death, then we too are united in resurrection. We must trust Him.

Palm Sunday

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Liturgy of the Palms (March 28, 2021)

• Psalm
  • Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
• Gospel
  • Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16

Liturgy of the Passion (March 28, 2021)

• First reading
  • Isaiah 50:4-9a
• Psalm
  • Psalm 31:9-16
• Second reading
  • Philippians 2:5-11
• Gospel
  • Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, (40-47)

Gospel reading from John
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of t hose at the table with him.Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)

Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Sermon
Today Pastor Stevenson poses the question “What did Palm Sunday mean to Jesus?” There is a clue in Zachariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, Daughter pf Jerusalem. See, your kIng comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This verse is referred to in both Matthew and Luke. Jesus was familiar with these prophesies of God. Jesus sent two of his disciples to “fetch a colt,” and He rides this colt into Jerusalem. One other time in the history of the Bible a colt was ridden by a new personage. This was KIng David when he had grown old and needed to decide on his successor. One wife Bathsheba reminded him that he had promised to have their son Solomon be the one. David then had a mule gotten for Solomon to ride. So Jesus knew what it meant. He rode the colt into Jerusalem so that all would know who he is. We can only speculate His true meaning. But the key is that God is in control. The gospel by Mark is telling us that Jesus understood this. We recognise that Jesus Christ has come.

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Fifth Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Jeremiah 31:31-34
• Psalm
  • Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16
• Second reading
  • Hebrews 5:5-10
• Gospel
  • John 12:20-33

Gospel reading from John
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say–‘ Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Sermon
We are at week 5 on the Lenten calendar. During Lent the lectionary looks back and looks ahead. Our Gospel reading this week fits both, and also fits Palm Sunday. It has a prologue, in which the last few days of Jesus’ ministry are recorded, and an epilogue, in which are told what He means by his words in verses 23-27. In verses 20-21, some Greeks come with a request. They are non-Jews, who Pastor Stevenson tells us, can represent the rest of the world. God loves all. They make a request “We wish to see Jesus.” In verse 33 Jesus’ concluding answer is “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself,” meaning the coming Resurrection and the drawing of all people to God’s KIngdom. Some Greeks asked to see Jesus, but did they understand His answer? People are drawn to His Kingdom when they hear God’s Word that have been put down in the Bible. We are encouraged to read, listen and study the Word to gain this understanding.

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Fourth Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Numbers 21:4-9
• Psalm
  • Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22G
• Second reading
  • Ephesians 2:1-10
• Gospel
  • John 3:14-21

First reading from Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”

Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Gospel reading from John
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Sermon
Gregory the Great said “The more we read the Bible the richer it gets.” And the more and more we find it inexhaustible. Pastor Stephenson thinks our Gospel reading today a rich one. It captures the essentials of our faith. The verse John 3:16 is found everywhere. But we need to read it carefully. By “lifted up” John means the resurrection after the crucifixion. John 3:16 is read every year on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. In Numbers 21:9 we read how people who had been bitten by a snake when lifted up to see a bronze snake put on a pole would live. John used this to explain Jesus’ words in John 3:16. This is the most taught biblical passage. Luther called it the Bible in Miniature. We see it on bumper stickers and business cards. “He gave His only Son.” He acts on His decisions. Humanity needed to be saved. Further on, in John 3:19 we read “this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” When taken together, the two verses say that God sent his Son to heal humanity. God tells us that things went wrong. The church is called to go forth and proclaim. It awakens us. Humanity is drawn to darkness. Like the people in Numbers, all humanity is lifted up. It applies now, this moment, the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

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Third Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Exodus 20:1-17
• Psalm
  • Psalm 19
• Second reading
  • 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
• Gospel
  • John 2:13-22

The first reading from Exodus 20:1-17
Then God spoke all these words

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work–you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Second reading from 1 Corinthians
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Gospel reading from John
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then said to him “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Sermon
Our first reading from Exodus this Sunday, consisting of the Ten Commandments, is the Law handed down through Moses to his people. The second reading from 1 Corinthians speaks of the wisdom of God. The gospel reading from John is tells the story of Jesus’ protesting the Jews’ use of a temple of God. The CDC, a government agency, has issued guidelines as to whose work is essential, and these include the clergy. But 43 states did not include clergy as essential workers. In New York City, Orthodox Jews were opposed to vaccinations against measles. Over vaccinations would it not be better to talk with rabbis than to bash them? In ancient times slavery was accepted. Freed slaves aquired slaves themselves. Our values in our church have changed. God determines them. In our reading of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we are told that the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided to save those who believe. Here at St John, Pastor Stevenson feels he does not have much of a forum from which to speak or write, but feels empowered to do so. People thought the world to be flat, but scholars in Greece knew it was a globe and Columbus knew it was a globe. We can push back and help others to push back to hear the wisdom of God.

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Second Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

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• First reading
  • Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
• Psalm
  • Psalm 22:23-31
• Second reading
  • Romans 4:13-25
• Gospel
  • Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9

First Gospel reading from Mark 8:31-38
Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?

Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Sermon
Pastor Stevensen told us about some trouble he had last week in a robotics course he teaches at USNH, first with his own robot, than with that of a student who asked for help. Pastor felt that it was expected of him to help this student. People make promises. In the Bible, God promised Abraham that Abraham’s descendents would populate their own land, even though he and his wife Sarah were very old. How could that happen? What does that mean? Paul’s reflection on that promise is perhaps better understood. In Romans 4 Paul writes that “against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations.” How do we be accessible to these promises? How do we be free? According to Luther, trust Him and live a spiritual life. Did Pastor’s stident trust him to call? Like the student, we can trust God’s promises. He keeps them. He makes it happen. From Abraham on, the history culminates in God’s Son. In Isaiah 55, Isaiah, in speaking for God, reflects on God’s Word and promises. Now in Lent, the church relives Christ’s path to Jerusalem and the cross. What sustains the church are His promises. We are sure and certain. We can trust.

*Note: This Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ project took nearly ten years to complete. When it was done, it chronicled the entire life of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament in a series of 350 watercolors. To research the project Tissot traveled to Egypt, Syria, and Palestine in 1886–87, and again in 1890.

First Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Genesis 9:8-17
• Psalm
  • Psalm 25:1-10
• Second reading
  • 1 Peter 3:18-22
• Gospel
  • Mark 1:9-15

The Gospel Reading from Mark
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Sermon
Pastor Stevenson looks for relationships to connect the readings in the lectionary each Sunday. The Bible is a long story. Mark in a succinct way makes a connection. There is another. The key is in the readings in 1 Peter and Mark. In Genesis, God saves Noah from the flood. The question then arises: When things have since gone wrong, why did He not again just crush everything and make a fresh start? Is it that God establishes His Creation, promises to save it, and to do that, works from the inside out. In Mark, God is working against the world. Succinctly, Jesus is baptized by John, tempted by Satan, proclaimed the Messiah and rejected by the Hebrews. God has sustained His Creation, promised to keep the world going, entered Himself into it as His own Son, and continued to a climax in the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Luther wrote that we do not know why things are, just how things are. God is at work in the world and continues in the form of the Holy Spirit to keep our faith at the beginning of this Lenten season.

*Note: Ivan Kramskoi was a Russian artist who focused on portraying the complex humanity of his subjects. The poet and cultural critic, Rainer Maria Rilke, was profoundly affected upon seeing Kramskoi’s painting of Christ in the Wilderness. “The painting portrayed a lonely Jesus sitting on a stone in a desert, lost in melancholy meditation.[from: Rilke’s Russia: A Cultural Encounter, Anna A. Tavis. Northwestern University Press, 1997. p. 77.

Transfiguration Sunday

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • 2 Kings 2:1-12
• Psalm
  • Psalm 50:1-6
• Second reading
  • 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
• Gospel
  • Mark 9:2-9

The gospel reading from Mark:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Sermon
Pastor Stevensen and the chancel are clothed in white this Transfiguration Sunday. This Sunday comes just before Lent, which has six.. Lent is the journey along which we walk to experience the final journey of Jesus. Below the mountain on which Jesus and three of his disciples stand is darkness, the “valley of the shadow of death” in which Jesus is accused and betrayed and suffers and dies. This Sunday we are shown a glimpse of what comes after that.. Isaiah wrote of those who “walk in the darkness.” This applies to His disciples and to Jesus himself. Transfiguration Sunday illuminates us so that we can continue into the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus’ clothes have become as white as heaven itself. Before Lent the church challenges us to confront mortality. The beginning of the gospel of John is then about John the Baptist who came to witness the light, the true light. We see a glimpse of Easter and sing the words of a hymn, “Thine is the glory, risen con-qu’ring Son. Endless is the vic-t’ry Thou o’er death has won.”

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Isaiah 40:21-31
• Psalm
  • Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
• Second reading
  • 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
• Gospel
  • Mark 1:29-39

The gospel reading from Mark
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”

And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.