The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s texts are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger-related threads – sermon starters – among the themes of this day’s texts. (We're presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!

During the Easter season the lessons all revolve around the Resurrection and new life! The texts celebrate the new and just things God is doing on behalf of all that God cherishes, in the creative order as well as in human society. Sometimes we place the highest emphasis on what Easter means in terms of our own eternal destinies as believers. Yet it’s also important, since we’re still living, to consider what Easter means for this earthly life and those with whom we live it in the present age.

Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 (5)

This passage from 1 Peter has long been significant to Lutherans. In Martin Luther’s disagreement with the Catholic church he adamantly maintained that all the people of God served a priestly function. Each of us has a role to play in living into the reality of God’s kingdom. We, as a royal priesthood, are drawn together and empowered by God’s grace. As such, we are a “chosen race,” a “holy nation,” and “God’s own people.” This is all language of group identity. As has been asked many times in these sermon starters, how will we as a group be identified? What values will we be known for? If we were known as a people who care for those who are poorest and most vulnerable we would certainly reflect well upon the God who has called us to be a “chosen race.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus performed miraculous works in order that people might believe in him and his message. (In contrast, in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus is able to act on account of people’s trust in him.) In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises that his followers (empowered by the Holy Spirit) will also do the works that he has done and “in fact, will do greater works” (14:12). Jesus brought healing and life to people. As people who confess faith and are accompanied by the Holy Spirit, may we find courage to live into this high calling. In so doing, our light will shine for all to see the goodness of God.

This week’s lesson from 1 Peter makes a rather straightforward point: it is better to suffer for doing good things than for doing wrong. We can apply that same logic to the church’s response to the great social problems facing the world. The church can be known for many things, why not for bringing life and hope to a hurting world. As this week’s Gospel tells us, we have been given a helper, one who will empower us to be God’s hands and feet.