Preaching and Worship for the Sundays of Easter (Year C)

In North American culture, Easter is one day. In the church's reckoning of time, it lasts for fifty days! The resurrection of our Lord is so significant that the Revised Common Lectionary and calendar of the Christian year gives nearly one-sixth of the year to pondering and praising God in light of the resurrection life of Jesus Christ among the disciples (the apostolic community) and in the world.

Practical realities
Many congregations are not accustomed to sustained celebration. Many pastors who plan worship and preaching make use of the lectionary during the Advent/Christmas cycle and the Lent/Holy Week/Easter cycle, but are ready to follow a different approach when Easter Sunday has come and gone.

We say this as an acknowledgement of the many ways that pastors approach worship and preaching. In no way do we seek to discourage pastors and churches from staying with full use of the lectionary readings each week during Easter. We will continue to post lectionary-based music, preaching, and worship planning helps throughout the Easter season.

So what are the possibilities and options?
There are several options that come immediately to mind:

1. Forget about Easter and work with themes or sermon series, perhaps preaching through a book of the Bible or some portion of it.
   
2. Keep Easter in view but use your own ingenuity in choosing texts around which to plan worship and preaching.
   
3. Plan for worship and preaching a series making use of some of the "natural" connections and progressions in the Revised Common Lectionary. It is this last option that we want to explore here.

There are several obvious possibilities:

1. Track the Acts readings

   Overall theme: "Snapshots of the Early Church"

   Acts 5:27-32 — "Witnesses of the Resurrection"
   Even when threatened, the disciples could not help but witness that Jesus is raised from death.

   Acts 9:1-6 (7-20) — "A Change in Plans"
   Saul of Tarsus' plans changed drastically after his encounter with the Risen Christ on the Damascus Road.

   Acts 9:36-43 — "Outbreak?"
   There was Jairus's daughter, then the widow of Nain, Lazarus, Jesus, and now Tabitha — how many more will be raised from death?

   Acts 11:1-18 — "Coloring Outside the Lines"
   Imagine Peter's surprise when he learned that the good news was not just for a select group of people.

   Acts 16:9-15 — "Divine Summons"
   How long would it have been before the people of Macedonia heard the good news if Paul had not answered this divine summons?

   Acts 16:16-34 — "Not Without Controversy"
   After an encounter with local business owners who felt threatened by their message, Paul and Silas found themselves in jail. Make no mistake, not everyone will be delighted to hear the good news.

2. Follow the Revelation readings

   Overall Theme: "Peering Into the Future"

   Revelation 1:4-8 — Alpha and Omega"
   Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the one who was and is and is to come.

   Revelation 5:11-14 — "Worthy Is the Lamb"
   John paints a picture of Jesus who is the Lamb of God, but he is not a victim. Instead, he is seated upon a throne in heaven.

   Revelation 7:9-17 — "Gathered From Every Conceivable Place"
   One day, people from every nation, tribe, and language group will worship God together.

   Revelation 21:1-6 — "New Realm"
   New things are on the horizon. God's home will be with us, and when this happens, there will be neither sorrow nor death any more.

   Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 — "New Way of Life"
   In the realm to come, the way we live with one another will change.

   Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 — "Christ Will Come Again"
   We have God's sure promise that Christ will return.

3. Follow the John readings

   Overall Theme: "Empty-tomb Postscript"

   John 20:19-31 — "Stilling the Tempest Within"
   When we are paralyzed by the kind of fear that causes us to shut ourselves in, Jesus comes speaking a word of liberating peace.

   John 21:1-19 — "Finding Christ in the Workplace"
   On the other side of the Resurrection, the disciples learned a valuable lesson. They needed guidance to do even the things they thought they knew best, like fishing. How do we invite Christ into our daily work?

   John 10:22-30 — "Listening to the Right Voices"
   Jesus said that his "sheep" would recognize his voice and refuse to follow others. How do we learn to recognize God's voice?

   John 13:31-35 — "I'm Loving It"
   The disciples were to be known for their obvious love for each other. Can the same be said of us?

   John 14:23-29 — "Assisted Hearing"
   Jesus knew that it would not always be easy for us to hear and understand his words. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to assist us in hearing.

   John 17:20-26 — "Living Together"
   One of the things Jesus prayed about in the Garden of Gethsemane was our unity. Celebrate some of the ways that we model this unity across ecumenical lines and within the local congregation.

You could also plan and preach a series making use of the Psalms appointed for the Sundays in the Great Fifty Days, though these might have less clear connections to Easter.

There is another and less obvious possibility: You could take the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) readings from the Easter Vigil service (Years A, B, C) as the path for worship and preaching during Easter by using them over the weeks leading to the Day of Pentecost. (The Psalm responses or canticles are in italics following the reading.)

Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26 or Psalm 33 (UMH 767)
Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13 Psalm 46 (UMH 780)
Genesis 22:1-18 Psalm 16 (UMH 748)
Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 Exodus 15:1b-13, 17-18 (UMH 135)
Isaiah 55:1-11 Isaiah 12:2-6
Ezekiel 37:1-14 Psalm 143 (UMH 856)
Ezekiel 36:24-28 Psalm 42 (UMH 777)

These texts function as a way of telling "our story" as God's people. Like the Ents in The Lord of the Rings, we take a long time to tell the story! Engaging these stories and scriptures calls the faithful to rehearse "their" history and identity. In classic Christianity the time after Easter was for "unpacking" what had happened at Easter, particularly at the initiation of men, women, and children in baptism, anointing and the laying on of hands, and Eucharist. All of the lectionary readings for the Easter Vigil and those for the Sundays after Easter lend themselves to preaching the mysteries of God's grace at work in the sacraments. We highly recommend a small book, Creative Preaching, as an approach to a kind of "cosmic child's play for real" during the Great Fifty Days.

Since there are only six Sundays after Easter Day and before Pentecost, you will need to decide which of these readings you will not use.

Advantages of using one of these four approaches
You and your planning team (musicians, readers, artists) can

1. Take advantage of the enormous range of resources that are keyed to the Revised Common Lectionary. Since publication of the three-year lectionaries, a huge "library" of resources is now available in print and online.
   
2. Coordinate planning for music, graphics, and so forth well in advance. You can decide what readings you will use now and turn the creative spirits of your folk loose to develop all aspects of the services.
   
3. Link the worship life of your congregation to the wider praise and prayer of the church. One of the amazing and salutary gains in the use of the lectionary has been the "practical ecumenical" experience of the churches — Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists, Roman Catholics, and Presbyterians are reading the same scriptures across the US and around the world! The lectionary-based options proposed in this article keep alive this practical ecumenical and evangelical experience.

RCL Readings after Easter Day (Year C)*

Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 150 (UMH 862)
Revelations 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Psalm 30 (UMH 762)
Revelations 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23 (UMH 754)
Revelations 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

Fifth Sunday of Easter
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148 (UMH 861)
Revelations 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67 (UMH 791)
Revelations 21:10, 22 — 22:5
John 14:23-29

Ascension of Our Lord
These readings may also be used on the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 (UMH 781)
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97 (UMH 816)
Revelations 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17:20-26

The Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (UMH 826)
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17 (25-27)

*This listing of readings comes from The United Methodist Book of Worship and is adapted from The Revised Common Lectionary: Consultation on Common Texts (Abingdon Press, 1992), copyright © by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), PO Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Reprinted with permission of CCT.