This six-week sermon series, following the Revised Common Lectionary for Year A, invites us to reflect on the promises that Jesus gave his disciples as he prepared for his death, resurrection, and ascension. We are still the recipients of these promises. This series is intended to comfort, encourage, and fortify your congregation to be Christ’s disciples today.
Week 1: “The Promise of Presence“
Scripture: John 20:19-31
For those who follow the Revised Common Lectionary, the Sunday after Easter is always “Doubting Thomas Sunday.” But by focusing on Thomas and his doubt, we often miss the bigger miracle of the story, which is Jesus’ presence with even this straggling disciple. In a different gospel, Jesus promises his disciples to be with them always, even to the end of the age. John shows Jesus keeping this promise, as he comes to be with his disciples even in a house of fear and doubt.
Week 2: “The Promise of a Companion”
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
In this unique story from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus joins his disciples in the guise of a stranger on the road to Emmaus. For the majority of their conversation, he provides explanation, consolation, and encouragement, even though they do not recognize him. We may also not recognize Jesus in our daily lives, but he is our companion nonetheless. Encourage your congregation to consider when Jesus may have walked with them, even though they did not know it at the time.
Week 3: “The Promise of a Guardian”
Scripture: John 10:1-10
This scripture throws us back before Jesus’ death and resurrection, into the midst of his deepening conflict with the Pharisees. While the people around him are trying to decide whether he is demonic or divine, Jesus names himself as both a gatekeeper and a gate. In each metaphor, he is a protector of the sheep who fall under his care. Importantly, as a gatekeeper, Jesus leads the sheep out to the world; as a gate, he opens both in and out so that the sheep can go find pasture. Jesus is not a prison guard, keeping Christians from the world. He is a guardian, caring for them within it.
Week 4: “The Promise of a Way Home”
Scripture: John 14:1-14
This week’s scripture takes us to Jesus’ Final Discourse, his rich and lengthy final sermon, given not to crowds but directly to his dearest friends, his disciples. He begins by describing his “Father’s house,” a place big enough for everyone to belong. He then claims that the disciples know the way home. Thomas, in his honesty, exclaims that they don’t know the way, leading Jesus to offer his most famous I AM statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The good news of this passage is that there is no way through the Christian life–no rules to follow, no experiences to seek out, no accomplishments to pursue–that is apart from Jesus himself. The same Jesus who has promised to be with us, to guide us and care for us, is also our only way home.
Week 5: “The Promise of an Advocate”
Scripture: John 14:15-21
This week’s scripture picks up right where the last one left off. Jesus is still preparing his disciples for life without his physical presence. In this scripture, Jesus promises the disciples an Advocate, who is the Holy Spirit, to keep them connected to him and to the Father, and to empower them to keep Jesus’ commandments. Although Jesus is not with us now in a physical sense, we are not left alone to muddle through as best we can, but are always accompanied by the Spirit.
Week 6: “The Promise of Power”
Scripture: Luke 24:44-53
Ascension Sunday is not often a congregational favorite. Yet this story of Jesus’ ascension was so important to the author of the Gospel of Luke that he included it both as the capstone of his gospel and the prologue of Acts. In it, Jesus makes one last promise to his disciples–that they will be “clothed with power from on high.” That promise will come true at Pentecost. Many of our congregations are sure that they need more of something to be the church they dream they could be–more money, more members, more space, more staff, more influence, more volunteers. But Jesus promises us heaven’s own power–and what could be more valuable than that? As the series draws to a close, encourage your congregation to remember when they, individually or as a church, have been able to work with God’s power and not their own.
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