The work of Jesus did not stop! The mission of Jesus did not stop! Nothing can stop this new life through the Gospel!
During Eastertide, the Church replaces the Old Testament lesson with lessons from the Book of Acts. This is important for the Church as it reflects on the fundamental question left for it to meditate on after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The question of whether or not the mission and work of Jesus is now over because He is no longer here.
The book of Acts reiterates a simple answer to this question as it shows that the same mission, message, and work of Jesus continues through His Church. The evidence of this in Acts is found in the very pattern we have in our reading. Namely, that after preaching Jesus’ message, the apostolic band backs up their words with signs and wonders to the praise and glorification of Jesus. People are then added to the Church, and more are drawn to Jesus’ ministry. This draws the ire of the same High Priest and Sanhedrin who condemned Jesus. They are imprisoned and then miraculously released from this death sentence where an Angel tells them to go and keep on speaking the words “of this life” (verse 20) to all who would listen.
The life referred to by the Angel must have been a double entendre, referring both to the resurrection life of Jesus and the life the Church now has because of the resurrection life of Jesus in them. You see the pattern, right? It follows the same configuration as Jesus’ ministry. First, the message of the Kingdom is proclaimed, signs and wonders verify the truthfulness of the Word, some people are drawn to the Gospel, others reject it, and then there is persecution from the authorities, false imprisonment with death as the conclusion, but there is also a surprise reversal. Instead of death, there is life, and an Angel proclaims the good news and the work continues. The work of Jesus did not stop! The mission of Jesus did not stop! Nothing can stop this new life through the Gospel! What else can we say but Praise the Lord!
In fact, our appointed Psalm for the day, Psalm 148, could easily have been the very song on their lips at each moment of celebration in our reading! Praise the Lord when there were signs and wonders after the Gospel was proclaimed! Praise the Lord when the Church grows by the working of the Holy Spirit through means! Praise the Lord when all were healed by the work of Jesus! Praise the Lord for the release from certain doom and death by the Lord! Praise the Lord when the angelic messenger had Good News for them to preach! Praise the Lord for “this life” they have in the Lord Jesus Christ! Just like Psalm 148 praises God from the heavens and the earth and even those things under the earth, we too sing “Praise the Lord” to the One who has “the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on Earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Which is why we can join with the only Old Testament reading for this Sunday, Psalm 148, and say, “Praise the Lord!”
Praise the Lord for the release from certain doom and death by the Lord!
This is a great Sunday to apply the text to the greater life of the Church. Thankfully, there is a homiletical structure designed just for that called the Text Application Structure:
“This structure organizes the sermon on the basis of two experiences most parishioners have as they open up the Scriptures: A desire to understand what the text is speaking of in its own historical context and a desire to hear how God speaks through this text to shape the lives of His people today. With an eye toward these two experiences, the preacher shapes the sermon with a text-application structure.
The preacher divides the progression of the sermon into two portions. After an introduction that raises interest in the text or in a life situation for which the hearers desire a word from God, the first part of the sermon offers textual exposition for the hearers; the second part of the sermon applies the text to the hearers.
In the first section of the sermon, the preacher spends time with the text. As the preacher develops the text, he is careful to focus on those details which are important for later application of the text to the lives of his hearers. Often, the preacher will be identifying teachings of the faith within his exposition of the text that will later be used in application to the lives of the hearers.
In the second section of the sermon, the preacher examines God’s present work in the lives of the contemporary hearers. In doing this, he could be working with the teaching of the text, the function of the text, or the intention of the writer. Any of these approaches can yield fruitful results in terms of how this text functions among the hearers today. Sometimes, preachers may find it helpful to move sequentially through the four types of discourse in the tapestry of preaching as they move from text to application: Textual Exposition, Theological Confession that names a teaching in the text, Evangelical Proclamation that centers the teaching in Christ for us, and Hearer Interpretation that names our lives in relation to the teaching.
The biggest challenges in this sermon structure are finding an appropriate balance between textual exposition and hearer application (for example, avoiding a sermon that is long on textual study and short on application) and maintaining hearer attention during a prolonged section of textual study or application.”[1]
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Additional Resources:
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Acts 5:12–20 (21–32).
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/textual/text-application/
