2025 Sun June 1

June 1 -The Seventh Sunday of Easter:  The Sunday after Ascension Day—John 17:20-26

As Jesus prays for his disciples before his death, his focus is on the unity that he and God share, and his request that we may share this unity, so that the world will come to know God.   The world will know God through the love of God that we, the disciples, share with the world. 

June 8 – Day of Pentecost – John 14:8-17, (25-27)

John 14:8-17, 25-27 is part of Jesus’ final discourse to the disciples before his death, sharing the promise that the disciples will not be left alone—that the Holy Spirit will come and be among them.

Jesus tells the disciples about the Advocate, the Spirit. We do not have to fear, because we know God is present with us, always. The Holy Spirit will be with the disciples, continue to instruct them, and to empower the followers to come.  That’s us, folks!   Troubled hearts, and fear will be taken away by the Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, God will complete the transformation of our world. 

June 15 – Trinity Sunday – John 16:12-15

Jesus promises an Advocate who will lead the disciples into an ever-deeper understanding of all that Jesus has taught them in his time on earth with them.  The Spirit will glorify Jesus, as Jesus did the Father, by revealing Jesus to the world. Through the inspiration of the Spirit, the mission of the disciples will be one with that of Jesus.

In verse 15, Jesus says that everything that belongs to God belongs to Jesus, and Jesus promises that the Spirit will take what belongs to Jesus and declare it to us—in other words, the Spirit will speak of God in new ways to us. God will continue to surprise us, to do the unexpected, and be revealed in new ways.  Here the verbs are in the present tense in understanding the on-going work that God does with us. The Spirit “guides”, “speaks”, “declare”, and “glorifies.”

June 22 – Second Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 7 – Luke 8:26-39

Luke 8:26-39 is the story of the healing of the Gerasene Demoniac. Jesus turns his attention to the Gentiles by crossing the Sea of Galilee into Gentile territory.  There, Jesus meets a man who is possessed by a multitude of demons—so many that they are identified as a legion (the name for a large Roman military unit of 3000 to 6000 men).  Jesus confronts the demons and requires that they reveal their name—thus giving Jesus power over them.  In a strange twist, the demons beg to be cast into a heard of pigs instead of “going back into the abyss” (vs. 31). The demons enter the pigs and run over a steep bank into a lake and are drowned.  Many people were afraid at what Jesus had done and asked him to leave, but the demoniac becomes a disciple, “sitting at the feet of Jesus” conversing with Jesus “in his right mind” and then goes and proclaims Jesus’ message in the city.

June 29 – Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8 – Luke 9:51-62

Today’s reading begins a large section of Luke’s gospel, the great travel narrative (9:51–18:14) telling of Jesus’ journey from Galilee through Samaria towards Jerusalem.  It is the turning point of Luke’s account, where Jesus “resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem” and his destiny there. Luke packs the passage with explicit and symbolic statements about the costs of being Jesus’ disciple, in view of Jesus’ journey toward his death. 

I.Theme –   Forging the glorious unity of God’s people.

 " Christ the Redeemer Statue, Rio de Janeiro" – Paul Landowski, 1931

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Acts 16:16-34
Psalm – Psalm 97 
Epistle – Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21
Gospel – John 17:20-26  

We were in the middle between Ascension, last Thursday and Easter 7 which looks a week ahead to Pentecost. Easter 7 is a Sunday of Christian unity in the face of the disciples in their uncertainty. This is a result of the events of the recent past, the Resurrection and Ascension.

After his resurrection 40+ days ago, Jesus has appeared to three followers on the road to Emmaus, to Peter, and to those gathered in Jerusalem. When they have thought that they were seeing a ghost, he has invited them to touch his wounds and eats in their presence. The community is not sure of the outcome of all this. Will he stay ? They feel terrified both as to their own safety.

Today’s readings give us a sense of comfort. In today’s readings, we catch a glimpse of the glorious unity of God’s people. Paul and Silas show their concern even for their Gentile jailer, who becomes a believer through their example. John, in his Revelation, describes the believers’ urgent longing for final union with Jesus. In the gospel, Jesus prays for us, who have come to faith and unity in him through the testimony of the disciples

On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus interceded for His Church — for His apostles and all who believe in Him through their word — that all of His disciples “may become perfectly one” in the Father and the Son (John 17:21–23). For Jesus became flesh and dwells among us in order to reveal the Father and His name, to share with us the glory of His righteousness, and to bring us to the Father in Himself. As the Father loved the Son from “before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24), so He loves the whole world (John 17:23, 26). Through the apostolic witness to the baptism, cross and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:21–22), the Lord gathers His disciples throughout the world “with one accord,” as one body in Christ (Acts 1:14). And so with one voice and by one Spirit, His Bride prays, “Come!” (Rev. 22:17). And He comes to us. He gives us“the water of life without price” to wash our robes and quench our thirst (Rev. 22:17); and He feeds us from “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit” (Rev. 22:2).

This Sunday, we are reminded that the world-view we hold now is not the same as the ancient Israelites, nor is it the same as the people of Jesus’ day and of the first century, nor will it be the same in the future. We must be prepared for new understandings and insights, new ways of thinking about and understanding God and God’s works in the world

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