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'Dying to Life' (Lent, a journey to Easter & beyond)
Good Friday 18th
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 22
Hebrews 10:16-25
or Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
As we explore the readings and look at the cross and consider the crucifixion, we remember the many people who were linked to Jesus during his arrest, trial and abuse in Jerusalem. We recall those who followed him as he carried the cross to Golgotha outside the city walls. We recall the people who stayed alongside, with him.
We become aware of the brutality of the event and all the human failings which led to it and which exposes it.
We bring to mind our own failings, the dark side of our own lives and the ways in which we continue to be participants in crucifixion.
Jesus asked 'Who do people say that I am?'
We ask. Who is this Jesus? How do we deal with him? Who are you Lord?
We express our deepest sorrow. And it is in the silence that we hear the other speak. It is in the silence that we listen for the Word of God.
As we look towards Easter we are filled with hope. We are encouraged, that somehow, through the tragedy of Good Friday, we can move through a time of anonymity and nothingness when God seems absent, to a time and place in which new beginnings can arise.
At the cross, God meets us, and we find that not only are we forgiven, but that our lives can be transformed by an all inclusive love.
A day once again, for letting the power of the story speak. You could explore the 'Stations of the Cross' or create a service around the characters [ Pilate, the Chief Priests, the disciples, the women, the Roman Soldiers] or the symbols of the story [the bowl & towel, the chalice, the whip, the crown of thorns, the cross]. The spiritual 'Were you there' can be re-written very effectively to fit with the scriptures. A balance of scripture, reflection, music and silence works well. One year as everyone arrived, they were given a LARGE nail to hold. During the service each person that spoke went to the cross and nailed in their nail [in silence] before we moved on, and at the end of the service everyone walked to the cross in silence, placed their nail at the base, and left - in silence.
On that occasion the last person to speak represented a modern day Christian....
Was I there? That's a rather odd question to ask someone who is living 20 centuries later, isn't it?
Well, I've got some questions of my own. Tell me, why did it have to happen? Why did God let Jesus die like that? Why did anyone want to put him to death? I'll never understand it. And yet, I wonder.... Would it have been any different today? We're still pretty good at putting goodness and love to death.
Look at all the good we know, but cannot do. We know that peace is better than war, yet we wage war in spite of ourselves. We know that the starving two-thirds of the world could be fed, but we hang on grimly to our standard of living. We know that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount could revolutionize human life, but we reject both him and his teaching.
Was I there? Yes, I guess you'd have to say I was there, along with Peter, and Judas and the rest of them. Things aren't really so different today than on the first grim Good Friday, except for one thing; we know about Easter Sunday. And the cross for us means not just death and evil, but victory as well.
An Affirmation of Faith for Good Friday....
We believe in God.
When there was nothing but an ocean of tears,
God sighed over the waters
and dreamed a small dream:
light in the darkness
a small planet in space.
We believe in Jesus Christ.
When hate and fear were raging,
when love was beaten down,
when hope was nailed and left to die,
Christ entered into our deep secret places
and went down into our death to find us.
We believe in the Holy Spirit
who weeps with us in our despair,
who breathes on prison doors,
never admitting it's hopeless,
always expecting the bars to bend and sway
and break forth into blossom.
Dorothy McRae-McMahon - 'Echoes of our Journey'
Prayer for today....
CRUCIFIED:
because he would not go along with the crowd, would not compromise on what he knew to be wrong.
Lord, we pray for your mercy [people response]
CRUCIFIED:
because he was sick, with pain too much to bear, and found it hard to speak for himself.
Lord....
CRUCIFIED:
because she is alone in a world that says, 'there's something wrong with you'.
Lord....
CRUCIFIED:
because they have broken the accepted standards and the world says, 'you are not like us'.
Lord....
CRUCIFIED:
because she conceived a child, but is single: equally terrified by abortion and by parenthood.
Lord....
CRUCIFIED:
because he can't forget an action bitterly regretted, cannot set the past right nor relieve the guilt.
Lord....
CRUCIFIED:
by unjust social systems, by government policy, by social standards, by everyday attitudes.
Lord Jesus, it seems too much,
until we remember that you were crucified for us all,
that on the cross you took all the burdens,
and lifted the load of shame.
In your love, death and defeat were turned into victory. Amen.
Music....
Once again, we have our traditional favourites, but it is worth considering some of the newer choices.
- Be still my soul - WOV 48
- He came singing love - WOV
- My song is love unknown - WOV 257
- Nothing is lost on the breath of God - FFS 50
- O Christ who by a cross - AA 105
- O come and mourn with me awhile - WOV 267
- O love that will not let me go - WOV 528
- O sacred head sore wounded - WOV 255
- We wait for you - AA 149
- What have we done to you? FFS 70
- Who will carry the cross with me? FFS 79
- Why has God forsaken me? - The Mystery Telling 10