GOOD FRIDAY
April 6, 2007
We Enter in Silence
Prelude “Meditation on Songs of the Cross” by R. Hughes
Greeting
We gather again on this Good Friday at the foot of the cross which calls us on, not in shame or fear, but ever more deeply into the costly journey towards life. There is wounding and there is weeping. In Jesus Christ, God is not separated from that.
Responsive Opening
ONE: In the shadow of our suffering
ALL: is the suffering of Jesus.
ONE: In the shadow of our weakness
ALL: is the vulnerability of the Christ.
ONE: In the shadow of our pain
ALL: is the God who cried out.
ONE: We are never rejected,
ALL: we are never left alone.
Our Verses of Chant
“Beneath The Cross of Jesus” 2x
Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand: the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land, a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.
The Betrayals
Reader One: John 18:1—11
God in Christ, you travel with us towards the most wounded places in our souls. You know the agony of pain, guilt, and hurt deep within us as we face the fact that we have betrayed others or been betrayed ourselves.
Reader Two:
Betrayals lie like stones of death within us, weighing down our lives with guilt or pain. We place these stones of betrayal and lay them at the foot of your cross, Jesus Christ.
(The people take stones to represent their betrayal)
Audio Chant: “Stay with Me” Taizé Community
Reader Three: John 18:12—19:37
Reader Two:
… (silent reflection) … We place these fatal stumbling blocks to love, those which lie in our own lives and in the life of our world, at the foot of your cross, Jesus Christ.
(The people place their stones in a basket at the foot of the cross.)
The Committal
ONE: There is no part of life which Jesus has not visited. There is no death untasted by the Christ.
ALL: Thank you, Jesus.
ONE: In faith, we may leave here all that is deathly in our lives, believing that it will be absorbed into the Body of Christ which waits with arms stretched wide to gather in all our reality for healing, forgiveness, and renewal.
ALL: Thank you, Jesus.
(silence)
The Cherishing
(Two people lift the cross from its stand, and hold it flat like pall-bearers.)
Reader Four shares the Third Lesson: John 19:38
(Two people lay out the shroud in the middle of the church.)
Reader Five shares the fourth Lesson: John 19:39—42
Audio Chant: “Stay with Me” Taizé Community
Reader Six:
We remember the death of our innocent selves. We remember the death of innocent, fragile things in the world around us. We remember a God who holds our deaths close in the person of Jesus Christ for all eternity, no matter what that may cost. Let us cherish this Body, as did the first disciples. Let us reverently touch the place in which our pain now lies and cover it with fragrant flowers and herbs.
(The people place petals and herbs from the bowl over the stones, the cross, and around it. When that is finished two people gently gather the edges of the shroud to cover the cross.)
Reader Six:
It is time to leave this place. Jesus said “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” In faith, we also commend ourselves into the hands of a loving God. After we receive the blessing, let us sing and then quietly leave this place together.
Sending forth
Go in peace, embraced in the love of Christ.
Walk deeply into your own lives, with all their frailties.
Discover, as you do that in spirit and in truth, you are walking towards the joy of Easter Day.
If you wish to leave a Good Friday Offering, please use the plates at either entrance of the Sanctuary.
