Good Friday Liturgy – April 10, 2020

You are invited into a time of silence before the leader begins:

Leader: Blessed be our God.
People: For ever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him–so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals–so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm     22:1-11 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? *and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress? 

2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; *by night as well, but I find no rest. 

3 Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 

4 Our forefathers put their trust in you; *
they trusted, and you delivered them. 

5 They cried out to you and were delivered; *they trusted in you and were not put to shame. 

6 But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by all and despised by the people. 

7 All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying, 

8 “He trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him; *

let him rescue him, if he delights in him.” 

9 Yet you are he who took me out of the womb, *
and kept me safe upon my mother’s breast. 

10 I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born; *you were my God when I was still in my mother’s womb. 

11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, *
and there is none to help. 

Hebrews 10:16-25
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Passion Hymn 

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Matthew 27:11-54

Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

The Solemn Collects
Dear People of God: Our heavenly Father sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved; that all who believe in him might be delivered from the power of sin and death, and become heirs with him of everlasting life. We pray, therefore, for people everywhere according to their needs.

Let us pray for the holy Catholic Church of Christ throughout the world; 

For its unity in witness and service
For all bishops and other ministers and the people whom they serve
For N., our Bishop, and all the people of this  diocese
For all Christians in this community
For those about to be baptized 

That God will confirm his Church in faith, increase it in love, and preserve it in peace.

Silence

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all member of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly server you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them; 

For N., the President of the United States
For the Congress and the Supreme Court
For the Members and Representatives of the United Nations
For all who serve the common good

That by God’s help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord.

Silence

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility your dominion may increase, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Let us pray for all who suffer and are afflicted in body or in mind; 

For the hungry and the homeless, the destitute and the oppressed
For the sick, the wounded, and the crippled
For those in loneliness, fear, and anguish
For those who face temptation, doubt, and despair
For the sorrowful and bereaved
For prisoners and captives, and those in mortal danger

That God in his mercy will comfort and relieve them, and grant them the knowledge of his love, and stir up in us the will and patience to minister to their needs.

Silence

Gracious God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer: Let the cry of those in misery and need come to you, that they may find your mercy present with them in all their afflictions; and give us, we pray, the strength to serve them for the sake of him who suffered for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Let us pray for all who have not received the Gospel of Christ; 

For those who have never heard the word of salvation
For those who have lost their faith
For those hardened by sin or indifference
For the contemptuous and the scornful
For those who are enemies of the cross of Christ and persecutors of his disciples
For those who in the name of Christ have persecuted others

That God will open their hearts to the truth, and lead them to faith and obedience.

Silence

Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us commit ourselves to God, and pray for the grace of a holy life, that, with all who have departed this world and have died in the peace of Christ, and those whose faith is known to God alone, we may be accounted worthy to enter into the fullness of the joy of our Lord, and receive the crown of life in the day of resurrection.

Silence

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred  mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Veneration of the Cross
If, in the place where you are observing this service of prayers there is a cross that can be held in front of the people, please do so at this time as we sing:         

Hymn 172 Were you there

V1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (Repeat)

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there…

V2. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? (Repeat)

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there…

V the last. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? (Repeat)

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there…

Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
People: because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Priest: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.
People: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Leader and people:

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Priest, stands and says

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say,

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Meditation          The Reverend Lois Keen

And God held in his hand a small globe.
Look, he said.
The Son looked.
Far off,
As through water,
he saw a scorched land of fierce colour.
The light burned
There, crusted buildings
cast their shadows;
a bright serpent,
A river uncoiled itself,
radiant with slime
On a bare
Hill a bare tree saddened
The sky. many
People Held out their thin arms
To it, as though waiting
For a vanished April
To return to its crossed
Boughs. The son watched
Them. Let me go there,
he said. (R.S. Thomas)

Good Friday 2020 Sermon Saint Peter’s-Trinity, Thomaston

Long before Jesus was born, the cross was a symbol of piety for the Jews. For years they had been crucified just for being Jews. If you asked one why he was being crucified, he might answer, “Because I read the Torah”. Ask another and you might hear, “Because I circumcised my son”. Another, “Because I celebrated the Passover, the Festival of Unleavened Bread”. 

Our first reading tonight, from the prophet Isaiah is one of the songs of the Suffering Servant, one of many Jewish expectations of what the Messiah would be. It would not have been hard for a Jew to see the suffering servant in Jesus dying on the cross. The first followers of Jesus were Jews.

In Elie Wiesel’s book Night, he remembers an execution in Buna concentration camp. The prisoners were forced to watch as two young men and a boy were hanged. As the prisoners passed by the dead and dying, Wiesel heard a man behind him asking: ‘Where is God now?’ And Weisel heard a voice within himself answer: ‘Where is He? Here He is – He is hanging here on this gallows…”

Kaddish is the Jewish prayer said by those who are in mourning. No one knows how old it is, but its words come from the Torah, and its use may go back at least 2000 years. The word kaddish means holy. Mourners may pray for relief from their grief at another time, but Kaddish is the prayer said by mourners in public. Kaddish is a prayer of praise to God; in the midst of grief God is praised.

Imagine the Jews in Buna concentration camp saying Kaddish after witnessing that execution.

Imagine the followers of Jesus saying Kaddish over the body of their Lord Jesus. Imagine they, who ran away in fear, turning to God with words of praise and blessing. 

Imagine us saying Kaddish for all those who have died violently and senselessly during this season of Lent. 

“Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will…
“May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.”

In our own burial rite we say, “All we go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.”

Yet, though we praise God in death, and though we say we believe Christ has set us free from death and the fear of death, we are still waiting to be set free. We don’t understand why life has to be like this.

This day our Lord hung upon the cross. God has suffered, died, sorrowed and mourns there. But our hope does not die there. The Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that on this night – “There is a great silence on earth because the King of heaven and earth is dead. “Christ rests in the tomb. It is the Sabbath of Our Lord,” but his work is not finished. For just as God will not abandon on the Sabbath any person whose life is at risk, neither can Christ abandon us. “This night he descends to the dead and hell is afraid.” (Saint Euthemius the Great: Holy Saturday sermon)

“He goes to seek the lost sheep. His cross is the weapon with which he strikes down the gates of Hell and death, and becomes the bridge over which the lost cross into life. The first are Adam and Eve. And after them, the most lost sheep of all, Judas. A thief has been granted Paradise.” Theodore the Studied (759-826)

As Christ takes them by the hand, and raises them up, he cries out to all who dwell in Hell, and not only those who have died but those who live but feel they are dead or in Hell. Christ says to them and us:

 “ ‘Awake, sleepers, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Out of love for you, I, your God, became a human being, and came to earth. For your sake, I died today upon earth. You once reached out to take fruit from a tree, and to save you, I have been nailed to a tree. You were driven out of Paradise, and I have come to lead you to heaven. I did not create you to be held prisoner for ever.’ ”

 “Rise up! let us leave this place – for I have died with you, and you shall rise with me. The Kingdom of Heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.” (Saint Euthemius the Great: Holy Saturday sermon)

“Of old we were poisoned by a tree;
now we have found immortality through a tree.
Of old we were led astray by a tree;
now we have repelled the treacherous snake by means of a tree.
Indeed what an unheard-of exchange!
We are given life instead of death.”
Theodore the Studied (759-826)

If Christ did this for those who had died before him, how much more so did he already set you and me free, 2000 years before we were born?

You have already been raised up. So when we leave this place tonight, do so as a people set free, a people given new life, free from anxiety, free from fear, free from all that imprisons you. Christ has died with you, and you already have risen with him. This is the covenant sealed with the blood of Christ.

“The Kingdom of Heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity”.

The service concludes with the following prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Meditative Music – “By the Cross” – Roger C. Wilson

God Bless us all. Please leave a comment below. Your fellow parishioners would benefit with a sense of togetherness.