GATHERING
GREETING *
Leader: Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.
People: That we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
A GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER
O Holy God, the hosannas have died away, the palm branches have turned brittle. Now, today, there is only this – each of us, all of us, sitting in the darkness, the hymns of lament in the air, the mumblings of our own feeble confession, on this Friday which we tremble to call Good.
What is good about Good Friday? What is good about the innocent one nailed to a cross? What is good about the darkness of war that persists today? What is good about our devastation of the planet? … about people living in poverty? … about the fog of addiction, depression, disease, and despair? What is good about the crushing weight of hunger, racism, scapegoating, apathy?
No, there is nothing good and desirable in these things. Yet you, O God, are Good. When suffering reigns, yours is the first heart to break. When despair lurks about, we remember that you were there first, peering into the abyss and crying out, incredibly: “Father, forgive them.”
When we feel forsaken, we remember that in your last moments, you cared for your mother and your beloved disciple, binding them to one another as a new family. When we feel overcome by guilt, we remember that you spoke grace to a thief: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Your love for us is just that boundless, and ever-present, and Good. Thank you. What else can we say here, in the dimness, in the darkness, but thank you.
Amen.
Song: Go to Dark Gethsemane UMH 190
First Reading Read Responsively: Psalm 22 (UMH 752)
Song: Wait for the Lord - Taize Community
READING OF THE PASSION
Mark 15:1-47
Song: Jesus, Remember Me - Taize Community
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of love, we remember today all that our blessed Lord endured for us. Let us remember how Jesus was betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men …
Lord Jesus, we remember today that it was one of Your own familiar friends who betrayed You, and we know that there is nothing that so breaks the heart as the disloyalty of one whom we call friend. Grant that we may not betray You.
Save us:
From the cowardice that would disown You when it is hard to be true to You; From the disloyalty that betrays You in the hour when You need someone to stand by You; From the fickleness that blows hot and cold in its devotion; From the fair-weather friendship that, when things are difficult or dangerous, makes us ashamed to show whose we are and whom we serve.
Let us remember how Jesus suffered death upon the Cross … Lord Jesus, help us to remember the lengths to which Your love was ready to go; That having loved Your own, You loved them to the very end; The love than which none can be greater, The love that lays down its life for its friends; That it was while people were yet enemies that You died for them.
Let us remember how Jesus now lives and reigns … Help us to remember, That the crucified Lord is the Risen Lord; That the cross has become the Crown.
So grant unto us, to trust in His love and to live in His presence; that we may share in His glory. This we ask for Your love’s sake. Amen.
Song: O Lord, Hear My Prayer - Taize Community
INVITATION TO PRAYERFUL REFLECTION
You are invited to remain in the sanctuary or sit at one of the tables in the narthex. At each table there are various art supplies for you to put your hands to work as you reflect on the passion of Christ and mourn the sins that caused his suffering. Stay as long as you feel lead by God.