Good Friday Tenebrae Liturgy 2018

Good Friday Tenebrae

March 30, 2018

Prelude:

Psalm

    

Save me, O God, 

   for the waters have come up to my neck. 

I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; 

   I have come into deep waters, 

   and the flood sweeps over me. 

I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. 

   My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.  

More in number than the hairs of my head 

   are those who hate me without cause; 

many are those who would destroy me, 

   my enemies who accuse me falsely. 

What I did not steal must I now restore? 

It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, 

  that shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my kindred, 

  an alien to my mother's children. 

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; 

  the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, 

  they insulted me for doing so.  

When I made sackcloth my clothing, 

  I became a byword to them.  

I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, 

  and the drunkards make songs about me. 

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. 

At an acceptable time, O God, 

   in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. 

With your faithful help rescue me from sinking in the mire; 

   let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.  

Do not let the flood sweep over me, 

   or the deep swallow me up, 

   or the Pit close its mouth over me. 

Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; 

   according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 

For the LORD hears the needy, 

   and does not despise his own that are in bonds. 

Let heaven and earth praise him, 

   the seas and everything that moves in them. 

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; 

   and his servants shall live there and possess it; 

   the children of his servants shall inherit it, 

   and those who love his name shall live in it.      From Psalm 69

Anthem, 

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.  Isaiah 53:7

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.

*Hymn: “Lamb of God”

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

Hebrew Scriptures and Gospel Reading

Narrator

The soldiers

Pilate

The Jews, chief priests, police

Jesus

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. 

Isaiah 53:3-6

Hymn: #93, “Ah, Holy Jesus”

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters.  It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.  So Pilate went out to them and said, 

‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ 

They answered, 

‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ 

Pilate said to them, 

‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ 

The Jews replied, 

‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ 

(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)  Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, 

‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ 

Jesus answered, 

‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ 

Pilate replied, 

‘I am not a Jew, am I?  Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.  What have you done?’ 

Jesus answered, 

‘My kingdom is not from this world.  If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ 

Pilate asked him, 

‘So you are a king?’ 

Jesus answered, 

‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ 

Pilate asked him, 

‘What is truth?’

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, 

‘I find no case against him.  But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover.  Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ 

They shouted in reply, 

‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ 

Now Barabbas was a bandit.       John 18:28-40

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.   

Isaiah 53:7-8a

Hymn: #92, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe.  They kept coming up to him, saying, 

‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ 

and striking him on the face.  Pilate went out again and said to them, 

‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.’ 

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  Pilate said to them, 

‘Here is the man!’ 

When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, 

‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ 

Pilate said to them, 

‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ 

The Jews answered him, 

‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’

Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.  He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, 

‘Where are you from?’ 

But Jesus gave him no answer.  Pilate therefore said to him, 

‘Do you refuse to speak to me?  Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ 

Jesus answered him, 

‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ 

From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, 

‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor.  Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.’

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.  Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon.  He said to the Jews, 

‘Here is your King!’ 

They cried out, 

‘Away with him!  Away with him!  Crucify him!’ 

Pilate asked them, 

‘Shall I crucify your King?’ 

The chief priests answered, 

‘We have no king but the emperor.’ 

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.     John 19:1-16

Hymn: #168, “Lord, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”     Psalm 22

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

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. 

Isaiah 53:10-11

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.  There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.  Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.  It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’  Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.  Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, 

‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews.” ’ 

Pilate answered, 

‘What I have written I have written.’ 

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier.  They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.  So they said to one another, 

‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ 

This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

‘They divided my clothes among themselves,

   and for my clothing they cast lots.’ 

And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, 

‘Woman, here is your son.’ 

Then he said to the disciple, 

‘Here is your mother.’ 

And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.  After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 

‘I am thirsty.’ 

A jar full of sour wine was standing there.  So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.  When Jesus had received the wine, he said, 

‘It is finished.’ 

Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.     John 19:16b-30

*Hymn: #102, “Were You There?”    

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

See, my servant shall… 

be exalted and lifted up.   

Isaiah 52:13

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.

Isaiah 53:12

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity.  So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.  Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.        John 19:31-32

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. 

Isaiah 53:8b-9

*Hymn: #101, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

We extinguish candles during the hymn.

Solemn Reproaches of the Cross

O my people, 

O my church, 

What have I done to you, 

or in what have I offended you?

O my people:

I breathed my life into you

and gave you power and wisdom.

I placed you secure in a magnificent garden,

and woke you to its surpassing beauty.

Yet we prefer to remain asleep

in our wishful thinking

and content with easy answers.

We cherish our comfortable routines,

and, placating others,

remain unconscious and silent

to the needs of the world.

Doing nothing while injustice reigns is not “peacemaking.”

Where were you when my people were being loaded into boxcars?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people,

I gave you my authority

and made you the agent of my love.

I called you to protect my creation

and look out for the powerless.

But we are addicted to our own anger.

To get what we want

we employ violent words and actions

as our first response.

We advocate vengeance and retribution.

We harden our hearts against others

in a selfish craving 

to acquire, own, and control.

Your “leadership” is murdering my creation.

Who can survive under your bombs and missiles?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I gifted you with my compassion,

gave you gentleness and forgiveness.

I placed you in a perfect world

and opened your heart to wonder and grace

that you may enjoy the beauty and goodness

all around you.

But we dreamed up impossible standards,

withholding love to those who fail to meet them.

We find fault everywhere 

and live in perpetual disappointment and rage.

We judge others

and drive for order, efficiency, 

and a counterfeit perfection.

My creation bleeds from your “reforms.”

Who can tolerate being squeezed into your patterns? 

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I crowned you with immeasurable and intrinsic value

placing a good and blessed heart within you.

I made you able to share in my love

in communion with others

without fear or shame.

But we look for affirmation elsewhere

and sell our souls for attention.

We gleefully trample others in our striving to be the best.

We adopt grandiose expectations for ourselves,

don masks to avoid responsibility,

and exist in terror of being found out.

The people you trample in your drive for “excellence” cry out to me.

Who can endure your grades, assessments, reviews, and evaluations?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I molded you in love 

and made you able to give and receive love

in infinite measure.

I filled your heart with joy.

But we turn your love into a scarce commodity

for exchange and compensation.

We become possessive of others

and connive to force them to need us.

We stew over our own perceived rejections.

You have given “love” a bad name and left many in sorrow.

Who can grow with you attached to them,

sucking out life and weighing them down?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I made you a channel, a vessel,

through which my goodness and blessing

may flow into the world.

I gave you my own creativity.

But we hate ourselves and despair of the future.

We withdraw into our precious individuality,

demanding to be treated as unique and special,

getting in the way of your goodness

and blocking your light.

Your negativity brings nightmares to my people,

poisoning their imagination.

Who can see the truth 

through the dense fog of despair you are blowing?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I created you secure and capable,

in kinship and communion with every living being.

I gave you my courage and authority

to live with integrity and goodness.

But we fail to trust you.

We are suspicious of others

and fearful of the world.

We exaggerate our problems

and blame others for them.

We react in cowardly violence,

creating a world of pain.

Your “security” is dividing my people against each other.

Your paranoia scapegoats the innocent,

inspiring surveillance, informants,

and lynch-mobs like the one that crucified me?

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I breathed into being an abundant creation

overflowing with good things for all.

I gave you more than enough time

and resources to live in joy and plenty.

But we convince ourselves that we do not have enough.

We become addicted to consumption,

demand constant excitement,

and leave a trail of waste behind us,

killing what you made simply to enjoy.

You fill yourselves and leave others hungry.

Who can grow in the economy of gluttony you spawn? 

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

O my people:

I poured into you inventiveness and wonder,

compassion and strength.

I made you real and loved you

beyond reason.

But we hoard goods and knowledge,

hiding our light out of irrational fear,

antagonizing those who get close to us,

and escaping into dark fantasies.

We lose ourselves in superiority and alienation. 

Your absent-minded analysis

leaves my creation depleted.

Who can breathe in the vacuum left by your hoarding? 

When will you turn

and be the blessing I created you to be?

Holy God, 

Holy and mighty, 

Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.  (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe.  His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)  These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’  And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’       John 19:33-37

Reflection, “Blood and Water”

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.  Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.       John 19:38-42

Hymn: “Lamb of God”  (refrain, slower & quieter)

The last candles are extinguished.

All depart in silence.