Good Friday: A Sermon by Deacon Terry

Here’s an obituary that appeared in the Jerusalem Post in the year 33.
“Jesus Christ, 33, of Nazareth, died Friday on Mount Calvary, also known
as Golgotha, ‘the place of the skull.’ Betrayed by the apostle Judas and
crucified by the order of ruler Pontius Pilate. The causes of death were
asphyxiation, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and blood loss.
“Jesus Christ, is a descendant of Abraham, a member of the house of
David. He was the son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and
Mary, his devoted mother. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, Judea,
and survived by his mother, Mary, faithful Apostles, numerous disciples,
and many followers.
“Jesus was self-educated and spent most of his adult life working as a
teacher. Jesus occasionally worked as a medical doctor and healed many
patients. Until his death, he shared the Good News by healing the sick,
touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor.
Instead of flowers, the family has requested that everyone live as Jesus
did, donating to anyone in need.
Thinking on the crucifix – the cross that we usually see in Catholic
Churches, the one of which shows Jesus nailed to.
They focus on the suffering Jesus.
In our Episcopal Churches, our cross is empty – we focus on the risen
Christ.
One is not right or wrong, just different focuses.
Today, on this Good Friday, I’d like to focus on the Crucifix Cross, where
Jesus hangs, suffering, dying for the sins of the whole world.

One of our songs today speaks so perfectly about the Cross, I wanted to
make it come alive for us, not just singing a sad song, but helping us to
reflect on the powerful words of the song.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Yes I was – and it was terrible

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Yes – I said I was, and it was terrible

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
I should have done something

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
I told you – yes I was there

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
Yes – I saw it, I saw the soldiers put nails through his hands and feet

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
Yes – I said I was – I saw the nails go into his body

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
I didn’t say a word

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
Yes – I saw it – it was awful

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Yes – I watched them bring him to the cave

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
I watched them place his beaten body so gently in that tomb

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
I couldn’t do anything – I was so sorrowful
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Yes – I was
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Yes – I was and he wasn’t there!
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
I was speechless
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
I was – and I don’t know what to do
I don’t want to depress or make us feel guilty or unworthy, but this day, of
all days, I think it important to really give deep discernment on what this
day represents.
It is a day of darkness, a day of sorrow, a day for us to step back from the
noise of this world, reflect, think, pray and listen for God.
What is he saying to us while he hangs on this Cross?
On this “Good Friday”, these thoughts go through my mind, on this day, I
reflect on how I fall short and bear responsibility for my actions or my non
actions, praying to God for forgiveness.

Jesus with his head hung on his chest;
a crown of thorns on his head;

a prick of blood on his forehead from the crown;
arms extended and held on the cross with nails;
His feet on top of each other, secured by a nail.
What could I have done that was so bad that Jesus had to die for me, us?
What did I, we do?
What did He do to cause his crucifixion?
Some can’t bring themselves to the Good Friday service, as the betrayal,
denial, violence, bloodshed, and death coming together in church to hear of
all this is too much for them.
Some, don’t want to face the Cross – knowing that Jesus is on it out of love
for us. We understand it, but we don’t.
We don’t know love the way God the Father does.
But we do know that after the events of Good Friday, ‘the light of the world’
is coming on Sunday.
We must wait through the torture of this Good Friday – the long walk to
Golgotha, the nailing of hands and feet, and the final breath.
We must wait.
On this Good Friday, in a few moments we will pray as a community using
our prayer book with the words Saints throughout the centuries have
prayed, asking God to hear us.
I feel compelled to speak to God, communicating our urgent cares and to
offer ourselves to him.
Because, we were there.

On this day, God of all tears,
you call us in the midst of our busy lives to look at the suffering and death
of the One who came to carry the pain of the world.
Give us eyes to see your love this day.
On this day, we pray you would gather everyone to your side,
As we leave you to carry the cross alone.
You came simply as love, but hate and bitterness
are the gifts we offered to you.
You poured out your love so our emptiness might be filled.
Give us ears to hear your pain this day.
On this day, we ask you would pray for us,
for we cannot find the words in our own, shattered spirit.
Hear the cries of those in need.
Listen to the cries of the lonely.
Hear the whispered hopes of children.
Set free the dreams of prisoners and captives.
God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our prayers to you in the name of the One
who suffered and died for us this day.

AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, we stand
God of love,
at the foot of the cross we confess our violence, our desire to make others
suffer.
Forgive us.
We confess our fear, our illusion of our unworthiness, our anxiety to justify
ourselves rather than to love.
Forgive us.
We confess our self-centeredness:
that other people become means to our ends instead of people, that are
sacred and beloved.
We hurt and judge,
Forgive us.
At the foot of the cross – we stand
In our darkest violence you forgive us.
In our deepest shame you give yourself to us.
may we accept your forgiveness,
so that we may be transformed by your love.
We pray for those whom we have hurt,
and bless those who have hurt us.
At the foot of the cross – we stand
We seek only to trust, only to love,
only to heal and to be healed.
At the foot of the cross – we stand
may we die to our self-centeredness.

Take our old, lives and give us new ones, lives of grace,
lives of love, mercy and tenderness.
At the foot of the cross – we stand
O gentle God, this day, this Good Friday,
May, we die with Christ, so that on Sunday you may raise us up in love,
new, refreshed, cleansed.
May our prayers be a symbol of our shame, and an effort of repentance.
May our shortcomings be raised to a new life.
And Thank you God – Sunday is on the way. AMEN