Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri
The Worship of God · April 2, 2010
Good Friday
Tenebrae
From as early as the fifth century, Christians have observed Holy Week, and within it, the day of Good Friday. The centuries-old service of Tenebrae, meaning “shadows,” leads worshippers through the drama of the last words of Jesus from the cross. At the conclusion of each word, a candle is extinguished until at the end, the congregation resides in darkness, contemplating the deep love of God and the shadows that Jesus endured. The bell is sounded 33 times to mark each year of Jesus’ life. And at the end of the service, the assembly departs in silence.
Prelude Beverly Kyriakos
“Go to Dark Gethsemane”
“Gethsemane”
Call to Worship Tim Carson
When Lent comes,
you have to put away the tinsel;
you have to take down your Christmas tree,
and stand out in the open… vulnerable.
You either are or you aren’t.
You either believe or you don’t.
You either will or you won’t.
And, O Lord, how we love the stable and the star!
When Lent comes the angels’ voices begin their lamenting,
and we find ourselves in a courtyard
where we must answer
whether we know him or not.
(From Kneeling in Jerusalem by Ann Weems)
Hymn Congregation
“O Sacred Head Now Wounded”
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown;
How pale thou are with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!
The Evening Collect Congregation
Almighty God, behold your family gathered here in the shadow of Christ’s love, a love that compelled him to surrender to betrayal, denial, suffering, and death upon the cross. He now lives with you, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Handbell Anthem Chancel Bells
“Lenten Meditation”
Litany of the Passion Jacob Thorne and Congregation
Christ Jesus, in agony in the garden of Olives,
Troubled by sadness and fear,
Comforted by an angel:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, betrayed by Judas’ kiss,
Abandoned by your apostles,
Delivered into the hands of sinners:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, accused by false witnesses,
Condemned to die on the cross,
Struck by servants, covered with spittle:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, disowned by Peter, your apostle,
Delivered to Pilate and Herod,
Counted among the likes of Barabbas:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, carrying your cross to Calvary,
Consoled by the daughters of Jerusalem,
Helped by Simon of Cyrene:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, stripped of your clothes,
Given vinegar to drink,
Crucified with thieves:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, insulted on the cross,
Praying for your executioners,
Pardoning the good thief:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ Jesus, entrusting your mother to your beloved disciple,
Giving up your spirit into the hands of your Father,
Dying for all of us sinners:
O Lord, have mercy on me.
By your sufferings, Lord, heal the wounds in our hearts.
Let your tears be the source of joy for us, and let your death give us life.
O Lord, have mercy on me.
- Lucien Deiss, 20th-century French Catholic liturgist
Hymn Congregation
“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”
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.
Meditation Tim Carson
In 1914, the explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 mounted an expedition to Antarctica. The adversity they experienced is hard for any of us to imagine. After battling its way for six weeks through a thousand miles of pack ice, the ship, Endurance, became locked inside an island of ice (Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage: Alfred Lansing, Carroll & Graf; 1959). For ten months, they floated helplessly, living off their supplies and hunted seal, until finally the ice began to crush the ship. At that moment, as the boat began to break up, and as the crew off-loaded all supplies and all lifeboats to survive on the ice, the strangest thing happened, something recorded in the journals of the crewmen:
“Late in the evening, the men on deck saw a band of about ten emperor penguins. They waddled slowly up toward the ship, and then stopped a short distance away. Emperors, singly or in pairs, were a common sight, but nobody had ever seen so large a group before. The penguins stood for a moment watching the tortured ship, then raised their heads in unison, and uttered a series of weird, mournful, dirge-like cries. It was all the more eerie because none of the men – not even the Antarctic veterans among them – had ever before heard penguins voice anything except the most elemental, croaking sounds.”
The sailors stopped what they were doing, turned to one another and said, “Do you hear that? Will none of us get back to our homes alive?”
“On Good Friday, the ice finally crushes the ship, and we, like sailors fleeing for our lives, watch it all from a safe distance. What we hear, though, are the mournful cries of the penguins, howling at the sight of it: Is there any sorrow like my sorrow?”
“They have gathered in our place, this choir that sings their psalm of lament. What else is there for us to do as we watch her go down?”
“This is the time of waiting in our helplessness. It is beyond our control. Forces far beyond our own have made it impossible to go back home. We have now entered a reality that will not let us turn back.”
Let us enter in to the keeping of the Seven Last Words.
The Seven Words from the Cross
Matthew 27:46
At about three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
“Ah, Holy Jesus” Chancel Bells
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That mortal judgment hath on thee descended?
By foes derided, by the world rejected,
O most afflicted!
Luke 23:34
And then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
“Forgive Them” from The Seven Last Words of Christ Michael Straw
Father, Father, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father, Father, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:43
He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
“Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” Instrumental Trio
Patrice Vale, harp; Margaret Straw, violin; Matthew Straw, cello
Alas! And did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head for sinners such as I!
John 19:26-27
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.
“What Wondrous Love Is This” Congregation
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
John 19:28
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”
“Were You There?” Anna Bridgman
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes is causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
John 19:30
When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” Congregation
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Luke 23:46
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.
“Behold, the Best, the Greatest Gift” Chancel Choir
Behold, the best, the greatest gift of everlasting love.
Behold the pledge of peace below and perfect bliss above.
The Savior died and rose again triumphant from the grave.
And pleads our cause at God’s right hand forevermore to save.
Prayer of Blessing Tim Carson
And now, O God, in the shadows we gather. You have led us to this place; you have shown us his love; you have shown us ourselves. So, lead us forth. Fill us with hope, even in the darkness, for you are our God of hope. We pray in the name of the Christ, who offered up his 33 years willingly as a servant. Amen.
The Tolling of the Bell – (33 tolls, one for each of the years of Jesus’ life)
The Silent Recessional
Go in peace.
The shadows lengthen now, but Easter radiance soon appears?
Lyrics of quoted music used by permission. CCLI#1674707.
