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Good Friday prayer

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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 into your heart.
Give us eyes to see your love
this day.

On this day
you would gather everyone
to your side,
Grace of Calvary,
but we leave you
to carry the cross alone.
You came simply as love incarnate,
but hate and bitterness
were the gifts we offered to you.
You poured out your love
so our emptiness might be filled.
Give us ears to her your pain
this day.

On this day,
you would pray for us,
for we cannot find the words
on our own,
Shattered Spirit.
Hear the cries of those in need.
Listen to the lament of the lonely.
Cradle the whispered hopes of children.
Set free the dreams of prisoners and captives.
Give us hearts to pray with you
this day.

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
and who teaches us to pray, saying,
Our Father . . .

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

holy week confession

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Call to Reconciliation
Confident of the hope received by the death of Christ, we bring our hearts –
broken, stained with sin, filled with failings – to the One who sprinkles
them with grace, cleansing them with the waters of life.

Unison Prayer of Confession
Like little children who can wander off in a crowded store, we have lost our
way, God of the grim day. We betray you when we do not befriend the poor; we
deny you when we are afraid to speak up for the voiceless; we turn our backs
on you when we do not do good for others; we crucify you when we harm our
family and friends.

At the foot of the cross, we stand with all who have forgotten you and
forsaken the way which you offer to us. Forgive us, Lamb of God, and fill us
with the mercy, the hope, the grace you poured out for us, as you gave your
life for the sins of the world.

Extended silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
L:  Christ has lifted our suffering onto his shoulders, carrying all our
hurts and rejections into God’s heart. There, God casts them away into the
sea of forgetfulness, so we may be restored to hope and live as new people.
P:  Fed with grace, carried in God’s arms, we know that we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

Good Friday–the 1 hour 24 hour story

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A complete Good Friday service, remembering Jesus’ last 24 hours (in a one hour service)

 

(Note: Some believe the Passion Story in Mark’s Gospel was written to serve
as an Easter Vigil, telling the story as early Christians ‘re-lived’ the
last 24 hours of Jesus’ life as they prepared to celebrate our Lord’s
Resurrection. Today’s service ‘reduces’ those 24 hours into one, as we
remember the final hours of our Lord’s life.)

The people gather in silence

Call to Worship
L:  Into the shadows of chaos
P:  the Light of the world steps;
L:  from the silence of death
P:  the Word of God breaks free;
L:  for the emptiness of our souls,
P:  the Bread of the world is broken.

First Three Hours (6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Thursday)

Eating with Friends – Mark 14:17-25

Response
L:  it was at table
that the story began:
a people longing
for freedom;
P:  a meal to prepare them
for the journey
into the wilderness;

L:  it was at a table
that the story was re-told:
a teacher and students
wondering what
the coming hours
would bring;
P:  a meal to prepare them
for the journey
into death;

L:  it is at the Lord’s Table
that the story is remembered:
by people struggling
to be faithful;
P:  a meal to prepare us
for the journey
into resurrection.

Second Three Hours (9:00 p.m. – midnight Thursday)

Running Away – Mark 14:26-50

Response
L:  we convince ourselves
that we would not
act as Jesus’ friends do in this story,
but lest we forget:
P:  we are the ones
who slip quietly away
when asked to stand
beside the poor and oppressed;

L:  lest we forget:
P:  we are the deniers
of Jesus
when we turn our backs
on those whom
our world does not recognize;

L:  lest we forget:
P:  we are the greedy
who cling to our possessions
we never use
when they could bless others;

L:  lest we forget:
P:  we are the comfortable
who can sleep
through the cries
of hungry children;

L:  lest we forget:
P:  let us remember
who we are
and who we can become.

Third Three Hours (midnight – 3:00 a.m. Friday)

The Troublemaker – Mark 14:53-65

Unison Prayer

rock star,
politician,
pro athlete:
of all the people
you could have been,
you chose to become
a servant –
for us.

Power,
wealth,
divinity:
of all the privileges
you might have grasped,
you chose to take hold
of a cross –
for us.

Paris,
Cancun,
Los Angeles;
of all the roads
you might have taken,
you chose the one
running through Jerusalem –
for us.

Of all the people
you might have died for –
you did.
Amen.

Fourth Three Hours (3:00 – 6:00 a.m. Friday)

“I do not know him” – Mark 14:66-72

Reflection

Fifth Three Hours (6:00 – 9:00 a.m. Friday)

Trial – Mark 15:1-24

Response
L:  no one asked him . . .
not the chief priest
P:  or his bought judges
though
fear would
have deafened them;

L:  not the governor,
P:  balancing
political options
on
his
decision;

L:  not the mob:
P:  pockets full of nightmares,
stomachs full of poverty,
voices brimming with bile
no goodness or mercy
flowing over
their cupped hands;

L:  no one asked him
(but don’t you think)
Jesus himself
would have said
(maybe he whispered
it to himself . . .)
P:  give them Barabbas!

Sixth Three Hours (9:00 a.m. – noon Friday)

Crucified! – Mark 15:15-32

Response
L:  Ridiculed by his enemies,
outcast of his kin,
deserted by his friends,
God-forsaken:
P:  the Morning Star of Creation
hangs
covered with the grit
of the sins of the world.

L:  Nailed to the cross,
the Carpenter of Calvary
P:  repairs our brokenness
so we might be
restored to God’s kingdom.

Seventh Three Hours (12 noon – 3:00 p.m.)
Mark 15:33

Silence is observed for 4 minutes

Eighth Three Hours (3:00 – 6:00 p.m.)

From the Cross to the Tomb – Mark 15:34-47

Response
L:  feet that danced
through the streets
of Jerusalem
welcoming the Messiah
P:  now softly pad
the back alleys
in search of shadows;

L:  hearts that leapt
with joy at the sight
of David’s true son
P:  are thrown out
with Golgotha’s
garbage;

L:  hands that wrapped
a new born son
in bright bands of cloth
P:  now shroud
his broken body
and lay him
gently,
tenderly,
softly
in death’s manger.

L:  where glad hosannas
rang out
P:  there is now only the silent,
weeping heart of God.

The Service is Concluded.
Please depart in silence.

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

brokenness made whole–Maundy Thursday communion

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When the hour had come, Creator of the heavens and earth,
you lifted up the cup of creation,
pouring it into the emptiness of chaos.
Rivers played tag through the valleys,
stars spangled the blue-black night,
joy danced in the fields of grace.
Given that fountain flowing with living water,
we drank from betrayal’s bitter cup;
offered the feast of faith,
we sat down at sin’s groaning table.
You asked the prophets to remind us of promises made,
but we continued to embrace the pangs of hopelessness.
Then, because we are your own, you sent Jesus
to glorify you by saving us from ourselves.

Therefore, with those whose feet are covered with sin,
and those who hearts are gripped by fear,
we join the choirs of every time and place,
forever singing your praises:

P:        Holy, holy, holy, God of towels and basins.
We join heaven and earth in praising your name.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who became a servant for us.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, God of Redemption,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Servant, our Savior.
When the hour had come, he got up from grace’s side,
took off his glory, tied humanity around his heart
to cleanse us of our sins.
In the midst of his friends, in the congregation of his enemies,
he kept the promised made to you, to love us to the very end.
our friend, he welcomed all;
our teacher, he modeled the life of obedience and faith;
our Lord, he endured the snares of death,
that we might have life with you.

Every time we eat the bread, our brokenness is made whole;
every time we drink from the cup, we receive unceasing grace;
every time we come to the Table,
we remember that mystery called faith:

P:        In remembrance, we mourn Christ’s death;
in remembrance, we look to the Day of Resurrection;
in remembrance, we await his return to us.

Now that the hour is come,
send your Spirit upon the gifts
of the bread and the cup.
As you cradle the bread in your gentleness,
break it, give it to us, feed us with your compassion
that we might be made whole
and, in our healing,
become servants to a shattered world.
As you take the cup,
mingle its juices with your tears of hope,
so we might carry this gift
to all who have lost every thing.

and when there are no more hours to come,
when there is only eternal peace and life with you,
we will gather in that upper room called your heart,
serving our families and friends with grace,
receiving forgiveness from our enemies,
singing your joy, forever and ever,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

Maundy Thursday confession

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Call to Reconciliation
How is it people will recognize us as followers of Jesus? Simply by how we
treat one another. Let us confess how we have not loved as Christ loves us.

Unison Prayer of Confession
Creator and Loving God, you kneel to wash our feet, yet we are reluctant
for you to see all the places we have gone in our attempts to escape you.
You would bathe us in the warm, living waters of your love, and though we
splash and play in the puddles of temptation.  We have received all the
gifts you have to offer, yet we are tempted to think they are only for us,
rather than sharing them.

Forgive us, Holy One, and have mercy on us.  What can we give you for all
your wonderful graciousness towards us?  As you have broken your heart for
us, may we open ours in service to others.  As you have given your life for
us, may we offer ours to bring healing to the world.  As you have called us
together around your Table, may we go forth to feed a world hungry, not only
for food, but for that Spirit which brings peace and reconciliation.  This
we pray as servants of Jesus Christ, who came to serve us in life, in death,
in resurrection hope.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
L:  On this holiest of nights, we have received the good news:  God has come
in Christ Jesus, to fill us with hope and peace, to bathe us in grace and
mercy.
P:    In remembrance, we go forth:
to bring hope where despair resides;
to be servants to those who are broken;
to love as selflessly as we are loved by Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior.        Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.