[unknown] - Good Friday Service (April 17, 1981)
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| (lively organ music) | 0:30 | |
| - | I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. | 8:17 |
| He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness. | 8:21 | |
| I have forgotten what health and peace | 8:26 | |
| and happiness are. | 8:29 | |
| I do not have much longer to live. | 8:31 | |
| My hope in the Lord is gone. | 8:34 | |
| The thought of my pain, my homelessness is bitter poison. | 8:37 | |
| I think of it constantly | 8:42 | |
| and my spirit is depressed, | 8:44 | |
| yet hope returns | 8:47 | |
| when I remember this one thing, | 8:48 | |
| the Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue. | 8:51 | |
| The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. | 8:57 | |
| He may bring us sorrow | 9:02 | |
| but his love for us is sure and strong. | 9:04 | |
| He takes no pleasure | 9:08 | |
| in causing us grief or pain. | 9:10 | |
| (lively organ music) | 9:19 | |
| - | Most merciful God, | 14:23 |
| we confess that we have sinned against you | 14:25 | |
| in thought, word, and deed, | 14:28 | |
| by what we have done, | 14:32 | |
| and by what we have left undone. | 14:34 | |
| We have not loved you with our whole heart. | 14:37 | |
| We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 14:41 | |
| We are truly sorry | 14:45 | |
| and we humbly repent. | 14:47 | |
| For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, | 14:50 | |
| have mercy on us and forgive us | 14:53 | |
| that we may delight in your will | 14:57 | |
| and walk in your ways | 15:00 | |
| to the glory of your name. | 15:03 | |
| Amen. | 15:06 | |
| - | Hear these words of our living Lord. | 15:09 |
| "For God so loved the world | 15:12 | |
| "that he gave his only son | 15:14 | |
| "that whoever believes in him should not perish | 15:17 | |
| "but have eternal life." | 15:20 | |
| In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 15:23 | |
| (congregation mumbling) | 15:29 | |
| - | There's a story from France | 15:50 |
| which tells of a boy, who day after day, | 15:53 | |
| ran to church during his lunch hour, | 15:56 | |
| tiptoed down the central aisle to a front pew, | 15:59 | |
| bowed toward the altar, knelt down | 16:03 | |
| and for five minutes, gazed at the crucifix. | 16:07 | |
| Then he rose, genuflected again, | 16:11 | |
| tiptoed out and took to his heels back to his work. | 16:14 | |
| One day, the curate, | 16:20 | |
| who had watched this boy's daily devotion | 16:22 | |
| for some time, | 16:24 | |
| stopped him and asked him with interest and administration | 16:25 | |
| just what he was doing. | 16:28 | |
| The answer was simple and profound: | 16:31 | |
| "I look at Jesus, he looks at me, | 16:34 | |
| "then I go back to my work." | 16:38 | |
| That, in plain essence, is what we shall do. | 16:41 | |
| We shall look at Jesus, he will look at us, | 16:44 | |
| then we shall go back to our work, | 16:48 | |
| remembering him, the man of sorrows who's acquainted | 16:50 | |
| with grief, who was wounded for our transgressions, | 16:54 | |
| who died to our benefit. | 16:58 | |
| Remembering him, we shall wait for Easter | 17:00 | |
| when God put his imprimatur on Jesus of Nazareth, | 17:03 | |
| raising him from the dead | 17:09 | |
| and giving him the name that is above every name, | 17:11 | |
| Jesus Christ the Lord. | 17:14 | |
| We shall discover that Jesus, | 17:16 | |
| in talking to us, his friends today, his disciples today, | 17:18 | |
| maybe his enemies today. | 17:23 | |
| It will not always be easy for us to listen to him. | 17:26 | |
| We may be upset, we may want to close our ears. | 17:29 | |
| We may even wish that he had not said | 17:33 | |
| what he is reported to have said. | 17:36 | |
| A spiritual has warned us of what may happen. | 17:38 | |
| "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? | 17:42 | |
| "Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? | 17:45 | |
| "Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? | 17:49 | |
| "Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble." | 17:52 | |
| Yet perhaps the only way we can enter | 17:59 | |
| into the joy of Easter is to have trembled | 18:01 | |
| at the cross on Friday-- | 18:04 | |
| on bad Friday, on Friday which is good | 18:06 | |
| only in the light of Easter morning. | 18:10 | |
| Reading from Luke chapter 23, verses 26, 32 through 34. | 18:16 | |
| "And as they led him away, | 18:21 | |
| "they seized one Simon of Cyrene | 18:23 | |
| "who was coming in from the country | 18:25 | |
| "and laid him on the cross | 18:27 | |
| "to carry it behind Jesus. | 18:29 | |
| "Two others also who were criminals were led away | 18:31 | |
| "to be put to death with him. | 18:34 | |
| "And when they came to the place | 18:36 | |
| "which is called the Skull, there they crucified him | 18:37 | |
| "and the criminals, one on the right | 18:41 | |
| "and one on the left. | 18:42 | |
| "And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, | 18:44 | |
| "'for they know not what they do.'" | 18:47 | |
| Let us look at Jesus. | 18:51 | |
| Let us listen to him | 18:52 | |
| and let him look at us | 18:54 | |
| and let him speak to us | 18:56 | |
| as we gather around the cross. | 18:57 | |
| Some of us very close to it, | 19:00 | |
| some of us at a distance | 19:02 | |
| but all within earshot. | 19:04 | |
| Let us look honestly. | 19:06 | |
| He is not crucified between two candles | 19:09 | |
| on an ecclesiastical altar. | 19:11 | |
| He is being done to death on a stark wooden cross | 19:14 | |
| between two other criminals outside the holy city | 19:17 | |
| at a spot called the Place of the Skull. | 19:21 | |
| Crucifixion is a cruel form of capital punishment, | 19:25 | |
| invented by the Carthaginians and preserved by the Romans | 19:28 | |
| as the extreme punishment for criminals | 19:31 | |
| of the lowest class and for slaves and rebels. | 19:33 | |
| Probably there is | 19:37 | |
| but one more cruel death, also Carthaginian. | 19:39 | |
| To be staked out on the desert, | 19:42 | |
| face up to the sun | 19:44 | |
| with the eyelids cut off. | 19:46 | |
| Crucifixion was never the last penalty | 19:49 | |
| for a citizen of Rome. | 19:51 | |
| Paul, a citizen, was beheaded. | 19:53 | |
| But tradition has it that Peter was crucified. | 19:57 | |
| Like Jesus, he too was an unfranchised Jew. | 20:00 | |
| Crucifixion was death by lengthy torture, | 20:04 | |
| exposure, exhaustion, pain, shock. | 20:07 | |
| According to the church's tradition, | 20:17 | |
| Jesus' first words from the cross are, | 20:19 | |
| "Father, forgive them, | 20:22 | |
| "for they know not what they do." | 20:24 | |
| It is hardly what we expect, | 20:26 | |
| even from our Lord | 20:28 | |
| at such a moment. | 20:30 | |
| Do you notice the reason he gives for his intercession? | 20:32 | |
| They don't know what they're doing. | 20:35 | |
| Ignorance, sheer ignorance. | 20:37 | |
| They lack knowledge, especially that depth | 20:41 | |
| of understanding which is wisdom. | 20:43 | |
| It is interesting that the early church emphasized | 20:46 | |
| this want of knowledge | 20:48 | |
| as the basic cause of Jesus's death. | 20:49 | |
| Listen to Peter: | 20:52 | |
| "And now, Brethren, I know that you acted | 20:54 | |
| "in ignorance as did also your rulers." | 20:55 | |
| Listen to Paul: | 20:59 | |
| "For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, | 21:01 | |
| "because they did not recognize him, | 21:03 | |
| "nor understand the utterances of the prophets, | 21:05 | |
| "which are read every Sabbath, | 21:08 | |
| "fulfilled these by condemning him." | 21:10 | |
| A few moments ago, I said that such a prayer for forgiveness | 21:13 | |
| is hardly what we expect, | 21:16 | |
| even from our Lord at such a moment. | 21:18 | |
| Yet maybe I was wrong. | 21:22 | |
| When we think of his teaching | 21:24 | |
| and his behavior throughout his ministry, | 21:26 | |
| forgiveness ought to be what we expect. | 21:28 | |
| Listen to the three verses from the Sermon on the Mount. | 21:33 | |
| "You have heard that it was said, | 21:36 | |
| "you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy | 21:38 | |
| "but I say to you, | 21:42 | |
| "love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you | 21:43 | |
| "so that you may be sons of your Father | 21:48 | |
| "who is in Heaven." | 21:50 | |
| Forgiveness of an enemy is the mark of spiritual sonship. | 21:52 | |
| Isn't Jesus running true to form in the first word? | 21:57 | |
| I know it is a hard saying for folks like us. | 22:01 | |
| Peter once asked Jesus if seven times | 22:04 | |
| were sufficient to forgive a brother, | 22:06 | |
| not an enemy, but a brother. | 22:09 | |
| Jesus suggested that he raise it to seventy times seven: | 22:12 | |
| four hundred and ninety. | 22:16 | |
| I suppose Jesus meant | 22:19 | |
| that if Peter did it that often, | 22:20 | |
| it would become a habit. | 22:22 | |
| But to forgive an enemy, even once, | 22:24 | |
| that's rough going, ethically, | 22:27 | |
| and tough sledding spiritually. | 22:29 | |
| But Jesus taught it in his lifetime | 22:33 | |
| and died in physical agony still expressing it. | 22:35 | |
| The church has never forgotten that. | 22:40 | |
| Like the unknown prophet of the exiled | 22:42 | |
| Jesus made intersession for the transgressors. | 22:44 | |
| Jesus's death is in accord with his life. | 22:49 | |
| He died as he lived | 22:53 | |
| and he lives in the lives of those who pray his first word | 22:56 | |
| after him and because of him and through him. | 22:59 | |
| "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." | 23:04 | |
| - | The words of Jesus. | 23:24 |
| "Have mercy upon me, Lord" | 23:28 | |
| said by Bach in the "Saint Matthew Passion," | 23:30 | |
| recall his agony on Gethsemane. | 23:34 | |
| Saint Matthew 26th chapter, verses 36. | 23:39 | |
| "Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane | 23:46 | |
| "and he said to his disciples, | 23:50 | |
| "sit here while I go yonder and pray, | 23:53 | |
| "and taking with him Peter | 23:56 | |
| "and the two sons of Zebedee, | 23:58 | |
| "he began to be sorrowful and troubled. | 24:00 | |
| "Then he said to them, | 24:03 | |
| "my soul is very sorrowful even to death. | 24:05 | |
| "Remain here and watch with me. | 24:10 | |
| "And going a little farther, | 24:14 | |
| "he fell on his face and prayed. | 24:15 | |
| "My Father, if it be possible, | 24:19 | |
| "let this cup pass from me. | 24:23 | |
| "Nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt. | 24:26 | |
| "And he came to the disciples | 24:31 | |
| "and found them sleeping | 24:34 | |
| "and he said to Peter, | 24:36 | |
| "so could you not watch with me one hour? | 24:38 | |
| "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. | 24:42 | |
| "The Spirit indeed is willing | 24:47 | |
| "but the flesh is weak | 24:50 | |
| "and again, for the second time, | 24:52 | |
| "he went away and prayed. | 24:54 | |
| "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, | 24:57 | |
| "thy will be done." | 25:03 | |
| (mournful violin music) | 25:30 | |
| (singing in foreign language) | 26:46 | |
| - | "Now, from the sixth hour, there was darkness | 34:07 |
| "over all the land until the ninth hour | 34:09 | |
| "and about the ninth hour, | 34:11 | |
| "Jesus cried with a loud voice. | 34:13 | |
| (speaking in foreign language) | 34:15 | |
| "That is my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" | 34:17 | |
| These are words of Jesus which one reluctantly examines. | 34:22 | |
| For one thing, there is an alarming aspect to it. | 34:25 | |
| According to Matthew and Mark, | 34:28 | |
| it is the only saying from the cross. | 34:30 | |
| For these two evangelists, | 34:32 | |
| Jesus's last words were, | 34:34 | |
| "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" | 34:36 | |
| The overt terror's enough to frighten the commentator. | 34:39 | |
| For another thing, the consternation leads | 34:43 | |
| to bewilderment as James Docker points out years ago. | 34:45 | |
| "In the entire Bible, | 34:48 | |
| "there is no other sentence so difficult to explain. | 34:49 | |
| "The first thought of a preacher on coming to it | 34:52 | |
| "is to find some excuse for passing it by | 34:55 | |
| "and after doing his utmost to expound it, | 34:57 | |
| "he must still confess that is quite beyond him." | 35:00 | |
| Yet we must examine the excruciating word, | 35:03 | |
| it is literally excruciating. | 35:06 | |
| (speaking in foreign language) | 35:08 | |
| From the cross which being interpreted | 35:10 | |
| is exquisitely, acutely and unbearable painful. | 35:11 | |
| That this word is genuine, | 35:17 | |
| there is little question. | 35:18 | |
| It is the one saying remembered | 35:19 | |
| in Jesus's native tongue, Aramaic. | 35:21 | |
| (speaking in foreign language) | 35:23 | |
| My God, my God, why have you abandoned me, | 35:26 | |
| deserted me, left me helpless? | 35:29 | |
| It is not the kind of dying comment | 35:31 | |
| which the church would have invented for its Lord. | 35:32 | |
| It was a shock of the hearers | 35:36 | |
| that this God-conscious man | 35:37 | |
| should be bereft of his divine mainstay. | 35:39 | |
| It was a shock for the evangelists, | 35:41 | |
| two of them dropped it all together. | 35:43 | |
| It is still a shock for interpreters. | 35:46 | |
| What did Jesus mean? | 35:47 | |
| Let us look together at some possible answers. | 35:49 | |
| The simplest interpretation | 35:52 | |
| is that it did not mean anything, | 35:54 | |
| it was a cry of delirium | 35:56 | |
| and therefore cannot be expected to make sense. | 35:57 | |
| Or it was a cry of agony, the cross hurt. | 36:00 | |
| Jesus's wrecked body gave vent | 36:03 | |
| to this tortured, tormented ejaculation | 36:05 | |
| and nothing should be read out of it or into it. | 36:08 | |
| Yet it would be an act of expository cowardice | 36:12 | |
| to leave it at that. | 36:15 | |
| A second interpretation has a long theological heritage. | 36:16 | |
| These words are a cry of abandoned. | 36:20 | |
| God hid his face from Jesus deliberately | 36:22 | |
| and of necessity. | 36:25 | |
| On the cross, Jesus was the scapegoat | 36:26 | |
| bearing the sin and the guilt | 36:28 | |
| of all humankind. | 36:30 | |
| Since God is of too pure eyes | 36:32 | |
| to behold iniquity, he had to avert his gaze | 36:34 | |
| from his stricken son | 36:37 | |
| who in utter solitude, in awful agony, | 36:38 | |
| made the once-for-all atonement | 36:41 | |
| for the sins of the whole world. | 36:42 | |
| Paul put the matter very simply and definitely. | 36:45 | |
| Jesus was made sin for us. | 36:47 | |
| He who knew no sin. | 36:50 | |
| This explanation has some great names behind it. | 36:52 | |
| Augustine and Calvin to mention but two. | 36:54 | |
| It has an honored history and a wide acceptance. | 36:57 | |
| But despite my deference to tradition, | 37:00 | |
| I cannot accept it. | 37:02 | |
| It was not this kind of supreme being | 37:03 | |
| of whom Jesus taught. | 37:05 | |
| A third interpretation swings to the opposite extreme | 37:08 | |
| by looking upon the saying as a cry of faith. | 37:11 | |
| It points out that, this the first verse of Psalm 22, | 37:13 | |
| which is a hymn of faith, | 37:17 | |
| ending up with enthusiasm for the God | 37:18 | |
| who vindicates the despairing sufferer | 37:20 | |
| and reestablishes him in companionship. | 37:22 | |
| Verse 24 reads. | 37:25 | |
| "For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction | 37:27 | |
| "of the afflicted | 37:30 | |
| "and he has not hid his face from him | 37:31 | |
| "but has heard when he cried to him." | 37:33 | |
| This Psalm has a good history of constant use | 37:35 | |
| by the writers among the Jews | 37:38 | |
| in the midst of adversity, | 37:39 | |
| yet I have my doubts about this optimistic explanation. | 37:41 | |
| Does a dying man quote? | 37:45 | |
| Even if the answer is yes, | 37:46 | |
| does he quote verse one | 37:48 | |
| when what he wants is verse 24? | 37:49 | |
| What are we left with? | 37:52 | |
| Let me offer a tentative explanation, | 37:54 | |
| remembering James Docker's words already quoted | 37:55 | |
| that however one expounds the fourth word, | 37:58 | |
| one must still confess that it's still beyond us. | 38:01 | |
| A fourth interpretation is that this is a cry of failure | 38:05 | |
| and therefore of desolation. | 38:08 | |
| It is the spoken ache | 38:10 | |
| of one who thought of himself | 38:11 | |
| as a deserted man of God. | 38:13 | |
| This is the blackout of faith, | 38:15 | |
| the dark night of the soul. | 38:16 | |
| Jesus had failed in Galilee. | 38:18 | |
| He had to flee the country. | 38:20 | |
| He had failed in Jerusalem, | 38:22 | |
| the authorities had neither accepted his teaching | 38:23 | |
| nor recognized his Messiahship. | 38:26 | |
| He had then allowed himself to be arrested, | 38:29 | |
| tried and crucified without any defense, | 38:31 | |
| believing the issue was in God's hands. | 38:33 | |
| This word is a cry of abandonment, | 38:36 | |
| the important pathos of which we cannot really grasp | 38:40 | |
| because none of us has even known | 38:43 | |
| a similar friendship with God. | 38:44 | |
| The ministry of Jesus was no saunter down a country lane | 38:47 | |
| amid the lilies of the field | 38:50 | |
| but rather a fight to the death | 38:51 | |
| with real forces of evil. | 38:53 | |
| It was a risky, desperate business | 38:55 | |
| in which he saw himself winning countless skirmishes | 38:57 | |
| yet never certain he was victor in the war. | 38:59 | |
| When we realize that, | 39:02 | |
| then it is not blasphemous | 39:03 | |
| and it may not be presumptuous | 39:05 | |
| for us to consider, | 39:07 | |
| "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" | 39:08 | |
| as a cry of failure | 39:11 | |
| and of desolation. | 39:12 | |
| It says that at least once a year, | 39:14 | |
| it is good for us post-resurrection Christians | 39:16 | |
| to stand on the other side, | 39:18 | |
| the bad Friday side of Easter. | 39:20 | |
| We subsequently know that God has not forsaken Jesus. | 39:22 | |
| The resurrection was the mighty proof of this. | 39:26 | |
| That is why we worship today. | 39:28 | |
| God vindicated Jesus | 39:30 | |
| but what did "My God, my God, | 39:32 | |
| "why hast though forsaken me" mean to Jesus | 39:34 | |
| and to those who heard him | 39:37 | |
| when he spoke the words on a Friday afternoon | 39:38 | |
| outside a city wall? | 39:40 | |
| They tell us that the incarnation, | 39:42 | |
| the enfleshment was actual, | 39:43 | |
| genuine, authentic, down to Earth. | 39:45 | |
| Our Lord was a mere man | 39:48 | |
| and being found in human form, | 39:50 | |
| he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, | 39:52 | |
| even death on a cross | 39:55 | |
| betrayed, deserted, doubting, desolate. | 39:57 | |
| ♪ Every time ♪ | 40:17 | |
| ♪ I think about Jesus ♪ | 40:22 | |
| ♪ Every time ♪ | 40:31 | |
| ♪ I think about Jesus ♪ | 40:35 | |
| ♪ Every time ♪ | 40:44 | |
| ♪ I think about Jesus ♪ | 40:48 | |
| ♪ Surely he died on Calvary ♪ | 40:56 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:11 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:17 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:24 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:30 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:37 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 41:43 | |
| ♪ Surely he died on Calvary ♪ | 41:48 | |
| ♪ Make me trouble ♪ | 42:03 | |
| ♪ Thinking 'bout dying ♪ | 42:10 | |
| ♪ Make me trouble ♪ | 42:16 | |
| ♪ Thinking 'bout dying ♪ | 42:23 | |
| ♪ Make me trouble ♪ | 42:29 | |
| ♪ Thinking 'bout dying ♪ | 42:36 | |
| ♪ Surely he died on Calvary ♪ | 42:41 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 42:55 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 43:01 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 43:07 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 43:13 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 43:20 | |
| ♪ Calvary ♪ | 43:26 | |
| ♪ Surely he died ♪ | 43:32 | |
| ♪ On Calvary ♪ | 43:40 | |
| - | The third reading is taken | 44:04 |
| from the Gospel according to Luke, | 44:05 | |
| the 23rd chapter | 44:07 | |
| verses 44 through 46. | 44:09 | |
| "It was now about the sixth hour | 44:13 | |
| "and there was darkness over the whole land | 44:16 | |
| "until the ninth hour | 44:18 | |
| "while the son's light failed | 44:19 | |
| "and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. | 44:21 | |
| "Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, | 44:24 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit, | 44:27 | |
| "and having said this, he breathed his last." | 44:31 | |
| For most of us, | 44:36 | |
| it is finished would seem to be a final word, | 44:38 | |
| the last word. | 44:41 | |
| Whatever Jesus' earthly job was, | 44:43 | |
| it was done. | 44:46 | |
| Anything else said would run the risk | 44:48 | |
| of being an anticlimax, | 44:50 | |
| unimportant, undignified, even ridiculous | 44:53 | |
| but our Lord has one more thing to say, | 44:57 | |
| one more thing to do. | 45:00 | |
| He says it. | 45:03 | |
| In saying it, he does it. | 45:04 | |
| He is speaking for the last time | 45:07 | |
| in the days of his flesh. | 45:09 | |
| What will he say? | 45:11 | |
| Listen. | 45:13 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." | 45:14 | |
| Has Jesus returned to his mother's knee in memory? | 45:20 | |
| Is he remembering a Psalm which Mary taught him | 45:23 | |
| as a boyhood prayer, Psalm 31? | 45:26 | |
| Here are the first five verses. | 45:29 | |
| "In thee, oh Lord, do I seek refuge. | 45:32 | |
| "Let me never be put to shame. | 45:34 | |
| "In thy righteousness, deliver me. | 45:37 | |
| "Incline thy ear to me, | 45:39 | |
| "rescue me speedily. | 45:41 | |
| "Be thou a rock of refuge for me, | 45:43 | |
| "a strong fortress to save me. | 45:45 | |
| "Yea, thy art my rock and my fortress. | 45:48 | |
| "For thy name's sake, lead me and guide me. | 45:50 | |
| "Take me out of the net | 45:53 | |
| "which is hidden from me | 45:54 | |
| "for thou art my refuge. | 45:56 | |
| "Into thy hand I commit my spirit. | 45:58 | |
| "Thou hast redeemed me, oh Lord, faithful God." | 46:01 | |
| This is a prayer of trust and confidence. | 46:06 | |
| Maybe it reminds us of a prayer | 46:09 | |
| which we learned as children, | 46:11 | |
| which we still sometimes pray as adults | 46:13 | |
| when we are tired and weary | 46:16 | |
| and have not the words or the time or the energy | 46:17 | |
| to say anything else. | 46:20 | |
| This night I lay me down to sleep. | 46:22 | |
| I pray, thee Lord, my soul to keep. | 46:25 | |
| If I should die before I wake, | 46:28 | |
| I pray, thee Lord, my soul to take. | 46:31 | |
| Yet there was a difference in Jesus' situation | 46:35 | |
| and in the Psalmist's. | 46:38 | |
| The Psalmist was asking for deliverance | 46:39 | |
| from physical death. | 46:41 | |
| Jesus was asking for acceptance in physical death. | 46:43 | |
| Jesus was looking beyond this earthly life. | 46:47 | |
| It was almost over. | 46:50 | |
| He was entrusting his spirit to the care of God. | 46:52 | |
| (speaking in foreign language) | 46:55 | |
| These last words have been referred to | 46:57 | |
| as a proclamation of victory. | 46:59 | |
| I hardly think so. | 47:01 | |
| Victory is postponed until Easter. | 47:03 | |
| It is rather a proclamation of assurance. | 47:06 | |
| Jesus has rallied from the despair | 47:09 | |
| of "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" | 47:11 | |
| and from the distress of I thirst. | 47:15 | |
| The final word is spoken from strength, | 47:18 | |
| rather than from weakness, | 47:20 | |
| from confidence, rather than from bewilderment. | 47:22 | |
| From peace rather than turmoil. | 47:26 | |
| He has done all he could on Earth for God. | 47:29 | |
| It is finished. | 47:32 | |
| Now he gives himself over | 47:34 | |
| to the care of God, to the Father | 47:35 | |
| with whom he had always been in contact. | 47:37 | |
| It is good to know that our Lord died | 47:40 | |
| in confident trust. | 47:42 | |
| What will our last words be? | 47:46 | |
| If we are compos mentis, | 47:48 | |
| won't they be in line with the tenor of our lives? | 47:50 | |
| That has been true of many others. | 47:53 | |
| When Mary I of England, Bloody Mary, | 47:56 | |
| lay dying in 1558, | 47:59 | |
| all she could think of was that Calais, | 48:01 | |
| the last English possession in France | 48:05 | |
| had been lost during her reign. | 48:07 | |
| Her last recorded words were, | 48:09 | |
| "When I am dead and open, | 48:12 | |
| "you shall find Calais lying upon my heart." | 48:13 | |
| In 1931, the dying Anna Pavlova | 48:17 | |
| recalled her greatest triumph as a ballerina | 48:20 | |
| and cried as her last words, | 48:23 | |
| "Get my swan costume ready." | 48:25 | |
| Where a person's treasure is, | 48:29 | |
| there will his heart be also. | 48:30 | |
| Where is our treasure? | 48:33 | |
| Where is our heart? | 48:34 | |
| What would our last words tell? | 48:37 | |
| The amazing thing about Jesus' last word | 48:40 | |
| was that it was not said on Calvary once and for all, | 48:42 | |
| never to be repeated, | 48:45 | |
| it was taken up and reiterated with confidence | 48:48 | |
| by his followers | 48:50 | |
| so that it echos again and again down the centuries | 48:52 | |
| right into this year of grace. | 48:55 | |
| "Into thy hands, I commend my spirit" | 48:58 | |
| were the last words of Peter, | 49:01 | |
| martyr and saint | 49:03 | |
| and of Charlemagne, the emperor | 49:04 | |
| and probably of John Hus at the stake | 49:06 | |
| and of Melanchthon, the reformer. | 49:09 | |
| They were the dying affirmation of Christopher Columbus | 49:13 | |
| in a wretched hired lodging in Spain | 49:16 | |
| and of Lady Jane Grey on a scaffold in the Tower of London. | 49:18 | |
| Mary, Queen of Scots and John Knox, | 49:22 | |
| bitter political and religious enemies, | 49:25 | |
| both turned to God in their final hours | 49:28 | |
| with the last words of the Lord | 49:30 | |
| whom they served so faithfully | 49:32 | |
| but so differently. | 49:34 | |
| Time would fail me to tell of the others, | 49:36 | |
| heroes and vagabonds of the faith, | 49:38 | |
| men and women of the church. | 49:41 | |
| Unknown to us or well-known to us, | 49:43 | |
| of every generation and ours, | 49:45 | |
| who died in confidence, | 49:47 | |
| confidence not of trumpets sounding on the other side, | 49:49 | |
| but of one who would receive their spirits | 49:53 | |
| as he had received his own son. | 49:55 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." | 50:00 | |
| It is the right note | 50:04 | |
| on which our Lord crossed the Jordan. | 50:05 | |
| It is the right note on which to close a Good Friday vigil | 50:08 | |
| because it leaves the whole matter with God. | 50:12 | |
| Let us pray. | 50:16 | |
| Almighty and eternal God, | 50:20 | |
| creator of our lives | 50:23 | |
| and guide of these our pilgrim days, | 50:24 | |
| grant each one of us the confidence | 50:28 | |
| and faith of thy son | 50:29 | |
| that our last thoughts and words may be, | 50:32 | |
| Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. | 50:34 | |
| Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 50:39 | |
| (tranquil organ music) | 50:47 | |
| (congregation singing) | 51:32 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 53:23 |
| For this world which is sighing | 53:26 | |
| and groaning for redemption, | 53:28 | |
| for the whole of suffering humankind in the present age, | 53:31 | |
| for all those who are the victims of war | 53:36 | |
| and racial conflict, | 53:39 | |
| for those who are overwhelmed by natural disasters, | 53:41 | |
| for all who meet with any kind of accident, | 53:46 | |
| for those who are in any kind of danger, let us pray. | 53:50 | |
| Lord God, you want the well-being of | 53:59 | |
| and not their destruction. | 54:02 | |
| Take all violence from our midst. | 54:05 | |
| Extinguish hatred in our hearts. | 54:07 | |
| Curb the passion in us that makes us seek other's lives. | 54:11 | |
| Give peace to all on Earth. | 54:16 | |
| We ask you this through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 54:19 | |
| Let us pray for those who are deprived and live in poverty, | 54:24 | |
| for all who are despairing | 54:29 | |
| and feel themselves to be beyond help. | 54:31 | |
| For all whose minds are disturbed | 54:34 | |
| or who are mentally ill. | 54:37 | |
| For those who suffer physically for years | 54:40 | |
| and whose bodies are gradually broken down. | 54:43 | |
| Let us pray for all who must die alone | 54:47 | |
| without the hope of life after death | 54:50 | |
| and without faith in the resurrection of their bodies. | 54:53 | |
| Lord God, you have made us mortal | 55:00 | |
| and we must die. | 55:02 | |
| Do not, we beseech you, take our lives away forever, | 55:04 | |
| you who are a God of the living. | 55:08 | |
| We ask you this for Jesus's sake today | 55:11 | |
| and every day forever and forever. | 55:15 | |
| Let us pray for all those who are in great difficulty, | 55:20 | |
| for those who have lost their faith in man and love, | 55:25 | |
| their faith in God, | 55:29 | |
| for those who seek truth but cannot find it. | 55:31 | |
| Let us pray for all married people | 55:35 | |
| who have drifted apart from each other | 55:38 | |
| and for all priests who have broken down | 55:41 | |
| under the strain of their office. | 55:44 | |
| Lord God, you are the comfort of the sorrowful | 55:49 | |
| and the strength of the tortured. | 55:53 | |
| Hear the prayers of all people in distress | 55:56 | |
| and all who appeal to your mercy | 55:59 | |
| so that they may recognize with joy | 56:03 | |
| that you have helped them in every ordeal | 56:05 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 56:09 | |
| Let us pray for the place in which we live and work, | 56:14 | |
| for all the people in it who are lonely, | 56:18 | |
| for those whose voices are never heard | 56:22 | |
| and those who find no friends. | 56:25 | |
| Let us pray for the homeless | 56:28 | |
| and those without shelter | 56:30 | |
| and for all who are disheartened | 56:33 | |
| and feel that they have been betrayed. | 56:35 | |
| Lord God, you have given us a place to live in, | 56:40 | |
| space to build in | 56:45 | |
| and people to live with. | 56:47 | |
| Open our eyes to each other. | 56:49 | |
| Make us humble enough | 56:52 | |
| to help other people and comfort them, | 56:54 | |
| so that a little of your love | 56:57 | |
| may be seen in this place | 56:58 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 57:01 | |
| Let us ask the Lord our God for forgiveness | 57:05 | |
| for the suffering that we cause to others, | 57:08 | |
| for our forgetfulness and neglect of others, | 57:11 | |
| for our lack of understanding | 57:15 | |
| for each other, for ill speaking of other people | 57:17 | |
| and for bitterness and spite | 57:21 | |
| we so often feel against our neighbors | 57:23 | |
| for not being able to forgive. | 57:26 | |
| Let us pray for forgiveness | 57:29 | |
| of all the sins that we and our helplessness commit | 57:31 | |
| against each other. | 57:35 | |
| Lord God, we pray for the sake of Jesus | 57:37 | |
| in whom everything is consummated, | 57:41 | |
| let us enter into your peace. | 57:44 | |
| Amen. | 57:48 | |
| ♪ They crucified our Lord ♪ | 58:05 | |
| ♪ And he never said a mumblin' word ♪ | 58:16 | |
| ♪ He bowed his head ♪ | 58:27 | |
| ♪ And died ♪ | 58:32 | |
| ♪ And he never said a mumblin' word ♪ | 58:38 | |
| ♪ Not a word ♪ | 58:48 | |
| ♪ Not a word ♪ | 58:54 | |
| ♪ Not a word ♪ | 59:00 |