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| Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, Priest serving Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community and Rev. Paul Werner Pastor/UCC |
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| Rev. Paul Werner, Pastor at St. Andrew UCC |
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PRELUDE
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Setting by John
Carter) Bruce Ensinger
GREETING Rev. Paul Werner
We come
here this evening to remember a man. A man…
who had
dreams,
who had
those dreams shattered,
who
needed time to think and pray,
who knew
he was likely to die for what he believed…
A man of
extraordinary religious insight.
A man
who did die—a cruel death
This
evening we look at the cross, and we remember…
the
betrayal of friendship and its consequences,
the
casual cruelty of Roman authority and execution,
and how
unreliable others proved to be in a crisis.
This
evening may we also remember
that religious
bigotry, cruelty, and unreliability
are
still a part of our everyday lives.
This
evening, then, may we learn some new precepts for living:
Do not
avoid contact with suffering,
or close
your eyes before suffering.
Do not
maintain anger or hatred.
Do not
say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest,
or to
impress people.
Do not
live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature…
This
evening we remember.
*PRAYER OF INVOCATION Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
We veil our faces before your glory, O Holy
One, and bow before the cross of your wounded Christ. With angels and
archangels, we praise you, our Infinite Love, and we bless you, our Compassion,
for in our brokenness you have not abandoned us. Hear us as we pray through
Jesus, our Beloved. Heal all division, reconcile the estranged, console the
suffering, and raise up to new life all that is bound by death. In this holy
time, as we remember the suffering of the cross, we offer the prayers of our
hearts, that through them we may be transformed to be servants of justice,
love, and peace. Make us steadfast witnesses of our Savior’s reign, that we may
live in the example of Christ, who was faithful in all things, even death, and
whose darkest hour gives light and hope. Amen.
*HYMN
My Song Is Love Unknown (NCH 222)
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING Tennie Capps
John 18:1-8b
After
Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron
valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples
entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus
often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers
together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came
there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that
was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking
for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas,
who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am
he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom
are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered,
“I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
CONTEMPORARY READING: Judas Rev. Paul Werner
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING Lee Breyer
John 18:15-27
Simon
Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the
high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but
Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to
the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought
Peter in. The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s
disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the police
had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it
and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. Then
the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his
teaching. Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have
always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come
together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who
heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” When he had said this,
one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that
how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered, “If I have spoken
wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike
me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon
Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one
of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the
slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off,
asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it,
and at that moment the cock crowed.
CONTEMPORARY READING: Peter Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
*HYMN
I Remember a Man (sung to the tune WINCHESTER
NEW) – by G. Stuart
I do remember very well
Jesus, the teacher, healer friend;
They say he had nowhere to dwell;
Yet on him many did depend.
I do remember that he cared;
He touched the lepers, loved the poor,
The sick were healed, the hungry fed,
He favored those who broke their Law.
I do remember him upset;
Hostile and brash with Pharisees;
Ablaze with anger, yelled a threat
At temple thieves who stole with ease.
Yet I recall he knew success;
The people followed with no fear;
His simple wisdom did impress;
Crowds waved their palms; he heard them cheer.
When I look back, I see a man
Broken by life; had no relief;
His friends betrayed, and then they ran;
They left him there, engulfed in grief.
I do recall with sympathy,
When near Jerusalem he cried;
His suff’ring in Gethsemane;
He thought God left him when he died.
Yes. Jesus, I remember him;
He tasted deeply joy and pain.
His life reminds me when life’s grim
That love will conquer and sustain.
THIRD SCRIPTURE READING Sally
Brochu
John 18:28-38
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 realm is not from this world. If my realm were
from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed
over to the Jews. But as it is, my realm 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.
FOURTH SCRIPTURE READING Tennie
Capps
John 19:1-16
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 Child 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.
CONTEMPORARY READING: Pilate Rev. Paul Werner
*HYMN
O Love, How Vast, How Flowing Free (NCH 209)
Verses
1-4
FIFTH SCRIPTURE READING Lee
Breyer
John 19:17-27
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 child.” Then he
said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple
took her into his own home.
CHOIR ANTHEM Chancel Choir
Forgiveness and Love (James Ahrend)
CONTEMPORARY READING: Mary, Mother of Jesus Rev. Paul Werner
CONTEMPORARY READING: Mary Magdalene Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
SONG
Why? (SPP 47)
SIXTH SCRIPTURE READING Sally
Brochu
John 19:28-30
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.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
SEVENTH SCRIPTURE READING Tennie Capps
John 19:38-42
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.
CONTEMPORARY READING: Joseph of Arimathea Rev. Paul Werner
HYMN (NCH 229)
Were You There?
Verses
1-3
SILENT CONTEMPLATION
DEPART IN SILENCE
Worship resources:
§ Contemporary readings from What Else Could I Have Done? by F.
Plumer, with the exception of “Mary Magdalene” by Bridget Mary Meehan
§ Greeting by M. Dobson and M.
Morwood, adapted
§ Invocation from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers by the
Consultation on Common Texts, adapted
§ Scripture texts are from
the New Revised Standard Version, adapted for inclusive language
