good friday

Gathering

As you prepare for this worship service, please take some minutes to make a map, and identify ahead of time the following places. You can walk or drive to them, and use the walking or driving time in between as a chance to listen to the spotify playlist, reflect on the questions internally or with another, and/or simply pray quietly or aloud. LCMers will be gathering to do this prayer walk together on campus, Fri., April 2 @ noon. Meet at Grace University Lutheran Church!

Preparation

• Map out your walk/drive these prayer stations:
  -A place where physical healing happens (for the healing of our bodies)
  -A place where people are separated from one another by borders or boundaries (for the healing of divisions)
  -A place where creation cries out for healing (for the healing of creation)
  -A place where there are obvious economic divides, or economic insecurity (for the healing of our economy)
  -A place where folks are isolated, or lonely, or grieving (for the healing of our spirits)
• Click here to open the Good Friday Playlist to accompany your walk/drive.

Opening Prayer

God, in our joys, in our sorrows, in our fears, in our hope, abide with us. This day as we remember your death on the cross that freed us from all sin and heals our world, help us focus inwards and outwards. Inward, so we can find our need for repentance and transformation. Outwards, so we can find our call to serve the world. In all our directions, in all our wondering and wandering, abide with us.

Song – Abide With Me by Audrey Assad

Reading – The Passion of Christ – John 18:1-19:42 – Go here to hear this story told aloud.

As you listen to this reading, you can doodle, or color, or simply reflect on the words and phrases that are being called out of you. How are those words intersecting with your life and our world right now? Is there anything being called forth from you?

Song – Ah, Holy Jesus by Sufjan Stevens (move to first prayer station while you listen)

First Station
for the healing of our bodies

Reading – Psalm 22:1-5

My God, my God, why have you for- | saken me?

Why so far from saving me, so far from the words | of my groaning?

My God, I cry out by day, but you | do not answer;

by night, but I | find no rest.

Yet you are the | Holy One,

enthroned on the prais- | es of Israel.

Our ancestors put their | trust in you,

they trusted, and you | rescued them.

They cried out to you and | were delivered;

they trusted in you and were not | put to shame.

Prayer –Enduring God, be with all those who are sick today, whose bodies are breaking. Be with all of those who care for them, health care workers and hospital janitors, and all who sacrifice to heal others. Surround them with your healing power, your love, and your peace. Embrace us when our own healing is painful. Help us trust that you are with us even when we are broken—restoring us, stitching us together, forming us into who you have freed us to be. Amen

Song – These Bodies by The Many (move to second prayer station while you listen)

Optional reflection questions: In what ways is your body in need of healing? How might you be a co-worker of healing in your own life? How might you support those who are sick, and participate in healing in that way? As you listened to the text, what words and phrases stood out to you? How did these words intersect with your life and our world right now? What might be called forth from you right now?

Second Station
for the healing of divisions

Reading – Psalm 22:6-10

But as for me, I am a worm | and not human,

scorned by all and despised | by the people.

All who see me laugh | me to scorn;

they curl their lips; they | shake their heads.

“Trust in the Lord; let the | Lord deliver;

let God rescue him if God so de- | lights in him.”

Yet you are the one who drew me forth | from the womb,

and kept me safe on my | mother’s breast.

I have been entrusted to you ever since | I was born;

you were my God when I was still in my | mother’s womb.

Prayer – God, our world is a broken place, and we participate in that brokenness. There are so many ways we allow boundaries and borders to divide us. Institutional injustice is pervasive. We are separated by religion, politics, race and class lines. Help us to embody your reconciling work, healing divisions in our own life and working for justice in the world. Amen

Song – How Long? by The Porter’s Gate (feat. Latifah Alattas) (move to third prayer station while you listen)

Optional reflection questions: Where, specifically, do you notice boundaries and divisions in your own life? How does that shape your understanding of your community and the world? How might you reach out across borders and boundaries? How might your life, and our communities be different because of that? Is there work that is not yours to do? As you listened to the text, what words and phrases stood out to you? How did these words intersect with your life and our world right now? What might be called forth from you right now?

Third Station
for the healing of creation

Reading – Psalm 22:11-16

Be not far from me, for trou- | ble is near,

and there is no | one to help.

Many young bulls en- | circle me;

strong bulls of Ba- | shan surround me.

They open wide their | jaws at me,

like a slashing and | roaring lion.

I am poured out like water; all my bones are | out of joint;

my heart within my breast is | melting wax.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue sticks to the roof | of my mouth;

and you have laid me in the | dust of death.

Packs of dogs close me in, a band of evildoers | circles round me;

they pierce my hands | and my feet.

Prayer – God, we pray for this good and beautiful world that you created, that you called good, and which you continue to love.  We pray for the land scorched by wildfires and wars. For the waters polluted by waste and gasoline. For the atmosphere punctured by our abuse of natural resources. For the habitats of animals and plants destroyed by our desire to control and exploit. For the tragedy of our failure to care for creation, God, we ask that you help us, save us, and guide us. We cannot serve the world without the liberating sacrifice of your son. So please, for the healing of all creation, come and save us, O God. 

Song – Creation Song by Josh Garrels (move to fourth prayer station while you listen)   

Optional reflection questions:  What parts of nature most reveal the goodness of God to you? Where do you most witness human indifference or hostility towards creation? How might you be a co-worker, with God, in the healing of creation? As you listened to the text, what words and phrases stood out to you? How did these words intersect with your life and our world right now? What might be called forth from you right now? 

Fourth Station
for the healing of the economy

Reading – Psalm 22:17-22

I can count | all my bones

while they stare at | me and gloat.

They divide my gar- | ments among them;

for my clothing, | they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, be not | far away;

O my help, hasten | to my aid.

Deliver me | from the sword,

my life from the power | of the dog.

Save me from the | lion’s mouth!

From the horns of wild bulls you have | rescued me.

I will declare your name | to my people;

in the midst of the assembly | I will praise you.

I can count | all my bones

while they stare at | me and gloat.

They divide my gar- | ments among them;

for my clothing, | they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, be not | far away;

O my help, hasten | to my aid.

Deliver me | from the sword,

my life from the power | of the dog.

Save me from the | lion’s mouth!

From the horns of wild bulls you have | rescued me.

I will declare your name | to my people;

in the midst of the assembly | I will praise you.

Prayer –God, it often seems as if our world is falling apart. Dreams and ambitions are upended, and good leadership is hard to find. Stability seems so far away, and planning seems like foolishness. And still, we are aware of our relative privilege in having access to education. We remember those among and outside of our community who will go hungry tonight, those without homes, and those whose lives will continue to be hard scrabble, long after we return to school and work. Transform us through this experience, so that we might be agents of Christ’s love in working towards a more equitable world.

Guide us to ground ourselves in the redeeming sacrifice of your son. Remind us that we are all more than a monetary value; that we have infinite worth in your infinite love. That there is no cost for living in the new life brought by Jesus Christ. Amen.

Song – He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word – The Welcome Wagon (move to fifth prayer station while you listen)

Optional reflection questions: Where do you notice the fault lines of economic injustice and class divisions in your community? How are you impacted by those? What words might Christ be speaking to you as you consider both your brokenness, and your call to co-create a more just world? As you listened to the text, what words and phrases stood out to you? How did these words intersect with your life and our world right now? What might be called forth from you right now? 

Fifth Station
for the healing of our spirits

Reading – Psalm 22:23-31

You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s | line, give glory.

Stand in awe of the Lord, all you off- | spring of Israel.

For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither is the  

      Lord’s face hid- | den from them;

but when they cry out, | the Lord hears them.

From you comes my praise in the | great assembly;

I will perform my vows in the sight of those who | fear the Lord.

The poor shall eat | and be satisfied.

Let those who seek the Lord give praise! May your hearts | live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn | to the Lord;

all the families of nations shall bow | before God.

For dominion belongs | to the Lord,

who rules o- | ver the nations.

Indeed, all who sleep in the earth shall bow | down in worship;

all who go down to the dust, though they be dead, shall kneel be- | fore the

Lord.

Their descendants shall | serve the Lord,

whom they shall proclaim to genera- | tions to come.

They shall proclaim God’s deliverance to a people | yet unborn,

saying to them, “The | Lord has acted!”

Prayer – God, we pray for those who are lonely, anxious, and despairing. We pray for those that have little hope. Be with them. Be with us. Surround us with your love. Assure us that you are with us, in our most broken places, in those places we have left for dead.

On the cross, you show us how far you will go to remind us of your love. Open our eyes and hearts to this sign of your love, and help us to trust that resurrection will come, even as we sit at the foot of the cross. Amen.

Song – Were You There by Sam Cooke 

Optional reflection questions: As you reflect on your own lives, where and how has Christ showed up in your darkest places? How might that reflection buoy you in dark times right now? As you listened to the text, what words and phrases stood out to you? How did these words intersect with your life and our world right now? What might be called forth from you right now? 

Closing Blessing

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

If we have died with him, we shall also live with him.

If we endure, we shall also reign with him.

Lord Jesus Christ, Child of the Living God, we pray to set your passion, cross and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your Holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Creator and the Holy Spirit, you live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Sending Song – Ain’t No Grave by Johnny Cash

As you journey home, we invite you to remain in prayerful silence.

And on Sunday, we hope you’ll join us in the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Look for an Easter message Sunday morning! Peace be with you this Holy Week!