TGIF
I woke up this morning hoping that one of my esteemed comrades had written a Good Friday homily for this weeks column.
This is an important day on the church calendar and it’s a day when pastors earn their chops.
I always feel a responsibility to feed those who read here with solid spiritual food.
I’ve got nothing…and there was nothing in my email either.
There are days… when it feels like God has died.
Days when the darkness and sadness and stress never lift.
Days when it seems like we have believed in vain.
Days where it seems like hope is nothing more than a mirage that evaporated under the heat of the desert we dwell in…just as we thought we were going to drink from a deep well.
Days when we feel abandoned.
Those are days when we feel like a disciple…the first disciples on the first Good Friday.
We should be able to think of them more graciously as they cowered and hid after the crucifixion…they were shattered and did not understand that Sunday was coming.
They didn’t know the rest of the story.
We do.
Drink deeply today from the darkness we commemorate and the darkness you’re living.
It is fitting today to do so.
It is also fitting to pray for Easter.
Easter us, Lord…you need not wait for Sunday.
We dare pray while the darkness descends and the earthquake trembles. We dare pray for eyes to see fully and mouths to speak fully the power of death all around. We pray more for your notice and your promise and your healing.
Our only urging on Friday is that you live this as we must: impacted but not destroyed; dimmed but not quenched. For your great staying power and your promise of newness we praise you. It is in your power and your promise that we take our stand this day. We dare trust that Friday is never the last day, so we watch for the new day of life. Hear our prayer and be your full self toward us. Amen.
Brueggemann
Make your own application…
Amen. So beautiful.
Tenebrae.
Darkness.
A day of darkness, sorrowful contemplation and trying to imagine the confusion of the disciples….then and now… different circumstances.
Blessed are those who mourn.
It was also a long dark night for Jesus on that evening of Passover.
I can’t imagine what he experienced as he prayed that night, petitioning the Father to allow the cup he was about to partake of to be removed, if “possible.”
It wasn’t possible and praise God He paid the ultimate price to redeem a rotten sinner like me!
This is a good hymn that says it all – especially the 2nd stanza “our God is dead”
O Darkest Woe
A Mournful Graveside Song on the Sorrowful Burial of Our Savior Jesus Christ, to Be Sung on Good Friday.
O darkest woe!
Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father’s only Son
Now is buried yonder!
O sorrow dread!
Our God is dead!
But by His expiation
Of our guilt upon the cross
Gained for us salvation.
O child of man!
It was the ban
Of death on thee that brought Him
Down to suffer for thy sins,
And such woe hath wrought Him.
See, stained with blood,
The Lamb of God,
The Bridegroom, lies before thee,
Pouring out His life that He
May to life restore thee.
O Ground of fait,
Laid low in death,
Sweet lips now silent sleeping!
Surely all that live must mourn
Here with bitter weeping.
O Virgin-born,
Thy death we mourn,
Thou lovely Star of gladness!
Who could see Thy reeking blood
Without grief and sadness?
Yea, blest is he
Whose heart shall be
Fixed here, who apprehendeth
Why the Lord of Glory thus
To the grave descendeth.
O Jesus blest,
My Help and Rest,
With tears I now entreat Thee:
Make me love Thee to the last,
Till in heav’n I greet Thee!
#3 – Yes, blessed we are whose hearts are fixed here until we can somewhat comprehend why the Lord of Glory did this…
time is relative they say, but sometimes it seems so slow – perhaps that, too, is a mercy?
In some of our traditions, following Maundy Thursday, the Stripping of the Altars is performed. The candles and cross are taken down, the hangings (linens, frontal, etc.) are removed. The priest in an alb and purple (or black) stole comes out and washes down the altar surface with wine and water. After it’s cleansing, a simple white cloth is placed on the altar with a simple wooden cross and two (or four) candles. It is left like this until the Easter vigil. It is indeed a time of desolation…
Duane, we strip and wash, but I don’t think we use wine. That is great addition.
My mind is numbed by what Jesus suffered for me. The sadness of both the Father and His Son overwhelms me.
For some reason this year on the blog this Holy week seems extra special to me and it seems others as well. I love that i got to spend it with all of you. Much love to all.
#6
In NYC, we were able to obtain hyssop stalks with which to do the washing (which adds to the teaching aspect). Have not been able to do the same in Indy…
My husband and I have attended several “Service of Darkness” or “Tenebrae” services in recent years at a few different churches (Presbyterian, Lutheran, Crossroads)
Very moving https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenebrae
I think our favorite was presented by a very small conservative Presbyterian church. All decor in the church was either removed or covered with black draping. There was a very large 14 branch menorah candelabra on the stage. After each Bible reading of a verse or verses from the Passover meal to the Burial, a candle was extinguished and a mournful hymn (several Celtic style or Gregorian) was sung. Eventually, after the last reading of the stone being placed over the Tomb, the last candle is put out. The sanctuary was completely dark, and attendees went out in silence. Very somber and sobering atmosphere. Of course, the contrast on Resurrection Sunday is all the more profound.
I had never heard of this type of service until about 9 years ago. We’ve attended them yearly since. It is a Good reminder on Good Friday, of the seriousness of Our Lord’s sacrifice, and once again, why we do this Christian way of life.
Ask Google to find a Tenebra in your area. I think you will be blessed.
Paige, that is beautiful… and appropriate, too … simple and, yet, profoundly detailed
Thank you Michael, and thank you Paige. My youngest son professed Christ during a Tenebrae service in a non-denominational church, lead by an Episcopalian soon turned Anglican Bishop.
Today was probably the most dark Good Friday I’ve spent. Many things to ponder.
Praise God that He rose Jesus from the dead! We can cling to that and know that God has a plan.
The Lord has many reproaches against His church:
“What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer me. For I have conquered all your foes, and you have given Me over and delivered Me to those who persecute Me. For I have fed you with My Word and refreshed you with living water, and you have given Me gall and vinegar to drink. O My people.”
In response, His church prays:
“Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, allow us not to lose hope in the face of death and hell. O Lord, have mercy.”