CCU Good Friday 4 6 2012
*Welcome—Roll Call
Welcome all the pastors who are here to share in tonight’s service.
*CCU Easter Sunrise Service, 7:00 AM at the YMCA Courtyard
*YMCA Easter Breakfast in the gym
*Easter Services on Sunday
*Reception on 3rd floor; thanks to those who brought snacks to enjoy
Offertory
What will we sacrifice in the name of one who risked everything for love? For what cause were we born, and how deeply are our lives invested in the truth of the gospel? We give, not to prove our love, but to express our thanks.
Offertory Prayer
Thank you, God, for living among us in Christ Jesus. We long for the reign of love among us when all will act for the common good and none will be hungry or afraid. We are not content to dream of such a day, but intend to work for its realization. We bring our offerings and ourselves to rededicate what is already yours to the realization of your will. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer
Jesus, Lord and Savior, abide with us and challenge us to remain ever mindful of your vigil in Gethsemane and your agony on Golgotha, and of your children around the world who suffer as your witnesses. May we carry our cross to be transformed now and in eternity.
For those whose life seems to have reached a stopping point, for those who feel stymied in their spiritual lives, for those who wonder if their exile, self-imposed or otherwise, will ever end, we pray for our return to you, O God, and for your return into our lives, that all may feel renewed and revived.
For the opportunities you give us to minister in all seasons, in exile and restoration and in victory, and especially when that victory is deferred for a time and we experience the sensation of distance even as you walk in our midst, we pray for our return to you, O God, and for your return to our lives, that all may feel renewed and revived.
For all who may waver, who, knowing your commandments and capable of choice and change, are considering a path that will only lead them further away from you, may your word be their guide. May your example be their inspiration. May your will be their choice.
God of faithfulness, mercy, and steadfast love, we pray that your presence tonight might be felt clearly in this Holy Week, your victory displayed openly in our midst and around the world. We pray all of these things both spoken and set deeply in our hearts in the name of Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
Benediction
May God’s justice guide you, despite the injustice of the cross.
May God’s mercy shelter you, though Jesus was given no mercy.
May God’s peace calm you, though hearts are torn with grief.
May God’s hope sustain you, even beside the tomb.
May the salvation of God lead you beyond despair to the glory that awaits those who endure, abiding in this world with hope and heart.
May you walk forward with the suffering, the lost, and the hopeless, so that in God’s light we may receive light, even in this darkest of times.
Amen.
Seven Last Words of Christ
Introduction
The seven expressions, commonly known as the “Seven Last Words of Christ” are attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. They are gathered from the four canonical Gospels—3 exclusively from Luke, 3 exclusively from John and I found in both Matthew and Mark. Since the 16th century, these seven expressions have been used to remember Christ at Good Friday services. What you are about to experience is a Christian approach to the construction of Gospel harmony producing a fuller picture of the crucifixion.
The Seven Last Words of Christ have also been summarized by these one-word descriptions: 1. Forgiveness, 2. Salvation, 3. Relationships, 4. Abandonment, 5. Distress, 6. Triumph, and 7. Reunion. As pastors, we invite you to experience the passion of Christ on the Cross through our God-inspired interpretations.
7th Word—Luke 23:46
Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
In Luke’s account, the moment of death leads not to a cry of God-forsakenness that we see in Matthew 27:46 or Mark 15:34. Before Jesus died, he gave an equally strong cry of declaring God’s presence: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus quoted from Psalm 31:5 where it reads, “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me O Lord, faithful God.” Jesus’ faith in his Father announces that it’s God who saves.
We live in a world that emphasizes the importance of being totally and absolutely self-sufficient so that we can be in control. We control our prosperity by getting a good education. We control our relationships with our many electronic gadgetries that we use on Facebook and email. We try to control our family life by planning for a perfect home and raising perfect kids. Rarely do we let go and give up our controls and place them in the hand of God. When we can do that, we recognize that beside ourselves, there is God whom we can trust to lead us and to whom we can truly count on. Jesus did that even in the agony of his death. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
Jesus the Christ does not save himself, but rather places his own salvation in God’s hands. Saving faith encompasses the promises of salvation that God gives and the presence of God in the holy and righteous Christ in whom those promises are secured. The faith that saves is Jesus’ own faith, as can be seen from his quotation of Psalm 31:5.
One of the fun things we do with grandkids is to have them jump into our arms. They would stand on a chair and you would tell them to jump and they would because they trust that your arms and hands will catch them. When they make this leap of faith, you would give them a hug and a kiss because they trusted in you to keep them safe. Our grandkids have faith in us. Jesus commended his spirit into God’s hands because he trusted in God his Father.
Jesus is the model of that faith, and hence the model for all who follow—a model in faith, as well as in obedience and holiness, of the wholly God-centered life.
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” is a prayer of trust in God and the committing of his spirit into God’s care. There is nothing here of anger or doubt or thrashing about in the throes of death. Rather, in the spirit of serenity, acceptance, and trust, Jesus died sometime in the afternoon of the day before the Sabbath, which was Passover.
In our own walk with God, might we trust God with our lives that we too may say, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.” In so doing, we are saved because of Jesus’ own faith in his Father to care for him even at death.