Journey from Death to Life—The Easter Vigil

In the darkness of Jesus’ death, Christians gather to keep vigil and await the dawn—to pray, sing, and remind one another of God’s promises and salvation. The Saturday vigil helps us travel the way from darkness to light, from uncertainty to joy, from death to life. The Old Testament stories appointed for the Vigil are powerful stories we share that reflect the stories of our spiritual journey.

The Vigil journey is shaped by stories, but words are not the focus; rather, the worship offers experiences and images of the word along the way. Recurring in this journey are the elements of fire, water, earth, and air. Like the people of Israel escaping Egypt, we follow a pillar of fire, in the form of the paschal candle. In baptism, we “come to the waters,” as Isaiah 55 invites us to do, and we also encounter stories of the flood and the Red Sea. We hear how earth is created and enlivened and renewed by the breath of God’s Spirit.

In the Vigil of Easter we learn again that these are not just old stories, but also our stories. In worship these stories lead us to one of faith’s most dramatic and life-giving journeys: the faith journey. Romans 6 reminds us that in baptism we experience God’s promises and salvation for us: We are buried, raised, and united with Christ. In this we are also united with one another, so that in Christian community we accompany one another on all our journeys. The Vigil celebrates the faith journey by making room for all the elements and emotions of life, and it calls us into a community that can make that journey together as it trusts in the promise of God’s saving grace.  

The service readings are long so I have given the references for the stories but chosen verses that summarize the stories.  The psalm responses are complete.  Enjoy.

Let us pray:  Lord, open our eyes as we read, our ears to hear your voice, and our hearts to receive your words.

First Reading: Genesis 1:1—2:4a Creation

 ¹In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

First Response: Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

God’s mercy endures forever. (Ps. 136:1)

 ¹Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good,

  for God’s mercy endures forever.

 ²Give thanks to the God of gods,

  for God’s mercy endures forever.

 ³Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ⁴who alone does great wonders,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ⁵who by wisdom made the heavens,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ⁶who spread out the earth upon the waters,

  for God’s mercy endures forever; 

 ⁷who made the great lights—

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ⁸the sun to govern the day,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ⁹the moon and the stars to govern the night,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ²³who remembered us in our low estate,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ²⁴and rescued us from our enemies,

  for God’s mercy endures forever;

 ²⁵who gives food to all creatures,

  for God’s mercy endures forever.

 ²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven,

  for God’s mercy endures forever. 

Second Reading: Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13  Flood

¹Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation… ⁴For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

 ^9:8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹²God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

Second Response: Psalm 46

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. (Ps. 46:4)

 ¹God is our refuge and strength,

  a very present help in trouble.

 ²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,

  and though the mountains shake in the depths of the sea;

 ³though its waters rage and foam,

  and though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

 ⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

  the holy habitation of the Most High. 

 ⁵God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be shaken;

  God shall help it at the break of day.

 ⁶The nations rage, and the kingdoms shake;

  God speaks, and the earth melts away.

 ⁷The Lord of hosts is with us;

  the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

 ⁸Come now, regard the works of the Lord,

  what desolations God has brought upon the earth; 

 ⁹behold the one who makes war to cease in all the world;

  who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire.

 ¹⁰“Be still, then, and know that I am God;

  I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us;

  the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 

Third Reading: Genesis 22:1-18. Testing of Abraham

¹God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”  

    Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁷I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, ¹⁸and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Third Response: Psalm 16

You will show me the path of life. (Ps. 16:11)

 ¹Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you;

  I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my good above all other.”

 ²All my delight is in the godly that are in the land,

  upon those who are noble among the people.

 ³But those who run after other gods

  shall have their troubles multiplied.

 ⁴I will not pour out drink offerings to such gods,

  never take their names upon my lips. 

 ⁵O Lord, you are my portion and my cup;

  it is you who uphold my lot.

 ⁶My boundaries enclose a pleasant land;

  indeed, I have a rich inheritance.

 ⁷I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

  my heart teaches me night after night.

 ⁸I have set the Lord always before me;

  because God is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 

 ⁹My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices;

  my body also shall rest in hope.

 ¹⁰For you will not abandon me to the grave,

  nor let your holy one see the pit.

 ¹¹You will show me the path of life;

  in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Fourth Reading: Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21. Deliverance at the Red Sea

(The Israelites have been freed from Egypt only to come to the Red Sea with the Egyptian army coming from behind and the sea before!)

¹³But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”

³¹Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

 ^15:20Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. ²¹And Miriam sang to them: 

 “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

 horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Fourth Response: Exodus 15:1b-13, 17-18

I will sing to the Lord, who has triumphed gloriously. (Ex. 15:1)

 ^1bI will sing to the Lord, who has triumphed gloriously;

  throwing horse and rider into the sea.

 ²The Lord is my strength and my might,

  and has become my salvation;

 this is my God—this God I will praise;

  my father’s God—this God I will exalt.

 ³The Lord is a warrior;

  the Lord is his name. 

 ⁴The Lord hurled Pharaoh’s chariots and army into the sea;

  his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

 ⁵The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.

 ⁶Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—

  your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

 ⁷In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;

  you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble. 

 ⁸At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

 ⁹The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.

  I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”

 ¹⁰You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;

  they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

 ¹¹“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

  Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? 

 ¹²You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them.

 ¹³In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;

  you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

 ¹⁷You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession, the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,

 the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.

  ¹⁸The Lord will reign forever and ever. 

Fifth Reading: Isaiah 55:1-11.  Even in the Old Testament salvation is freely offered to all nations

 ¹Ho, everyone who thirsts,

  come to the waters;

 and you that have no money,

  come, buy and eat!

 Come, buy wine and milk

  without money and without price.

 ²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

  and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

 Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,

  and delight yourselves in rich food.

 ³Incline your ear, and come to me;

  listen, so that you may live.

 I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

  my steadfast, sure love for David.

 ⁴See, I made him a witness to the peoples,

  a leader and commander for the peoples.

 ⁵See, you shall call nations that you do not know,

  and nations that do not know you shall run to you,

 because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,

  for he has glorified you.

 ⁶Seek the Lord while he may be found,

  call upon him while he is near;

 ⁷let the wicked forsake their way,

  and the unrighteous their thoughts;

 let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,

  and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

 ⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

  nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

 ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

  so are my ways higher than your ways

  and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 ¹⁰For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

  and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

 making it bring forth and sprout,

  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

 ¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

  it shall not return to me empty,

 but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

  and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Fifth Response: Isaiah 12:2-6

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Is. 12:3)

 ²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid,

  for the Lord God is my strength and my might, and has become my salvation.

 ³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 

 ⁴And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on God’s name;

  make known the deeds of the Lord among the nations; proclaim that this name is exalted.

 ⁵Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

  let this be known in all the earth.

 ⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. 

Sixth Reading: Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6. The wisdom of God

 ¹Does not wisdom call,

  and does not understanding raise her voice?

 ²On the heights, beside the way,

  at the crossroads she takes her stand;

 ³beside the gates in front of the town,

  at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

 ⁴“To you, O people, I call,

  and my cry is to all that live.

 ⁵O simple ones, learn prudence;

  acquire intelligence, you who lack it.

 ⁶Hear, for I will speak noble things,

  and from my lips will come what is right;

 ⁷for my mouth will utter truth;

  wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

 ⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous;

  there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

 ¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,

  and my yield than choice silver.

 ²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness,

  along the paths of justice,

 ²¹endowing with wealth those who love me,

  and filling their treasuries.

  ^9:4bTo those without sense she says,

 ⁵“Come, eat of my bread

  and drink of the wine I have mixed.

 ⁶Lay aside immaturity, and live,

  and walk in the way of insight.”

Sixth Response: Psalm 19 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice  the heart. (Ps. 19:8)

 ¹The heavens declare the glory of God, 

and the sky proclaims its maker’s handiwork.

 ²One day tells its tale to another,

  and one night imparts knowledge to another.

 ³Although they have no words or language,

  and their voices are not heard,

 ⁴their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world, where God has pitched a tent for the sun.

 ⁵It comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;

  it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

 ⁶It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

 ⁷The teaching of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;

  the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple.

 ⁸The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;

  the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes. 

 ⁹The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever;

  the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

 ¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,

  sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

 ¹¹By them also is your servant enlightened,

  and in keeping them there is great reward.

 ¹²Who can detect one’s own offenses?

  Cleanse me from my secret faults.

 ¹³Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me;

  then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

 ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,

  O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. 

Seventh Reading: Ezekiel 36:24-28. A new heart and a new spirit.

²⁴I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. ²⁸Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Seventh Response: Psalm 42–43. I thirst for God, for the living God. (Ps. 42:2)

 ¹As the deer longs for the water-brooks,

  so longs my soul for you, O God.

 ²I thirst for God, for the living God;

  when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

 ³My tears have been my food day and night,

  while all day long they say to me, “Where now is your God?”

 ⁴I pour out my soul when I think on these things;

  how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God, with shouts of thanksgiving, among those keeping festival. 

 ⁵Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me?

  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help and my God.

 ⁶My soul is heavy within me;

  therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

 ⁷One deep calls to another in the roar of your cascades;

  all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

 ⁸The Lord grants lovingkindness in the daytime;

  in the night season the Lord’s song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 

 ⁹I will say to the God of my strength, “Why have you rejected me,

  and why do I wander in such gloom while the enemy oppresses me?”

 ¹⁰While my bones are being broken, my enemies mock me to my face;

  all day long they mock me and say to me, “Where now is your God?”

 ¹¹Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquiet-ed within me?

  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help and my God.

 ^{43: 1}Give judgment for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked. 

 ²For you are the God of my strength; why have you rejected me,

  and why do I wander in such gloom while the enemy oppresses me?

 ³Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me,

  and bring me to your holy hill and to your sanctuary;

 ⁴that I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness;

  and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.

 ⁵Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me?

  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help and my God. 

Eighth Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14. Valley of the dry bones

¹The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

Eighth Response: Psalm 143

Revive me, O Lord, for your name’s sake. (Ps. 143:11)

 ¹Lord, hear my prayer, and in your faithfulness heed my supplications;

  answer me in your righteousness.

 ²Enter not into judgment with your servant,

  for in your sight shall no one living be justified.

 ³For my enemy has sought my life and has crushed me to the ground,

  making me live in dark places like those who are long dead.

 ⁴My spirit faints within me; my heart within me is desolate. 

 ⁵I remember the time past; I ponder all your deeds;

  I consider the works of your hands.

 ⁶I spread out my hands to you;

  my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land.

 ⁷O Lord, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me;

  do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the pit.

 ⁸Let me hear of your lovingkindness in the morning, for I put my trust in you;

  show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to you. 

 ⁹Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord,

  for I flee to you for refuge.

 ¹⁰Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God;

  let your good spirit lead me on level ground.

 ¹¹Revive me, O Lord, for your name’s sake;

  for your righteousness’ sake, bring me out of trouble.

 ¹²In your steadfast love, destroy my enemies and bring all my foes to naught, for truly I am your servant.

Ninth Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20. The gathering of God’s people

 ¹⁴Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

  shout, O Israel!

 Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

  O daughter Jerusalem!

 ¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,

  he has turned away your enemies.

 The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

  you shall fear disaster no more.

 ¹⁶On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

 Do not fear, O Zion;

  do not let your hands grow weak.

 ¹⁷The Lord, your God, is in your midst,

  a warrior who gives victory;

 he will rejoice over you with gladness,

  he will renew you in his love;

 he will exult over you with loud singing

  ¹⁸as on a day of festival.

 I will remove disaster from you,

  so that you will not bear reproach for it.

 ¹⁹I will deal with all your oppressors

  at that time.

 And I will save the lame

  and gather the outcast,

 and I will change their shame into praise

  and renown in all the earth.

 ²⁰At that time I will bring you home,

  at the time when I gather you;

 for I will make you renowned and praised

  among all the peoples of the earth,

 when I restore your fortunes

  before your eyes, says the Lord.

Ninth Response: Psalm 98

Lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing. (Ps. 98:4)

 ¹Sing a new song to the Lord, who has done marvelous things,

  whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.

 ²O Lord, you have made known your victory,

  you have revealed your righteousness in the sight of the nations. 

 ³You remember your steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;

  all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

 ⁴Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands;

  lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

 ⁵Sing to the Lord with the harp,

  with the harp and the voice of song.

 ⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn

  shout with joy before the king, the Lord. 

 ⁷Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,

  the world and those who dwell therein.

 ⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,

  and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, who comes to judge the earth.

 ⁹The Lord will judge the world with righteousness

  and the peoples with equity. 

Tenth Reading: Jonah 1:1–2:1. The deliverance of Jonah

¹Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ²“Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” ³But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 

¹⁵So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

 ¹⁷But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

 ^2:1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.

Tenth Response: Jonah 2:2-3 [4-6] 7-9

Deliverance belongs to the Lord. (Jon. 2:9)

 ²I called to the Lord out of my distress, and you answered me;

  out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

 ³You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me;

  all your waves and your billows passed over me. 

[ ⁴Then I said, “I am driven away from your sight;

  how shall I look again upon your holy temple?”

 ⁵The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me;

  weeds were wrapped around my head ⁶at the roots of the mountains.

 I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

  yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God.

]  ⁷As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord;

  and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

 ⁸Those who worship vain idols

  forsake their true loyalty.

 ⁹But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;

  what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord! 

Eleventh Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 9-11  Clothed in the garments of salvation

 ¹The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

  because the Lord has anointed me;

 he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

  to bind up the brokenhearted,

 to proclaim liberty to the captives,

  and release to the prisoners;

 ²to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

  and the day of vengeance of our God;

  to comfort all who mourn;

 ³to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

  to give them a garland instead of ashes,

 the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

  the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

 They will be called oaks of righteousness,

  the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

 ⁴They shall build up the ancient ruins,

  they shall raise up the former devastations;

 they shall repair the ruined cities,

  the devastations of many generations.

 ⁹Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

  and their offspring among the peoples;

 all who see them shall acknowledge

  that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

 ¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

  my whole being shall exult in my God;

 for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

 as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

  and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

 ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

  and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

 so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

  to spring up before all the nations.

Eleventh Response: Deuteronomy 32:1-4, 7, 36a, 43a

Great is our God, the Rock, whose ways are just. (Dt. 32:4)

 ¹Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;

  let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

 ²May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew;

  like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth.

 ³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!

 ⁴“Great is our God, the Rock, whose work is perfect, whose ways are just:

  a faithful God, without deceit, just and upright.” 

 ⁷Remember the days of old, consider the years long past;

 ask your father, and he will inform you;

  your elders, and they will tell you.

 ^36aSurely, you will vindicate your people,

  and have compassion on your servants.

 ^43aRejoice with the Lord, you heavens;

  bow down in worship, all you gods! 

Twelfth Reading: Daniel 3:1-29. Deliverance from the fiery furnace

 ¹King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 

⁴the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” 

¹²There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

 ¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. ¹⁷If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

 ²⁸Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”

Tweflth Response: Song of the Three 

All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord. 

You angels of the Lord, bless the Lord;

 you heavens, bless the Lord;

 all you powers of the Lord, bless the Lord. 

All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;

 all you wild animals and cattle, bless the Lord;

 all you children of mortals, bless the Lord. 

You people of God, bless the Lord;

 you priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;

 you servants of the Lord, bless the Lord. 

You spirits and souls of the righteous, bless the Lord;

 you holy and humble in heart, bless the Lord;

 let us bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

New Testament Reading: Romans 6:3-11

³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

 ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: John 20:1-18

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

 ¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Let us pray: Thank you Lord for walking through life, into eternity with us. Amen.

First Reading:  Isaiah 52:13-53:12

 ¹³See, my servant shall prosper;

  he shall be exalted and lifted up,

  and shall be very high.

 ¹⁴Just as there were many who were astonished at him

  —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

  and his form beyond that of mortals—

 ¹⁵so he shall startle many nations;

  kings shall shut their mouths because of him;

 for that which had not been told them they shall see,

  and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

 ^53:1Who has believed what we have heard?

  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

 ²For he grew up before him like a young plant,

  and like a root out of dry ground;

 he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

  nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

 ³He was despised and rejected by others;

  a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

 and as one from whom others hide their faces

  he was despised, and we held him of no account.

 ⁴Surely he has borne our infirmities

  and carried our diseases;

 yet we accounted him stricken,

  struck down by God, and afflicted.

 ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions,

  crushed for our iniquities;

 upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

  and by his bruises we are healed.

 ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray;

  we have all turned to our own way,

 and the Lord has laid on him

  the iniquity of us all.

 ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

  yet he did not open his mouth;

 like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

  and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

  so he did not open his mouth.

 ⁸By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

  Who could have imagined his future?

 For he was cut off from the land of the living,

  stricken for the transgression of my people.

 ⁹They made his grave with the wicked

  and his tomb with the rich,

 although he had done no violence,

  and there was no deceit in his mouth.

 ¹⁰Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

 When you make his life an offering for sin,

  he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

 through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.

  ¹¹Out of his anguish he shall see light;

 he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

  The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

  and he shall bear their iniquities.

 ¹²Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

  and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

 because he poured out himself to death,

  and was numbered with the transgressors;

 yet he bore the sin of many,

  and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm: Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Ps. 22:1)

 ¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

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

 ²My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer;

  by night, but I find no rest.

 ³Yet you are the Holy One,

  enthroned on the praises of Israel.

 ⁴Our ancestors put their trust in you,

  they trusted, and you rescued them. 

 ⁵They cried out to you and were delivered;

  they trusted in you and were not put to shame.

 ⁶But as for me, I am a worm and not human,

  scorned by all and despised by the people.

 ⁷All who see me laugh me to scorn;

  they curl their lips; they shake their heads.

 ⁸“Trust in the Lord; let theLord deliver;

  let God rescue him if God so delights in him.” 

 ⁹Yet you are the one who drew me forth from the womb,

  and kept me safe on my mother’s breast.

 ¹⁰I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born;

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

 ¹¹Be not far from me, for trouble is near,

  and there is no one to help.

 ¹²Many young bulls encircle me;

  strong bulls of Bashan surround me. 

 ¹³They open wide their jaws at me,

  like a slashing and roaring lion.

 ¹⁴I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint;

  my heart within my breast is melting wax.

 ¹⁵My 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.

 ¹⁶Packs of dogs close me in, a band of evildoers circles round me; they pierce my hands and my feet.

 ¹⁷I can count ^| all my bones while they stare at me and gloat.

 ¹⁸They divide my garments among them;

  for my clothing, they cast lots.

 ¹⁹But you, O Lord, be not far away;

  O my help, hasten to my aid.

 ²⁰Deliver me from the sword,

  my life from the power of the dog.

 ²¹Save me from the lion’s mouth!

  From the horns of wild bulls you have rescued me.

 ²²I will declare your name to my people;

  in the midst of the assembly I will praise you. 

 ²³You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s line, give glory. Stand in awe of the Lord, all you offspring of Israel.

 ²⁴For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither is the Lord’s face hidden from them;

  but when they cry out, the Lord hears them.

 ²⁵From you comes my praise in the great assembly;

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

 ²⁶The poor shall eat and be satisfied, Let those who seek the Lord give praise! May your hearts live forever!

 ²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

  all the families of nations shall bow before God.

 ²⁸For dominion belongs to the Lord,

  who rules over the nations. 

 ²⁹Indeed, all who sleep in the earth shall bow down in worship;

  all who go down to the dust, though they be dead, shall kneel before the Lord.

 ³⁰Their descendants shall serve the Lord,

  whom they shall proclaim to generations to come.

 ³¹They shall proclaim God’s deliverance to a people yet unborn,

  saying to them, “The Lord has acted!” 

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:16-25

 [After the Holy Spirit says,] ¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them

  after those days, says the Lord:

 I will put my laws in their hearts,

  and I will write them on their minds,”

¹⁷he also adds,

 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

 ¹⁹Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Gospel: John 18:1-19:42

 John 18:1-9

¹[Jesus] went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So 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. ⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” ⁵They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” 

Hymn:  Jesus, Name Above All Names https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-X1EoecpeE

(Naida Hearn from Palmerston North, New Zealand went to her “wash house” to do the laundry one day in 1970.  She carried a list of names for Jesus she had written down for years.  She put the list on the window sill and opened her mouth and started singing, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  She left the laundry and went to the house and wrote down the song and returned to do her laundry. The song spread in New Zealand and came to the USA to bless many.) 

 John 18: 10-14

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

 ¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

Spoken Hymn   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ZBhSxWots

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May I run the race before me

Strong and brave to face the foe

Looking only onto Jesus

As I onward go.

(We know little about Kate Wilkinson, author of this hymn who was a member of the Church of England and involved in the Keswick Deeper Life Movement.  The song has inspired people facing difficult times like Covid-19.  The song was published in 1925 when she was 66 years old. Christ said, “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me.”)

John 18:15-32

 ¹⁵Simon 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, ¹⁶but 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. ¹⁷The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now 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.

 ¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰Jesus 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. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

 ²⁵Now 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.” ²⁶One 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?” ²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

 ²⁸Then 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. ²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹Pilate 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.” ³²(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

Hymn:  Just As I Am:  ELW 592: v. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucUa13ciOM

Just as I am – without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

(This hymn by Charlotte Elliot, 1789-1871, is said to have influenced more people than any sermon ever preached.  At age 30 she became an invalid for the rest of her 82 years.  A Swiss evangelist, visiting her challenged her that she could come to Jesus just as she was, distressed, an invalid. Peter denied Christ.  Witnesses lied.  Politics.  We are all guilty of falling short and come to this story, just as we are. These words inspired this famous hymn and she was later considered one of the finest English hymn writers.)

John 18: 33-19:12

 ³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate 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?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate 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.” ³⁸Pilate 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. ³⁹But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

 ^19:1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. ⁴Pilate 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.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ⁶When 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.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

 ⁸Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰Pilate 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?” ¹¹Jesus 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.” ¹²From 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.”

Spoken Hymn: This is My Father’s World 

This is my father’s world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres

This is my father’s world
Oh, let me never forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet.

This is my father’s world
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is king, let the heavens sing

God is the ruler yet.

(Maltbie Davenoirt Babcock, a minister in Lockport, New York, at the turn of the Twentieth Century and author of these words, would walk beside Lake Ontario.  He always left home telling his wife, “I’m going out to see my Father’s world.  What is truth and where to find it?  God is ultimately king in all circumstances.)

John 19:13-30

 ¹³When 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. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” ¹⁵They 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.” ¹⁶Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. 

  So they took Jesus; ¹⁷and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Many 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. ²¹Then 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.’ ” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” ²³When 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. ²⁴So 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.”

²⁵And 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. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

 ²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A 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. ³⁰When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Hymn:  Were You There When They Crucified My Lord  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhGYD1svTM4

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
(Ohh, sometimes it causes me to tremble)

(This is one of the most famous African American songs that arose from their communal experience of slavery and was first published  in 1899 in William E. Barton’s Old Plantation Songs in the section “Recent Negro Melodies.” Originally it had four stanzas: 1) Were you there when they crucified my Lord?; 2) …when they nailed him to the cross?; 3) …when they pierced him in the side?; 4) …when the sun refused to shine. The United Methodist Hymnal, along with many other songbooks, includes a fifth: “…when they laid him in the tomb.” The series of questions are meant to function as a prompt to memories that go beyond recall to bring incorporation into our present lives and to that become part of our story.)

John 19:31-42

 ³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³²Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) ³⁶These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

 ³⁸After 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. ³⁹Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now 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. ⁴²And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Hymn:  Jesus Remember Me When You Come Into Your Kingdom.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGB2E0NzO2A

Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

forever and ever. Amen.

We close in silence.

This evening we enter the Upper Room.  First, Jesus washes our feet, forgiveness.  Next we gather around the Last Supper, communion with the Him.  Finally Jesus gives a new mandate, commandment. We head to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Good Friday service tomorrow.  

Gathering Hymn:   “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf_glkmbNbQ

First Reading: Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14

¹The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ²This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. ³Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. ⁴If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. [⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. ⁷They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. ¹⁰You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ] ¹¹This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

 ¹⁴This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. (Ps. 116:13)

 ¹I love the Lord, who has heard my voice,

  and listened to my supplication,

 ²for the Lord has given ear to me whenever I called.

 ¹²How  shall I repay the Lord

  for all the good things God has done for me?

 ¹³I will lift the cup of salvation

  and call on the name of the Lord. 

 ¹⁴I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

  in the presence of all God’s people.

 ¹⁵Precious in your sight, O Lord,

  is the death of your servants.

 ¹⁶O Lord, truly I am your servant;

  I am your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.

 ¹⁷I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

  and call upon the name of the Lord.

 ¹⁸I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

  in the presence of all God’s people,

 ¹⁹in the courts of the Lord’s house,

  in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Gospel

 John 13:1-10

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 

Let us pray.  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Sermon – Part 1

WASHING:  a bowl of water

Maundy Thursday has three major parts: foot washing, communion, and the new commandment.  The journey we go through this evening parallels our growth in faith. In this final meal with the disciples, Jesus is physically walking us through truth.  First we must be washed. We can then relax in His presence and commune with him.  We then are prepared to relate to others as channels of God’s love.

      The evening opens with Jesus humbling himself and washing the feet of the disciples.  Peter objects.  Jesus finally responds,  “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”   Without the washing away of sin, our relationships with God and people are dysfunctional. 

This bowl of water represents FOREGIVENESS

Walter Wangerin Jr wrote a book, As For Me and My House, that I have given to all my children when they married.  While about marriage, it really is talking about all our relationships with others.  His seventh chapter is on forgiveness.  Conflict with others is unavoidable.  But how to resolve it is the dilemma.  For relationship to be restored we must do the work offorgiveness – for our sake.  Whether the pain is with someone deceased, someone distant, or with someone close, broken relationships drain us. It often takes a miracle to find reconciliation – God washing our feet.

Wangerin shares: “Forgiveness is not just forgetting, it is not automatically healed by time, is not a change of heart on our part, and certainly is not just turning to the other and saying as our parent demanded “I forgive you,” Forgiveness requires a realistic evaluation; reflection to decide if our pride was hurt or if there was truly a sin committed.  Realistically name it.  Next, breathe deep and remember our own forgiveness.  I sacrifice my rights as “forgiveness places the burden of  reconciliation upon the one who suffered the mess”. Then, if possible, the offended goes to the other and in clear words followed by actions that live out forgiveness, seeks forgiveness.  

Jesus comes to the disciples, even Judas whom he knew would betray him and Peter whom he knew would deny him, and washes their feet.  He knew they needed to be washed to start the evening.  Their feet were dirty.  We start our service with confession and forgiveness in this truth.  Let us act out that process.  Take your fingers, as if they have water you want to shake off and I invite you now to shake water on your feet to represent the places you go, or draw a cross on the back of your hands to represent the things you do, or mark a cross on your forehead to symbolize washing your thoughts, or on your ears to symbolize what you listen to, or on your lips for better speech, or even perhaps on your heart for grudges harbored.  Todaywe have the opportunity to get real with God about places in our lives that we know we need Him to wash. 

Let us hear the words of king David as he prayed

   “Have mercy on me, O God; according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. (Psm 51:1-4)”

Hymn: “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egk-pX_1nHg

 Gospel: Matthew 26:26-29

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

 Sermon Part 2

COMMUNION: a loaf of bread and a cup of wine

Lighting the Passover candles was one of the two duties for women in the Old Testament.  Our feet are washed and we now sit at the table with Jesus.

 The Candle represents PRESENCE

This evening let us put aside theological questions of Communion being a sacrament or an institution of remembrance.  It is a ritual of intensification.  We are living out our faith, as we understand it. We do not need to discuss bread, unleavened or potato chips, or of wine, fermented or unfermented.  Today we are in the presence of Jesus who has just washed our feet, and who now invites us to commune with him.

Jesus assures us that whether we are battling for our lives with a health concern or a frightening diagnosis, overwhelmed by anxiety for the unseen danger that threatens our loved ones, or overwhelmed from the continual catastrophic news on TV, Jesus has covenanted with us to be present.  Please hear these verses.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me (Psm. 23:4)”

“He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121: 3,4)”

¹⁰ do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)”

The Great Commission ends with, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt 28: 20)”

Hymn: “Amazing Grace.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQCiaG9G8s

Gospel: John 13: 31b-35

  ^31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Sermon Part 3

SERVING:  A Spoon

We come to the end of Maundy Thursday and Jesus starts to turn his face to the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial and Calvary.  The meal is finished and he gives his disciples and a “new commandment.”  Maundy is the word from which mandate or command comes.  ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  This is not a “new” command in the sense of being different.  This is the summary of the law and the prophets. 

The Spoon represents LOVE

During Lent we have encountered Jesus as “the Word,” “the light of the world,” the one who came to his creation and gave to all who received him the power to become children of God.  We have followed Jesus as he dealt with Nicodemus and helped him to see he could be born again.  Jesus gave security and new life to the woman at the well with a past, rejected by men but seen in the light of God’s love.  Jesus literally created eyes so that the man born blind could see the truth of his deity better than those who had physical sight.  Jesus now says the heart of the law is not rules to keep God happy like the laws of the kingdom of this world but the heart of the kingdom of heaven is love, God’s love for all. 

If you take the spoon in your hand – it can be held out to reach for and drink the water of forgiveness.  It can also be turned upside down so that the water poured over the spoon flows outward to those around.  Jesus in these words is telling us to take that spoon and dip it into the bowl of water to give water to others, to plants in your house, to wash hands or feet, to bless others and to live as forgiven people. 

Jesus in this “new” command, reframes the Ten Commandments, not to give a different commandment but to give us a new perspective and way of understanding the Ten Commandments.  Have “no other gods before me,” is “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength.”  Do not swear is now to use God’s name to express love and blessing, not for cursing.  We go to church to refocus on what is important and eternal.  We honor family and commitments.  We don’t take life, we give life.  We don’t objectify the other for our lusts but honor and respect others’ bodies.  We don’t take but we give to others.  We don’t tear down others but build them up.  We rejoice in other’s accomplishments.  Matthew has Jesus answering the question about the greatest commandment in the Law by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.”

As we look at the bowl of water that represents how we have been forgiven, as we consider the loaf of bread that represents communion at the Last Supper, as we look at the candle and remember that Jesus is with us all the time, we also look at the spoon as a symbol of how we now relate to others. Are we treating others, as we would hope Jesus is treating us? He touched the leper; he didn’t toss the rock at the woman caught in adultery.  He talked with an adulterous woman at the well.  He cast out demons.  He chose disciples from ordinary people like you and me.  Now he summarizes the Law, not in the 600 plus rules that must be followed to please God, but in a simple command to love as Jesus loves, who gave his life for others. 

A bowl of water, A loaf of bread, A candle, A spoon

Tonight we bow in the tremendous knowledge that we are forgiven, we are guardians of God’s light, and we are the spoon to feed others God’s love.  Let us pray.

Lord, Thank you.

Hymn:  “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love.”     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvQz513Jl8M

Gospel:  Matthew 26: 26-29

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

SERMON – Part 2 

Lighting the Passover candles was one of the two duties for women in the Old Testament.  Washed, we now sit at the table with Jesus. Light the candle in front of you to symbolize that you are in the presence of the Light of the World.

PRESENCE – A Candle

Jesus assures us that whether we are battling for our lives with Covid-19, overwhelmed by anxiety for the unseen danger that threatens our loved ones, or just plain bored from sitting in our homes, Jesus has covenanted with us to be present.  

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me (Psm. 23:4)”

“He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121: 3,4)”

¹⁰ do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God;  I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)”

The Great Commission ends with, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt 28: 20)

Prayer:  Lord bless this bread and wine to strengthen us for our journey as we remember your sacrifice and presence with us. Amen.

Hymn: “Amazing Grace.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQCiaG9G8s

Gospel: John 13: 31b-35

  ^31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

SERMON: Part 3

LOVE – A Spoon

We come to the end of Maundy Thursday and Jesus starts to turn his face to the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial and Calvary.  The meal is finished and he turns to the disciples and gives them a “new commandment.”  Maundy is the word from which mandate or command comes. 

  Take the spoon in your hand.  It can be held to reach for and drink the water of forgiveness.  It can also be turned upside down so that the water poured over the spoon flows outward to those around.  Jesus in these words is telling us to take that spoon and dip it into the bowl of water to give water to others, to plants in your house, to wash hands or feet, to bless others and to live as forgiven people.  

Jesus in this “new” command reframes the Ten Commandments, not to give a different commandment but to give us a new perspective and way of understanding the Ten Commandments.  Have “no other gods before me,” is “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength.”  Do not swear is now to use God’s name to express love and blessing.  We go to church to refocus on what is important and eternal.  We honor family and commitments.  We don’t take life, we give life.  We don’t objectify the other for our lusts but honor and respect others’ bodies.  We don’t take but we give to others.  We don’t tear down others but build them up.  We rejoice in other’s accomplishments.  Matthew has Jesus answering the question about the greatest commandment in the Law by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Water, A candle, A spoon

Tonight we bow in the tremendous knowledge that we are forgiven, we are guardians of God’s light, and we are the spoon to feed others God’s love.  Let us pray.

Lord, Thank you.

Hymn:  “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love.”     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvQz513Jl8M

Let us close with The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

Dismissal:  The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord make his face shine upon you.  The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.  Amen.

MARK 14:3

3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.

It is two days before the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  According to the Internet, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was “The first of the three major annual festivals of the Israelites. It began on Nisan 15, the day after Passover, and continued for seven days. Only unleavened bread could be eaten, in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.​“ I’m sure people were busy getting ready for the festival.   My children would have been delighted to have chapatis for seven days plus special story telling.  I can imagine that it might not be that different from our preparations for Christmas or Easter, special foods and focus on traditions.  An unnamed woman comes into the home of Simon “the leper.”  Jesus and his followers are eating with a man cured of leprosy.  I imagine Simon was deeply grateful that he was no longer ostracized and could eat with friends.  The unnamed woman is grateful also.  She brings a jar of nard and anoints Jesus’ head.

Simon gave a feast and invited friends he had been alienated from because of leprosy.  The woman bought a valuable jar of perfume to anoint Jesus.  We can debate the who-s in the story but the people objected to so costly a gift that could have been sold and the money used to help the poor.  Jesus rebuke’s their criticism and accepts her gift even as he accepted the invitation of eat with a former leper — even as he accepts relationship with us sinners.

Maybe your Easter celebration will not involve perfume or a big meal, but let us ponder what we bring with us this Easter as an expression of gratitude for the work of God in our lives.  How will you express gratitude for Jesus’ healing work in your soul?  Take a moment and ponder.  Blessings.

Mark 13:1-37

We are walking through Holy Week with Jesus, tying his story to our story.  We know he is headed to the cross this Friday but his followers did not know this.  We know we are headed to death, hopefully not this Friday, but we do not really understand that either.  Chapter 13 of Mark is like a buffer zone between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday accounts.  The chapter focuses on Jesus and friends leaving the Temple and reflecting on its beauty.  Jesus uses this conversation to refocus his followers onto approaching catastrophic events.  The Temple will be destroyed.  They ask what the signs will be.  Jesus talks about false prophets claiming to be him that will arise.  He talks about geo-political symptoms and persecution.  It does not sound like the reign of the Messiah they were expecting.  How often do we think that God should be producing happy-ever-after in our life and yet really most likely we too will be going through rough times.  Jesus is telling us that these things must happen before we meet him.

He comforts his followers with the image of the fig tree putting forth young shoots that lets us know new life is coming.  Jesus gives his famous quote, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”  He comforts them that no one knows the exact time of the end of life.  Each day is a gift.  Jesus returns to the image of a man leaving on a journey but leaving his servants in charge but at an unknown time then returns.  

Jesus is returning, he has not forgotten us.  The chapter ends with the admonition to “watch!”  So now we have three words.  Mark opens his Gospel with John the Baptist identifying as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.”  At Jesus’ baptism the Father speaks and says, “This is my son.”   At the transfiguration we were admonished by the voice speaking from the cloud to “Listen to him.”  And now we hear from Jesus, “Watch.”

We can argue about how end times will unfold and we can joke about hoping to die in our sleep or in our recliner but the truth is that we just don’t know the day, the time, or the hour.  The best we can do is “watch” and be aware of the significance of events happening around us.  Jesus’ story this week and our story go together.  We are not just looking back on history.  Let us pray for eyes that watch  — not the way we watch TV — but that we will be able to watch our spiritual journey with godly perspective, not just the beauty of life but also the significance of the events swirling around us.  Lord, help.

⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

  Mark 12:41-44

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  Jesus entered Jerusalem to the “Hosannas” of the crowds and people throwing branches on the ground before him.  The masses were expecting a Messiah to rescue them from those Romans, not a Savior who would rescue them for eternity.  Jesus will use this week to give his final teachings as he visits the Temple.

One of the lessons that he focused his followers on while visiting the Temple was directing their eyes to a box where people could give their donations.  It’s kind of like taking the offering at church.  In Kenya  they would have a “harambe.”  “Harambe” was the national motto started by Jomo Kenyatta.  It is Swahili for “let’s pull together.”  So if the car is stuck in the mud, all would get out and put their shoulders to the car and call out in rhythm, “harambe” and push the car.  If a child was going to university, all would gather at the farm and march forward giving money, chickens, eggs, whatever that would help push that child of the community forward.   The fun part then came when the leader would tell the people to look in their inside pockets and find that little extra.  Another round of giving happened.  Then the leader would call for the “noise” offering, the loose change in our pockets to be donated.

Jesus looked at the people giving to the Temple and saw a lady giving a “noise” offering, two small coins, all she had.  Jesus is pointing out that contributions that force us to dig deep into our pockets are just as significant as a publicly acknowledged big gift upfront.  As we come to Holy Week, our text challenges us to think about what we will contribute to our spiritual journey this week.  For many of us we have done the Sunday meeting where we meet friends, have fun services, and put in our weekly offering.  But will we dig into our pockets and take from our reserves?  Maybe we can’t make it to special services on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday but we can take extra time to pray or turn off the radio and decide to sing a praise.  Let us challenge ourselves to think creatively about how we can contribute creatively, beyond our normal habits to the growth of our soul and the growth of the church that supports us.  Blessings.  

Man of Sorrows | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

 ⁴The Lord God has given me
  the tongue of a teacher,
 that I may know how to sustain
  the weary with a word.
 Morning by morning he wakens—
  wakens my ear
  to listen as those who are taught.
 ⁵The Lord God has opened my ear,
  and I was not rebellious,
  I did not turn backward.
 ⁶I gave my back to those who struck me,
  and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
 I did not hide my face
  from insult and spitting.

 ⁷The Lord God helps me;
  therefore I have not been disgraced;
 therefore I have set my face like flint,
  and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
  ⁸he who vindicates me is near.
 Who will contend with me?
  Let us stand up together.
 Who are my adversaries?
  Let them confront me.
 ^9aIt is the Lord God who helps me;
  who will declare me guilty?

Psalm: Psalm 31:9-16

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. (Ps. 31:5)

 ⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
  my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.
 ¹⁰For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;
  my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.
 ¹¹I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to my acquaintances;
  when they see me in the street they avoid me.
 ¹²Like the dead I am forgotten, out of mind;
  I am as useless as a broken pot. 
 ¹³For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;
  they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.
 ¹⁴But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.
  I have said, “You are my God.
 ¹⁵My times are in your hand;
  rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those ​who persecute me.
 ¹⁶Let your face shine upon your servant;
  save me in your steadfast love.” 

Second Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
 ⁶who, though he was in the form of God,
  did not regard equality with God
  as something to be exploited,
 ⁷but emptied himself,
  taking the form of a slave,
  being born in human likeness.
 And being found in human form,
  ⁸he humbled himself
  and became obedient to the point of death—
  even death on a cross.

 ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him
  and gave him the name
  that is above every name,
 ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
  every knee should bend,
  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 ¹¹and every tongue should confess
  that Jesus Christ is Lord,
  to the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL

Our Gospel reading is very long.  It tells the story of the Passion Week that we are entering today.  Between this Sunday, Palm Sunday, and next Sunday, Easter, we will celebrate Maundy Thursday – the initiation of our sacrament of communion. We will hear the new command to love one another.  We will sit in the Garden of Gethsemane and then watch the trial.  We will walk with Jesus to the cross and the tomb.  We will enter HISTORY, HIS-STORY that becomes OUR-STORY.  Please be seated as we enter into history:  His story and our story.

Gospel: Mark 14:1–15:47.

THE PASSION ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK

Mark 14:1-11  

NARRATOR: ​It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, 

CHIEF PRIEST: ​”Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

NARRATOR: ​While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, 

DISCIPLE: ​”Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” 

NARRATOR: ​And they scolded her. 

JESUS:​ “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.

NARRATOR: ​Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR: HIS STORY. OUR STORY   

​CONGREGATION:  Like the woman, we want to kneel ​and honor you with our treasures, Lord.  But we ​​bring to this week our questions about our ​resources and how we can face tomorrow.

Mark 14: 12-31

NARRATOR: ​On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, 

DISCIPLE:​ “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 

NARRATOR: ​So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 

JESUS:​ “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 

NARRATOR:​So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. 

When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said

JESUS:​ “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 

NARRATOR: ​They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, 

DISCIPLE: ​”Surely, not I?” 

JESUS: ​”It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

NARRATOR: ​While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, 

JESUS:​ “Take; this is my body.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, 

JESUS:​ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

NARRATOR: ​When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, 

JESUS: ​”You will all become deserters; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”   

PETER:​ “Even though all become deserters, I will not.”  

JESUS:​ “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”  

PETER: ​”Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” 

NARRATOR: ​And all of them said the same.

​(PAUSE): NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Like Judas or Peter we fall short, ​betray you in search of profit or from fear of others.  ​We want to do right but we fail.

Mark 14:32-43.  

NARRATOR: ​They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 

JESUS: ​”Sit here while I pray.” 

NARRATOR: ​He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, 

JESUS: ​”I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 

NARRATOR: ​And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, 

JESUS:​ “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” 

NARRATOR: ​He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, 

JESUS: ​”Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

NARRATOR: ​And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, 

JESUS: ​”Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION: We bring our exhaustion.  We ​want to pray and take all to you but we tire.  We want ​to trust but we too want our trials to pass.  Help us ​accept your will!

Mark 14: 44-52.

NARRATOR: ​Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, 

JUDAS:​ “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 

NARRATOR: ​So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, 

JUDAS:​ “Rabbi!” 

NARRATOR: ​and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, 

JESUS: ​”Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrestme. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 

NARRATOR: ​All of them deserted him and fled.  A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION: Daily we can meet with you, Lord. ​Help us see clearly. Help us not flee naked in the ​crisis!

Mark 14:53-65. 

NARRATOR​: They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, rightinto the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 

ACCUSER: ​”We heard him say, `I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'” 

NARRATOR: ​But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” 

NARRATOR: ​But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 

JESUS: ​”I am; and `you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and `coming with the clouds of heaven.'”

NARRATOR: ​Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” 

NARRATOR: ​All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, 

ACCUSER: ​”Prophesy!” 

NARRATOR: ​The guards also took him over and beat him.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR: HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  We get caught up in the reports ​of politics and all the conflicting stories.  Help us ​find truth and not be judgmental.

Mark 14:66-72    (Place a tube of toothpaste on the altar.)

NARRATOR:  ​While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, 

SERVANT GIRL:​ “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 

NARRATOR: ​But he denied it, saying, 

PETER:​ “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” 

NARRATOR: ​And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, 

SERVANT GIRL: ​”This man is one of them.” 

NARRATOR: ​But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 

NARRATOR: ​But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, 

PETER:​ “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 

NARRATOR: ​At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, 

JESUS: ​”Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 

NARRATOR: ​And he broke down and wept.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Lord, you know all.  Forgive the ​times I cave in and let fear control my mouth.

Mark 15: 1-15

NARRATOR: ​As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, andhanded him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, 

PILATE:​ “Are you the King of the Jews?”  

JESUS:​ “You say so.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, 

PILATE: ​”Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 

NARRATOR: ​But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

​Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, 

PILATE:​ “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 

NARRATOR: ​For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, 

PILATE:​ “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 

NARRATOR: ​They shouted back, 

CONGREGATION: ​”Crucify him!” 

NARRATOR: ​Pilate asked them, 

PILATE:​ “Why, what evil has he done?” 

NARRATOR: ​But they shouted all the more, 

CONGREGATION: ​”Crucify him!” 

NARRATOR: ​So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Lord, we wash our hands but we ​need you to make our hearts clean.

Mark 15:16-33

NARRATOR:  ​Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, 

SOLDIER:​ “Hail, King of the Jews!” 

NARRATOR:​They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

NARRATOR​:  They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, 

BYSTANDER:​ “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 

NARRATOR: ​In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, 

CHIEF PRIEST: ​”He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” 

NARRATOR: ​Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

​(Pause) NARRATOR: HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY.

​CONGREGATION: Lord forgive our judgmental ​attitudes that turns into mockery.

MARK 15:33-41

NARRATOR:  ​When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 

JESUS: ​”Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” 

NARRATOR: ​which means, 

JESUS:​ “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

NARRATOR: ​When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” 

NARRATOR: ​And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 

CENTURION: ​”Truly this man was God’s Son!”

NARRATOR: ​There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY.

​CONGREGATION: We stand at the foot of the cross ​as the wounded and as those who wound.  We bring ​our wounds to you.

MARK 15:42-47

NARRATOR:  ​When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

NARRATOR:  Let us pray.  Thank you for making your story, our story to prove beyond a doubt that even in our brokenness nothing, not even suffering and death, can separate us from your love.  Death does not have the last word.  Sunday is coming.  Thank you, Lord.

Closing hymn – ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUju31yqll4

Tomorrow we will celebrate Palm Sunday and the psalm reading is Psalm 31:9-16.   The psalm seems to fit in with the readings we have done this week in the gospel of Mark.  After Jesus  the experienced the triumphal entry we will celebrate tomorrow with people welcoming him as the coming Messiah, the mood changes.  The religious leaders are threatened by Jesus cleansing the Temple and by his teachings that seemed to be saying that the religious leaders had not been good tenants in God’s vineyard.  Different religious representatives come to Jesus with questions aimed at catching him in a contradiction.  Jesus finally turns the table on them and does some teaching, but the tension is growing.  We will travel with him this week as these events unfold.  Thursday we call Maundy Thursday because a new mandate, a new commandment, was given at the end of the Last Supper.  Friday is called Good Friday even though it is the day of crucifixion.  For those who go to the various services offered, we will experience the roots of our faith.  Psalm 31 below focuses on the struggles of life and the choice to trust God in the midst of the struggles.  A good entry to Holy Week.  

Psalm: Psalm 31:9-16

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. (Ps. 31:5)

 ⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;

  my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.

 ¹⁰For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;

  my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.

 ¹¹I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to my acquaintances;

  when they see me in the street they avoid me.

 ¹²Like the dead I am forgotten, out of mind;

  I am as useless as a broken pot. 

 ¹³For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;

  they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.

 ¹⁴But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.

  I have said, “You are my God.

 ¹⁵My times are in your hand;

  rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

 ¹⁶Let your face shine upon your servant;

  save me in your steadfast love.” 

³⁸ As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, ³⁹ and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

Mark 12:38-40

Jesus has now started directing the conversation in Mark 12 after a series of teachings based on trick questions religious leaders have presented him.  Yesterday Jesus pointed out that religious leaders do not always understand everything.  We serve a God who works outside our  boxes.  We are often confronted with situations without clear answers for moving forward.  Jesus, who was welcomed by the crowds on Palm Sunday as he might be the expected Messiah, was a descendant of David – his son, but was also called “Lord” by David in a psalm written before Jesus was even born.  The Messiah would be human and divine!  Today he warns them that not all religious leaders are pure in their intentions.  Some of them like the glory of leadership but don’t really care about the people they are leading.  We suspect that in politics and in corporations.  Even hospitals send out surveys asking if we think they care about us.  Hmmmm.  I’m never sure if that is a measure of friendliness or true concern for me.

Jesus warns us, “Beware.”  I think of the road signs I have seen while driving that tell me to beware.  I was traveling in Scotland once and saw a sign, “Beware, sharp curves.”  I went around the curve and there was another sign, “You have been warned!”  We are warned about cow crossings, deer crossings, and children crossing.  We are warned about bad weather.  We are warned about economic trends through stock market reports daily.  Our horoscope is even a form of prediction of possible danger.

So what do people in Florida do when there is a hurricane warning?  We stock our shelves with nonperishable foods.  We store containers of water.  We gather cash in case electricity goes out and we buy candles.  Many flee the state.  We board up windows and we may even sleep over with a friend if we are widows or single.  Some of these preparations are good advice to help us discern good religious leaders from bad.  We store up Scripture so we don’t just blindly agree that all is said in a sermon.  We underline or memorize favorite passages that are a comfort to our souls.  We make playlists of encouraging songs on our devices.  And we like to fellowship with friends and chat about the Sunday sermon or a current Bible study series.  Perhaps another word for “beware” is to evaluate what we hear with our ears, see with our eyes, and touch with our hands.  As my mother would say, “Not all is gold that glitters.”  But as Jesus said, “beware.”  Blessings on your spiritual journey.

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, ‘How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,

“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.’”

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’ And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Mark 12:35-37

Jesus has come to Jerusalem in Passover week, been welcomed by the crowds, but offended the religious leaders.  We have been reading about a series of encounters between Jesus and representatives of various groups.  They pose trick questions trying to trip him up and justify their desire to get rid of him.  Jesus is just not acting like the Messiah they thought he was to be when they welcomed him on Palm Sunday.  He does not seem to be tackling those pesky Romans that make their lives miserable.  He is not restoring the Jews to the days of glory under king David and King Solomon.

Mark shares a very interesting exchange.  Jesus now turns to the leaders and asks them a question, quoting Psalm 110:1.  The people are looking for a Messiah who is to come from the genealogy of David hence will be considered a son of David.  But then David himself writes a psalm calling the Messiah, David’s Lord.  How can the Messiah be a “son of David” and David’s “lord”?  Humanly the Messiah is a descendent of David but divinely the Messiah is the Lord of David and so, Jesus is pointing out that the expectant Messiah is true God and true Man.

The religious leaders whom we think know many things, often are short sighted because God works outside our boxes.  God is the God of the impossible.  A virgin conceives, the blind see, the waves calm, and Jesus will die but live.  God is often working in ways we don’t see and we don’t understand.  I find that comforting.  Perhaps you are facing a situation in your life right now where God is challenging you to trust him with your own personal Romans and allow God to work out a solution.  Take a moment to pray and place the weight on your heart into Jesus’ hands.  Blessings.