Good Friday
04-07-23
RELINQUISH

CALL TO WORSHIP

Blessed be the name of the Lord our God,
who redeems us from sin and death.
For us and for our salvation,
Christ became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

UNISON PRAYER OF THE DAY

Merciful God,
you gave your Son to suffer the shame of the cross.
Save us from hardness of heart,
that, seeing him who died for us,
we may repent, confess our sin,
and receive your overflowing love,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

HYMN No. 217 “On a Barren Hilltop”

1 On a barren hilltop
just outside the walls
of an ancient city
as the evening falls,
speaks a dying figure
hanging on a tree,
saying “It is finished,”
words of victory.

2 Tested just as we are,
in a world of strife,
through the pain and conflict
of a human life,
here at last completed
with his final breath
is a life triumphant
over sin and death.

3 Let us then come boldly
to the heavenly throne,
where our human weakness
is so fully known,
and the mercy given
by which we are freed,
and the grace provided
for our time of need.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Holy God, our hope and strength,
we give thanks for your Word made flesh—
for the life that death cannot destroy,
and for the light that darkness cannot overcome. Enlighten our minds and enliven our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit,
so that we may testify to your light
share the life of Christ with a hurting world; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

FIRST READING Isaiah 52:13–53:12

¹³ See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up
and shall be very high.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were astonished at him[a]
—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals—
¹⁵ so he shall startle[b] 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 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For 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.
³ He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering[c] and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces[d]
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
⁴ Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But 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.
⁶ All 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.
⁷ He 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.
⁸ By 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.
⁹ They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb[e] with the rich,[f]
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,[g]
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;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one,[h] my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore 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

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
⁶ But I am a worm and not human,
scorned by others and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
they sneer at me; they shake their heads;
⁸ “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
⁹ Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹ Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
¹² Many bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they bound my hands and feet.[b]
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life[c] from the power of the dog!
²¹ Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued[d] me.
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;[e]
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me[f]
but heard when I[g] cried to him.
²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
²⁶ The poor[h] shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.[i]
²⁸ For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
²⁹ To him,[j] indeed, shall all who sleep in[k] the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.[l]
³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord
³¹ and[m] proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

SECOND READING Hebrews 10:16–25

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
⁶ But I am a worm and not human,
scorned by others and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
they sneer at me; they shake their heads;
⁸ “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
⁹ Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹ Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
¹² Many bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they bound my hands and feet.[b]
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life[c] from the power of the dog!
²¹ Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued[d] me.
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;[e]
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me[f]
but heard when I[g] cried to him.
²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

HYMN No. 221 “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”

1 O sacred head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down;
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred head, what glory,
what bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.

2 What thou, my Lord, hast suffered
was all for sinners’ gain:
mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
and grant to me thy grace.

3 What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest friend,
for this thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love to thee.

GOSPEL READING John 19:28-42

²⁸ After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
³¹ Since 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. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, 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[m] that he tells the truth, so that you also may continue[n] to believe.)³⁶ These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

³⁸ After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰ They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

SERMON “RELINQUISH”

RELINQUISH
to withdraw or retreat from
leave behind
to give over to the control or possession of another
to give up completely

According to John, the last words Jesus spoke from the cross were, “It is finished.” Whether he meant “finished” as brought to an end, in the sense of finality, or “finished” as brought to completion, in the sense of fulfillment, nobody knows. Maybe he meant both.
What was brought to an end was of course nothing less than his life. The Gospels make no bones about that. He died as dead as any man. All the days of his life led him to this day, and beyond this day there would be no other days, and he knew it. It was finished now, he said. He was finished. He had come to the last of all his moments, and because he was conscious still—alive to his death—maybe, as they say the dying do, he caught one final glimpse of the life he had all but finished living.
Who knows what he glimpsed as that life passed before him. Maybe here and there a fragment preserved for no good reason like old snapshots in a desk drawer: the play of sunlight on a wall, a half-remembered face, something somebody said. A growing sense perhaps of destiny: the holy man in the river, a gift for prayer, a gift for moving simple hearts. One hopes he remembered good times, although the Gospels record few—how he once fell asleep in a boat as a storm was coming up, and how he went to a wedding where water was the least of what was turned into wine. Then the failures of the last days, when only a handful gathered to watch him enter the city on the foal of an ass—and those very likely for the wrong reasons. The terror that he himself had known for a few moments in the garden, and that finally drove even the handful away. Shalom then, the God in him moving his swollen lips to forgive them all, to forgive maybe even God. Finished.
What was brought to completion by such a life and such a death only he can know now, wherever he is, if he is anywhere. The Christ of it is beyond our imagining. All we can know is the flesh and blood of it, the Jesus of it. In that sense, what was completed was at the very least a hope to live by, a mystery to hide our faces before, a shame to haunt us, a dream of holiness to help make bearable our night.
Jesus RELENQUISHED his life that we might have life eternal.

Commentary and Liturgy provided by PCUSA Book of Common Worship, PCUSA Book of Confession, Frederick Buechner, Osvaldo Vena, and Alex Evans.

HYMN No. 218 “Ah, Holy Jesus”

1 Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
that we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted!

2 Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
’Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.

3 Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
for our atonement, while we nothing heeded,
God interceded.

4 For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation,
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.

5 Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving.

THE SOLEMN INTERCESSION

Dear people of God,
God sent Jesus into the world,
not to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved, that all who believe in him
might be delivered from the power of sin and death and become heirs with him of eternal life.
Let us pray for the one holy catholic
and apostolic church of Christ throughout the world:
for its unity in witness and service,
for all church leaders and ministers
and the people whom they serve,
for all the people of this presbytery,
for all Christians in this community,
for those about to be baptized (particularly N., N.),
that God will confirm the church in faith, increase it in love,
and preserve it in peace.
Silence.

Eternal God,
by your Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified.
Receive our prayers
which we offer before you
for all members of your holy church,
that in our vocation and ministry
we may truly and devoutly serve you;
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Silence.

Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them:
for N., the President of the United States,
and the Congress and Supreme Court,
for the members and representatives of the United Nations, for all who serve the common good,
that by God’s help
they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord.
Silence.

Almighty God,
kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace,
and guide with your wisdom
those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that justice and peace may increase,
until the earth is filled
with the knowledge of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence.

Let us pray for all who suffer
and are afflicted in body or in mind:
for the hungry and homeless,
the destitute and the oppressed,
and all who suffer persecution, doubt, and despair, for the sorrowful and bereaved,
for prisoners and captives
and those in mortal danger,
that God will comfort and relieve them,
and grant them the knowledge of God’s love, and stir up in us the will and patience
to minister to their needs.
Silence.

Gracious God,
the comfort of all who sorrow,
the strength of all who suffer,
hear the cry of those in misery and need.
In their afflictions show them your mercy,
and give us, we pray, the strength to serve them, for the sake of him who suffered for us,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence.

Let us pray for all who have not received the gospel of Christ:
for all who have not heard the words of salvation,
for all who have lost their faith,
for all whose sin has made them indifferent to Christ, for all who actively oppose Christ by word or deed,
for all who are enemies of the cross of Christ,
and persecutors of his disciples,
for all who in the name of Christ have persecuted others,
that God will open their hearts to the truth and lead them to faith and obedience.
Silence.

Merciful God,
creator of the peoples of the earth and lover of souls, have compassion on all who do not know you
as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ.
Let your gospel be preached with grace and power
to those who have not heard it.
Turn the hearts of those who resist it,
and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence.

Let us commit ourselves to God,
and pray for the grace of a holy life,
that with all who have departed this life
and have died in the peace of Christ,
and those whose faith is known to God alone,
we may be accounted worthy
to enter into the fullness of the joy of our Lord,
and receive the crown of life in the day of resurrection.
Silence.

Eternal God of unchanging power and light, look with mercy on your whole church. Bring to completion your saving work,
so that the whole world may see
the fallen lifted up,
the old made new,
and all things brought to perfection
by him through whom all things were made, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Silence

Finally, let us pray for all those things for which our Lord would have us ask:
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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.

PROCESSION OF THE CROSS

A wooden, rough-hewn cross may be carried in procession into the church and placed in front of the people. During the procession the following may be said or sung:
Behold the cross
on which was hung the salvation of the whole world.
Come, let us worship.
Behold the cross
on which was hung the salvation of the whole world.
Come, let us worship.
Behold the cross
on which was hung the salvation of the whole world.
Come, let us worship.

HYMN NO. 223 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

SOLEMN REPROACHES OF THE CROSS

O my people, O my church,
What have I done to you,
or in what have I offended you?
Answer me.
I led you forth from the land of Egypt
and delivered you by the waters of baptism, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
Lord, have mercy.

SPIRITUAL “Where You There”

ALL DEPART IN SILENCE