Thursday, April 14, 2022

It Is Finished


Good Friday

**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.

 

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

 

Gather in silence.

 

Prayer of the Day

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, look with loving mercy on your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given over to the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

 

Readings

A reading from the Book of Isaiah 52:13-53:12

See, my servant shall prosper;

    he shall be exalted and lifted up,

    and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him

    —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

    and his form beyond that of mortals—

so 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.

Who has believed what we have heard?

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

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.

He 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.

 

Surely he has borne our infirmities

    and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

    struck down by God, and afflicted.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

They 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.

 

Yet 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.

    Out 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.

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.

 

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm 22

            Listen Here

 

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

    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;

    and by night, but find no rest.

 

Yet you are holy,

    enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our ancestors trusted;

    they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried, and were saved;

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

 

But I am a worm, and not human;

    scorned by others, and despised by the people.

All who see me mock at me;

    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;

“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—

    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

 

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;

    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.

On you I was cast from my birth,

    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.

Do not be far from me,

    for trouble is near

    and there is no one to help.

 

Many bulls encircle me,

    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

they open wide their mouths at me,

    like a ravening and roaring lion.

 

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;

my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

    you lay me in the dust of death.

 

For dogs are all around me;

    a company of evildoers encircles me.

My hands and feet have shriveled;

I can count all my bones.

They stare and gloat over me;

they divide my clothes among themselves,

    and for my clothing they cast lots.

 

But you, O Lord, do not be far away!

    O my help, come quickly to my aid!

Deliver my soul from the sword,

    my life from the power of the dog!

    Save me from the mouth of the lion!

 

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;

    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

You who fear the Lord, praise him!

    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;

    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

For he did not despise or abhor

    the affliction of the afflicted;

he did not hide his face from me,

    but heard when I cried to him.

 

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied;

    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

    May your hearts live forever!

 

All the ends of the earth shall remember

    and turn to the Lord;

and all the families of the nations

    shall worship before him.

For dominion belongs to the Lord,

    and he rules over the nations.

 

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;

    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

    and I shall live for him.

Posterity will serve him;

    future generations will be told about the Lord,

and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,

    saying that he has done it.

 

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews 10:16-25

“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,”

he also adds,

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

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

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let 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. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation

Look to Jesus, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John 18:1-19:42

Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested

Chapter 18:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So 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. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then 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. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Hymn – Go to Dark Gethsemane (ELW #347)

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Peter Denies Jesus Three Times

Chapter 18:12-27

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

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

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

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

Hymn – Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross (ELW #335)

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Jesus is Tried Before Pilate

Chapter 18:28-40

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

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate 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?” Jesus 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.” Pilate 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.” Pilate 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. But 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?” They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

Hymn – Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross (ELW #335)

                        Listen Here

Jesus is Sentenced to Death

Chapter 19:1-16

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate 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.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When 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.” The 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.”

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

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

Hymn – Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed (ELW #337)

                        Listen Here

The Crucifixion, Death and Burial of Jesus

Chapter 19:16-42

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

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

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

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. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

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

Hymn – Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed (ELW #337)

                        Listen Here

Sermon

Provided by The Reverend Karen Lladin

It Is Finished! With an exclamation point after the word, finished. What does that phrase, “it is finished” mean? Does it mean, over and done with? Does it mean, it is accomplished? What does the phrase, “it is finished,” mean? 

It is finished. These words can mean, “ Over with. It is over and done with.”  Think of a frown, think of a feeling of depression and deep blue sadness.

During our lifetime, we all have experiences with “It is finished. It is over and done with.”

We receive our pink slip and we know that we are to be fired, laid off, out of the job, dumped. The job is now finished, all over, over and done with.

Sometimes the phrase can be used to describe a ball game. My team lost in the tournament. The ride is finished, over and done, but it was great while it lasted, but it is now finished, over and done with.

Sometimes the phrase can be used with a hobby. The ski season is over; it is finished, over and done with, and it is time to put away the skiis until next season. Or, the boating season is over and done with; it is finished, all over, and it is time to put away the boat until next season. Or the fishing rod. Or the hunting rifles. Or the hiking boots. Or the gardening tools. Or whatever the hobby may be for its particular season: it is over and done with, finished.

An elderly gentleman, perhaps your father, gets deathly sick and dies before you get to the hospital. You walk in the room and someone says, “It is all over. It is finished. Dad died.”

It can happen when a husband and wife aren’t get along that well and the love between them gradually dies. Either the husband or the wife will say to the other, “It is over, done with, finished. We have to get a divorce.”

And so in all of these everyday situations, “it is finished” means over and done with.

It is finished, meaning, over and done with, is also associated with the Bible. These words, it is finished, is associated with the end of the life of Christ and those words mean, “over and one with.” Let me give you three examples.

The Romans finished Jesus off and killed one more revolutionary. The Roman Empire was the most powerful political force on earth for three hundred years. It was in 63 BC that the Roman Empire can be the “superpower” of its particular century, and Pompei was the ruler. The Roman Empire built arches and aqueducts, armies and armadas, and they ruled ruthlessly, stomping out all opposition. Throughout the conquered nations, there were always counter-revolutionaries for the Romans to extinguish. There were political fires to be put out. In the year 6 AD, in Galilee, the Romans killed 2,000 revolutionaries. Two decades after Jesus died, the Romans eliminated another 3,000 revolutionaries. And Jesus, he was one more revolutionary to be eliminated from the face of the earth. The Romans killed Jesus and finished Jesus and finished the Jesus movement. As far as the Romans were concerned, it was all over. Finished and done with.

The Jewish leaders also thought it was finished, all over, over and done with. The Jewish leaders assumed that Jesus was dead and the Jesus movement was dead. The Jewish leaders had agitated the crowd into a riot, had falsely accused Jesus, and gotten the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, to condemn Jesus by execution. Jesus had attacked their temple, their sacrifices, their places of privileged authority. It was now finished. The job was done. Jesus and the Jesus movement were dead. It was finished.

The disciples thought Jesus and the Jesus movement was finished, over and done with. Their leader had been killed on a cross, and now they would grieve and go back to their occupations and jobs: fishermen, tax collectors, or whatever.

So “it is finished” mean that the Roman leaders, the Jewish leaders and the disciples thought Jesus was finished, over and done with.

But,  “It is finished” can also mean, It is accomplished. It is accomplished, fulfilled, completed. Then one puts an exclamation point after the phrase. It is accomplished. The job is done. The work is complete. This calls for a victory celebration, high fiving all the people around. And then, the mood of the phrase is quite different than we have been talking about in the first part of the sermon with the pessimism of “it is over and done with.”

Let me give you some examples. The best painter of the world is standing back from the canvas, admiring the work that he has just finished, the Mona Lisa, the most famous portrait of all painting of all history. It is exquisite. The artist, Rembrandt, steps back from the canvas, looks at his work, puts down his paint brush for the last time and says, “It is finished! It is perfect. The job is done. There is nothing I can do to improve it. This is as perfect a painting as I can make. It is finished!, he exclaims inside.”

A second example. The artist, Michelangelo, stands back from his stone sculpture, the marble figure of young King David, and looks at his marble statue with is brilliant eye for detail. There is nothing more that he can do. He puts his mallet down, his chisels, his fine polishing stone and says, “It is done. The work is done. It is finished. I have finished it. There is nothing more I can do.” And the mood of the phrase, it is finished, is triumphant, an exclamation of satisfaction.

A third example.  An expert finisher of wood is finishing his product. A finely made desk that he has made. This artist in wood is an expert, and he has crafted a polished desk, made of the finest oak, that you have ever seen. After the building, the sanding, the smoothing, the numerous coats of varnish, desk glistens like a jewel. The artist stands back, admires the work he has done, puts down his finishing tools, and says, “It is finished. It is accomplished. I had the design in my mind and after all these weeks and months, I now have finished it. How grand. It is grand piece of furniture. There is nothing more that I can do to make it better.”

We also have other examples from our own simple and plain lives, when we say, It is finished, but the mood is positive and triumphant. A student graduates from high school or college and says after the ceremony: “I finished. I got the degree.” And Grandpa or Grandma says,  “Great accomplishment. You have much to be proud of.” Or, you plan a big wedding and the wedding is pulled off, and when everyone is gone and the mother and father fall into the sofa in exhaustion, they high five and say, “It is finished. We pulled it off. What a great party we had.” Or when you finally finish your taxes and have filled in all the numbers and have added your signature, you say to yourself, “It is finished. I accomplished the job. I got the taxes done.” So the mood of the statement, It is finished, can be exclamatory and victorious.

So take a slight change in the mood of the words that Jesus offers up.  Say them with victory and exclamation, “It is finished!!!” Jesus’ final words on earth, according to the Gospel of John, are not: “O shucks. It is over. Over and done with.  Close the book on that.” No, not at all. The mood is just the opposite. When Jesus said, It is finished, the Greek words mean, “It is accomplished!!! I have done the job that God gave me to do. Yes, it is accomplished. God’s will has been accomplished in my life.”

Jesus, as he died on the cross, said “It is accomplished.” This is a victorious and triumphant statement. Jesus was perfectly obedient to God throughout his whole life and even unto his death. Jesus personified love throughout his whole life; he personified love in his teachings; he personified love in his miracles. and at the end of his life, Jesus personified God’s love by dying on the cross that others might live. And so as Jesus died, he said triumphantly, It is finished. I accomplished what God gave me to do in this world. To be the loving person that God wanted me to be. …Earlier in John 17:4, Jesus said, “the way I glorify God is to accomplish the work that he gave me to do.”

God wants us to feel that way about our lives, “It is accomplished. I have accomplished what God has given me to do. Not me, but Christ who lives in me. God’s plan and purpose for my life have been accomplished.  God has used the minutes, hours, days, months and years that have been entrusted to me and God’s will and purpose have been done in my life.” This is not bragging or comparing oneself to another or a symptom of pride. It is just a fact of life. That is the way that God wants us to feel about ourselves as we come to the end of our lives, whether that is young or old in years. That we can say like the Apostle Paul said about his life; I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” God wants us to feel that way about our lives as well.

No matter how imperfect, no matter how sinful, no matter how many shortcomings we have, Jesus died to accomplish forgiveness for us. Knowing that, God wants us to feel the same way about our lives as our lives are ended: Well done, good and faithful servant. It is finished. God’s will has been accomplished through your life. You have fought the good fight, you have finished the race, you have kept the faith. Henceforth, shall a crown of glory be laid up for you in heaven.”

we hear Jesus’ last words and the spirit of those words was triumphant, a strong finale, when Jesus concluded his life by saying,  “It is accomplished!”

Amen.

Hymn of the Day – Ah, Holy Jesus (ELW #349)

                        Listen Here

Bidding prayer

Let us pray, brothers and sisters, for the holy church throughout the world.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you have shown your glory to all nations in Jesus Christ.

By your Holy Spirit guide the church

and gather it throughout the world.

Help it to persevere in faith, proclaim your name,

and bring the good news of salvation in Christ to all people.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for our bishops, for our pastors, and all servants of the church, and for all the people of God.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

your Spirit guides the church and makes it holy.

Strengthen and uphold our bishops, pastors,

other ministers, and lay leaders.

Keep them in health and safety for the good of the church,

and help each of us in our various vocations

to do faithfully the work to which you have called us.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for those preparing for baptism.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you continue to bless the church.

Increase the faith and understanding of those preparing for baptism.

Give them new birth as your children,

and keep them in the faith and communion of your holy church.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for our sisters and brothers who share our faith in Jesus Christ.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you give your church unity.

Look with favor on all who follow Jesus your Son.

Make all the baptized one in the fullness of faith,

and keep us united in the fellowship of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and your teaching to Moses.

Hear our prayers that the people you called and elected as your own

may receive the fulfillment of the covenant’s promises.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

gather into your embrace

all those who call out to you under different names.

Bring an end to inter-religious strife,

and make us more faithful witnesses

of the love made known to us in your Son.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for those who do not believe in God.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you created humanity

so that all may long to know you and find peace in you.

Grant that all may recognize the signs of your love and grace

in the world and in the lives of Christians,

and gladly acknowledge you as the one true God.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for God's creation.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you are the creator of a magnificent universe.

Hold all the worlds in the arms of your care

and bring all things to fulfillment in you.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for those who serve in public office.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you are the champion of the poor and oppressed.

In your goodness, give wisdom to those in authority,

so that all people may enjoy justice, peace, freedom,

and a share in the goodness of your creation.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for those in need.

Silent prayer.

Almighty and eternal God,

you give strength to the weary

and new courage to those who have lost heart.

Heal the sick, comfort the dying, give safety to travelers,

free those unjustly deprived of liberty,

and deliver your world from falsehood, hunger, and disease.

Hear the prayers of all who call on you in any trouble,

that they may have the joy of receiving your help in their need.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Finally, let us pray for all those things for which our Lord would have us ask.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those

who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and forever. Amen.

Procession Of The Cross

Behold the life-giving cross,

on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.

Oh, come, let us worship him.

The dialogue is spoken a second time at the midpoint of the procession.

Behold the life-giving cross,

on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.

Oh, come, let us worship him.

The dialogue is spoken a third time at the end of the procession.

Behold the life-giving cross,

on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.

Oh, come, let us worship him.


After a brief silence, the presiding minister continues.


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

By your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

HYMN – There in God's Garden (ELW #342)

Listen Here

All depart in silence.

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