BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH
Good Friday Service
April 10, 2020
Moment of Silent Reflection: Bach Cello Suite V – Sarabande – soloist: Daniel Parker
Words of Welcome
Dear friends and companions in the faith, good morning.
We gather again on this day, at the foot of the cross, which calls us on, not in shame, not in fear, not in violence, but more deeply into the costly journey of truth-telling and risk-taking.
We gather here
In Sabbath preparation
and to grieve
with his disciples and friends
We are all grieving something
Or have been
Or will be
Loss of family member…
Spouse…child…parent…pet
Friend…broken trust…betrayal
Mobility…stability…
Or…even … God
There is wounding, there is weeping, there is pain. But in Jesus as the promised one,
life is found. God is there.
Today I invite you to listen with your heart. Through these words and music, may we find our hearts warmed by a love that is stronger than our fear,
and stronger even than the finality of death.
Welcome to Good Friday.
Invitation to Gather and Opening Prayer
I now invite you to gather in worship:
This is a day of grief, a lonely day, forlorn.
This is a moment of mourning, a hurting, tear-stained moment.
A time to remember that Jesus died – crucified, abandoned, mocked and rejected.
May the painful death, the sadness and the intense horror of this day touch our hard-heartedness
and disturb our indifferent shallowness.
May it remind us of the brokenness around us and within and convict us in faith and action.
Let us pray. Into the shadows of chaos, the light of the world stops. From the silence of death, the word of God breaks free. For the emptiness of our souls, the Bread of Life is broken. O God, I stand in the sunshine of this spring day, smelling the earth and the growing grass. I feel as green as life, but a shadow falls across my path: a cross stretching over centuries, making holy all sorrows, sanctifying all tears, ennobling every scar, transforming every wound, healing the broken heart of the world. In the shadow of the cross, draw me into life. Help me to grow as green as grass. Amen.
Ministry of Music
Gospel Reading: “Pilate Questions Jesus” John 18: 33-38
A reading from the Gospel according to John chapter 18 verses 33-38 and I’m reading from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35 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?” 36 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.” 37 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.” 38 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.
May these words renew us and give us assurance of hope in this time and in this place. Thanks be to God!
Sermon: “Quid Est Veritas - What is Truth?” Rev. Kim Vidal
Quid est veritas? “What is truth?” It is a question that we ask almost all the time. Here we are on Good Friday and this Gospel reading in John throws us right into the middle of a trial that we are not prepared for in any way. Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, condemned by Caiaphas, the Chief Priest, was denied by Peter, and was brought before Pontius Pilate to be put to death. Quid est veritas? “What is truth?” This is the question that Pilate asked Jesus. It is a good question. The truth is, Jesus was both political and religious threat to Rome. The truth is, the religious leaders lied to execute Jesus. The truth is, Pilate didn't find Jesus guilty of any crime, yet he sentenced him to die anyway because the truth didn't matter to him.
The Good Friday truth is that Jesus was put to death by crucifixion. For what reason? What was his crime? Jesus was killed not because the whole crucifixion stuff was God’s plan. Not because Jesus was pre-destined to die on the cross. Not because we are all guilt-ridden people and we need a scapegoat to absolve our sins. Jesus died because he had angered the religious authorities for chasing the money changers out of the temple. Because Jesus had disobeyed the purity laws by healing people on the Sabbath. Because he broke barriers and taboos of his time by mingling with the ritually unclean and ate with sinners and prostitutes. Because he upheld women and children as important members of the society. Because he challenged those in power who took advantage of widows, the poor, and the outcasts. Because he mobilized a movement that threatens those in power. This is the Good Friday truth and we better believe it.
Jesus came to testify to the 'truth' - a kin-dom of truth', which is the exact opposite of what the Roman Empire is all about. The empire is about oppression, marginalization, hunger, poverty, violence and depraved morality. That is not what the kin-dom of Truth is all about. That is not the kin-dom Jesus lived and preached. Jesus knew from his heart that Truth resides in God’s reign. He lived and preached the truth of love, peace, hope and justice that transforms the world.
Quid est veritas? What is truth? Truth is not just an idea or a mystery that needs to be solved. Truth is not simply a collection of facts proven to be true, like the fact that the earth is round or that the sun shines even on cloudy days. Truth is not just based on fact-finding or scientific proof of things. Truth starts from a small seed of faith. Truth is why Jesus did what he had done. Jesus wants to open the people’s mind, their heart and their eyes to the social, political and religious realities of their time. Truth cannot be left alone to rot and spoil – someone has to stand, protest and speak against evil realities. It was time for Jesus to speak the truth. Jesus wants the people to experience the true meaning of shalom – food on the table, roof over their heads, to walk on the streets without being threatened, to live an abundant life. He wants people from all walks of life – sinners or saints alike to be included in the kin-dom of God. Yet, truth demands a choice – a choice to follow God or to follow Caesar.
Did Pilate acknowledge what Jesus was trying to convey? Is Pilate aware of what Jesus was trying to say when Jesus said “my Kin-dom is not from this world”? Jesus here is telling the truth – his world is not the Roman empire – his world is about love and justice and peace and all what God stands for. I think Pilate knew that Jesus was an innocent man, yet he could not bring himself to act with honour, or with courage and integrity. And the truth is, we too can be just like Pilate. We can be aware of God's truth, but sometimes we choose instead to live by the easy lies and deceptions of this world. A quote from the Desiderata reminds us this: “The world is full of trickery but this let not blind you to what virtue there is.” I love what theologian Nancy Rockwell has to say about truth: Truth, like God, escapes definition, as, like God, truth also escapes our control. Job learns that truth is beyond human understanding. Jacob learns truth is a blessing that hurts. Mary learns truth emerges from the grave when her broken heart weeps. The disciples in Emmaus learn the power of truth when they have walked to the end of their despair.
There are times when we are blinded by a culture of indifference, greed and pride, and consequently we neglect that which would nourish our souls. Sometimes we compromise truth and integrity for high-paying jobs or settle for lies or whatever will work for us… what we think gets us ahead, what will pay the bills, what will delight the eye, whatever feels like success and allows us to achieve what we want. But truth is not always the road to comfort, success or popularity. Truth doesn't always win the promotion or advancement or get all the things and pleasure that this world values most. And sometimes, truth gets you beaten, mocked, laughed at, or worse, be hanged on a cross. Good Friday is about truth-telling.
On this day, Jesus has been betrayed and abandoned by his friends. He is mocked, and stripped and tortured and crucified. The Good Friday truth is that life hurts. All of us have experienced that truth at some point in our lives. We, like Jesus, know how it feels to have someone we love disappoint us, perhaps even betray and abandon us. There may even be times when life hurts so much that we, like Jesus, have thought that God has abandoned us, and cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Life sometimes hurts. We know what it means to be hurt and to suffer. We know the pain when our bodies betray us; when our bodies no longer work like they used to – the loss of our body's ability to walk or to remember; the cancer, the failing of eyes and ears. We, like Jesus, experience the truth of death. The agony and emptiness when someone we love dies, or when we face our very own death.
Jesus said to Pilate: "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate did not listen. John's gospel tells us that after Pilate asked the question, he left Jesus, walked away, and confronted the temple leaders. Pilate knows that Jesus was a victim of life’s unfairness and was sentenced to be crucified. But those of us who listen to Jesus know something more. Jesus stood for God’s truth. That even in death, Jesus will never again be a victim of injustice. Jesus died fighting for truth and he did not die in vain. Those of us who listen to Jesus have heard the good news of Easter and can hold it close to our hearts on every Good Friday of our lives. We cling to it when life hurts and when we face death. Good Friday is truth-telling. And then there’s the truth about Easter. Good Friday doesn’t end in death. It is the beginning of a new chapter in the life of those who follow Jesus’ way.
And finally, Jesus invites us to listen to his truth. Where love is, God is there even in the darkest moment of life. That is the truth. Let us this day live by that Truth. Thanks be to God. Amen.
The Dismissal
And now receive God’s blessings:
As we go into the growing shadows of this Good Friday into the silent unknowing of Holy Saturday, may we carry in our hearts, the crucified Christ.
May our hearts open like a waiting tomb, a tender womb,
and in the sheltered silence, may we cradle all that is wounded, all that is broken.
We go embracing all that is touched by pain and fear until we feel the pulse of new life begin to stir. For God is not done with us yet.
Go in peace and in love. Amen.