St. James Lutheran Church
Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Friday, April 3, 2026 – Good Friday
Order of Worship
Welcome
Call to Worship
In this holy week, on this holy morning,
We come to be present with Jesus in his suffering.
With the glory of Palm Sunday behind us and the victory of Easter not yet come,
We gather with our breaking, our broken hearts.
In this world that is at once beautiful and holy and tragic,
We seek to be present with all who suffer.
When sorrow threatens to overwhelm,
We long for a brave and sacred space–
A space where we can listen and sing and pray,
A space to sit with our grief and our questions.
Let us be that space for each other tonight
As we remember the story together.
Opening Prayer
Hymn Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross VU 142
- Jesus, keep me near the cross;
there a precious fountain,
free to all, a healing stream,
flows from Calvary’s mountain.
Refrain: In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.
- Near the cross, a trembling soul,
love and mercy found me;
there the bright and morning star
sheds its beams around me. Refrain
- Near the Cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day
with its shadow o’er me. Refrain
- Near the cross I’ll watch and wait,
hoping, trusting ever,
till I reach the golden strand
just beyond the river. Refrain
Prayer of Illumination
John 18:1-40
Hymn VU 950 (twice)
Stay with me, remain here with me,
watch and pray, watch and pray.
John 19:1-42
Hymn Were You There VU 144
- Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you these when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
- Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
- Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Where you there when the sun refused to shine?
- Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
- Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Sermon “It is Finished”
Anthem That Old Rugged Cross
Bidding Prayer
Includes time for silent prayer. “We ask this through Christ our Lord.” Response: Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Hymn Lift High the Cross VU 151
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.
- Come, Christians, follow where our Saviour trod,
the Lamb victorious, Christ the Son of God. Refrain
- Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
the hosts of God in unity combine. Refrain
- Each newborn servant of the Crucified
bears on the brow the seal of him who died. Refrain
- Saviour, once lifted on the glorious tree,
your death has brought us life eternally. Refrain
- So shall our song of triumph ever be
praise to the Crucified for victory. Refrain
Extinguishing of the Light
It is Finished
John 18:1-40 & John 19: 1-42
Each year Good Friday finds its place in our hearts and minds, doesn’t it? Some years it’s something we want to avoid, others it’s something we desperately need, and this year it seems more relevant than normal. At its simplest, Good Friday is a political message. It was a state sanctioned execution. Not for some grievous crime by any standards. But perhaps an even more dangerous crime … that which challenged the status quo. From Jesus’ first miracle to his last, to his procession on a donkey, to the dinner table, to the garden and to the wooden cross … each of these signs showed the nature of God, despite our human attempts to subvert and derail the will of God made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. As we heard the story this morning, we are once again confronted by human relationship with power and might. The brutality of it. The selfishness of it. The fear at the heart of each accusation, lash and exclamation. As being of flesh and blood we are so tied to this world that our fear moves us to use the tools of Empire, even as people of faith. The ways of this world don’t offer expansive life, they offer restrictive survival. They are often not life giving but they are life limiting.
In a desire for control, for order and arguably out of disappointment Jesus is hauled before Pilate. Pilate asks what charges are being laid against Jesus. He asks Jesus who he is, asks him what truth is … Pilate returns to Jesus’ captors and tells them he has found no grounds for any charge against him. He offers then to release Jesus but the crowd says no, release someone else. The crowd tells Pilate that he is no friend to the Emperor if he chooses to pardon Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate talks with Jesus again and Jesus chats about authority and we are told that Pilate wants to release him … but then there are those that weaponized Pilate’s fears and insecurities against him. It’s not that there’s an “Evil” “Villain” in this story that’s incredibly obvious and easy to point out and tear down. But the unresolved tension that we are experiencing is because of the dexterity of human sin. We experience this tension because we too have acted or spoken out of fear or even anger right? And even in the moments leading up to or shortly thereafter, we know what we have done is not quite right- but that fear of admitting wrong, or even that fear of what others may say or do keeps us aligned with protecting the Empire at the costs of our souls and minds … and so like Pilate, we are caught in that conflict … not understanding how there’s a Jesus-centered way to live in the world, hoping and dreaming for that change, that renewal but then we hear the crowd say “you won’t be a friend of the Emperor” and we shuffle back to our place in the machine of injustice and domination.
But friends, something happened on that Good Friday many years ago. Not a riot. Not a holy war, not a call to arms. But in Jesus, the Word made flesh, carried his cross and was fixed upon it. That moment changed the world. That moment offered an alternative – when Empire called the bluff of Jesus, probably hoping that his followers would pick up weapons of war, they did not. Out of love Jesus denied the Empire their wish and out of love he was crucified there with common people. The good news is that in John 19:30 Jesus declares “it is finished”. The crucifixion is kingdom come. At the foot of the cross the powers of this world are forever inverted. Time has now been redeemed through the raising of Jesus on the cross in which a new age has begun. Jesus declares “it is finished” not out of resignation, but as a definitive stance against the exploitative ways of the world.
In the text Death on a Friday Afternoon, Richard Neuhaus wrote reflecting on John 19 that “It is finished. But it’s not over”. What is finished is our vain attempts to be our own Creators, to create a just world contrary to the will of God. Good Friday made it possible to live at peace and be God’s agent of reconciliation, in a violent world. We are able to so live not because we have all the answers but because God has given us a way to live without answers. God has finished what only God could finish. While it may be finished it is not over, because God made us, the Church, the “not over”. We are made witnesses to the world – a world with no time for a crucified God … however, we know that we have all the time of God’s kingdom to live in peace with one another. God is with us as we walk alongside those carrying the weight of cross imposed on them by the world. We do not shy away from Good Friday or seek retribution, we don’t call for a punitive justice. But we do pray and act for a world that is slowly and surely transformed by the loving power of God’s restorative justice. So, as we enter Holy Saturday, we clasp our hands in pray and with passion pray fervently to God – your kingdom come and your will be done.
Lastly friends, I’d like to leave you with a story that we read about in our Lenten Study at TSA that had a chapter and confession and reconciliation.
“At the age of six, Ruby Bridges was volunteered by her mother to become the first African American girl to attend an all-white school in Louisiana. Each day she was escorted by federal agents all the while being yelled at, as dolls painted black were placed in coffins and showed to her. Every student and teacher withdrew except one. Day after day she attended school as the only student. Watching this tragedy unfold, psychologist Robert Coles offered Ruby counselling. You looked like you were talking to the people in the street on your way into school yesterday, he said on one occasion. Did you finally get angry with them? Were you telling them to leave you alone? No doctor, replied Ruby politely. I didn’t tell them anything. Well, who were you talking to? The little girl stared at him and said I was talking to God. I was praying to God for the people in the street. You were praying for them? But Ruby, why were you praying for them? Her eyes widened. Well, don’t you think they need praying for? After a few moments, Coles whispered, what do you say when you pray for them, Ruby? Oh, I always pray the same thing. Please, God, try to forgive these people. Because even if they say those bad things, they don’t know what they’re doing…”
It is finished. But it is not over. Let us clasp out hands in prayer and live into the kingdom live Jesus showed us. Amen.
