Information

Harmonia Rosales’ does not wish to upset viewers but to balance Christian art with images of black people.  She was born in 1984 of Afro-Cuban American heritage, in Chicago.  As a child she was interested in classic art by the Old Masters.  Rosales defines herself as a womanist – a movement of black people which seeks to explore and challenging the injustices they face by leading, participating in, or supporting various social justice movements. The term was first coined by African American writer Alice Walker.  Harmonia Rosales’ work isn’t meant to challenge classic art in a technical, masterful way. Instead it wants to say that black people are there and are no less important than white folk.

Reading  St Luke 2: 33 – 35

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed  so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Reflection

At Christmas, it is Jesus “meek and mild” who we are reminded off. At Easter, it is Jesus as “Saviour” who comes to the forefront. Yet, who is Jesus in between? Some quiet, reserved individual or someone who was not scared to challenge perspectives?

We get very comfortable with an image of Jesus who is not controversial. We see his teaching as great life lessons, but not there to rock our steady boats. We hold fast to knowledge that Jesus loves us! But this is not who, Simeon declared, Jesus would be. Simeon told Mary that Jesus would rock everyone’s boat: he would be the making of some, and the downfall of others. This is the Jesus Mary holds in her arms in the painting by Harmonia Rosales.

Rosales’ painting is not a challenge to classic art, nor was it painted with the purpose of causing offence. 

However, with this painting, Rosales reminds us that Jesus is not just a loving, gentle guy; he came to turn tables in the temple and make us inwardly examine our lives. For some of us, being reminded of this is liberating. For others of us, it is scary because it means we need to step away from what we are comfortable with and look at our lives through a different lens.

Prayer

God of all,
you took on flesh not just to bridge a gap
or make yourself as one humanity can relate to.
You came into this world to change its thinking,
to turn perspectives upside-down,
and show us what ‘all’ really means.
As we gaze again at you in Mary’s arms,
help us see what accepting you, as Jesus our Saviour, requires.
Help us not get comfortable with one view,
but for ever examining who we are
because of who you are for us and for the world. Amen

Happy Easter!

Dear Friends,

I hope your Easter Celebrations were good and that, in these joyful 50 days of Easter you continue to reflect on the power of God seen in weakness, of healing coming from defeat and glory found in the shock of the empty tomb.  

We’ve reached the end of St Mark’s Gospel and, this morning, started a new series looking at how Jesus is depicted in art.  Christians have, since our earliest days, depicted Jesus, and often his mother, in art.  The earliest depictions of Jesus date from around 300  – at the same time some Christians grumbled that no images of Him should be used at all – a cry taken up again at the Reformation.  As we have no idea what Jesus looked like each age and culture has depicted him in ways which make him real for them.  Over the next two weeks we will see Jesus depicted as a victim of street violence in America, with His mother as African, as a Chinese fisherman, as an atom at the heart of God, as another Jewish victim of anti-semitic violence, as the child born to die, fleeing for his life to Egypt as a displaced Palestinian, in Cubist form on the Cross, as a Filipino liberator and as a Native American.  Each culture, each artist, seeks to find a way for Jesus to become real for them.  I hope as we reflect we allow Him to become real for us.  We’ve been able to buy licences for some of these pictures but, as in today’s, where we haven’t we provide a link to click on so you can see the art before reading the reflection.

Many of you asked about the Stations of the Cross and prayers that we sent out in the two weeks leading up to Holy Saturday and have asked if these are available.  We were pleased to distribute this Church of Scotland resource and you can find all the work in a booklet here.  

I have developed the Worship Notes for this coming Sunday.   I compare and contrast the frightened disciples gathered together for fear of the authorities who encountered the Risen Lord who brought them peace, and the vibrant outward focused community of the earliest Church which cast away fear and trauma in order to proclaim God’s marvellous deeds.  I suggest we can choose to move from the first type of community to the second. I include an All Age activity based on friendship bracelets, links to the URC’s Prayer Prompts for Children, and include a range of hymns and suggests some which may not be known to us but are worth learning.  This week’s intercessions have been prepared by the Revd Siân Collins.  Both of these resources can be found here.

Finally, you may have seen prayers we commissioned for Good Friday and Easter Sunday via the URC’s Social Media Channels.  Here’s a final prayer for these joyful days of Easter.
 

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
 

St Mark 16: 14 – 20

Later Jesus appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.  And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;  they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

Reflection

In continuation from yesterday’s devotion, Jesus finally appears to the eleven and rebukes them for “their unbelief and hardness of heart” (verse 14). He then commissions them to go “into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (verse 15), with the promise that those who believe and are baptised will be saved, while those who refuse to believe will be condemned (verse 16). Signs will accompany those who proclaim the gospel, including exorcisms, speaking in tongues, snake-handling, drinking poison, and healing the sick (verses 17–18). The final verses of this longer ending describe Jesus ascending into heaven and sitting at God’s right hand (verses 19), followed by the apostles, in obedience to his command, going out and preaching everywhere, “while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs” (verse 20).

Finally, they believed. And now they were to call others to believe. They were given a commission of universal significance. This really is an extraordinary challenge for His disciples to grasp the reality of seeing Jesus again, to believe, to accept and to follow. Despite the doubts and fears, the disciples were encouraged and promised. The mandate, the message, the marks, the miracles, and the mission became their priority after encountering Jesus. Their responsibility to carry forward what Jesus began, gradually strengthened their faith and it paved a way to make impossible things possible. We are called to take risks for the sake of the gospel regardless of where we are placed and be rest assured that the resurrected Jesus is with us. 

Prayer

Resurrected Lord, your presence changes us, challenges us and provides us opportunities to share and partake in the mission. May we continue to be confident and carry on the tasks within the church and in our community. Amen. 

St Mark 16: 9 – 12

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.  She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

Reflection

The resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of the Christian message, the foundation of our faith and belief. Sadly, the first hearers did not believe it. How can a dead person come back to life? It is impossible. Even now, it is hard to believe, however, the Bible says, ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

This longer ending of Mark’s Gospel recounts Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, who reports this appearance to the other disciples, who in turn do not believe her. Jesus then appears to two disciples “as they were walking into the country” (like the disciples on the road to Emmaus); these disciples tell the others who, again, fail to believe.

In these closing verses, there are some themes that recapitulate not only the beginning of this Gospel, but also in the end. Unbelief is one such theme. Time and again, we saw those close to Jesus failing to grasp his person and work. On several occasions, Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. Their absence at the empty tomb testifies to their unbelief.  They were still slow to believe even after the testimony of the women. These disciples had been told repeatedly by Jesus that He would rise again. And yet, when the time came, all was forgotten, and they were found unbelieving. Time and again, their hardness of heart and lack of spiritual perception stood out. Despite eyewitness testimony of the risen Lord, their unbelief persisted.

Many a time, we too find it hard to believe the truth, our unbelief persists and hardens our thoughts and minds. Sometimes, there is so much weakness in our faith. However, the resurrection narrative is a reminder for us to learn from their unbelief. Let us cease to feel surprise when we feel doubts arising in our own heart. Our unbelieving turns to believing when our faith is firm, because, ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ 

Prayer

Lord, the resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ has given us new life and renewed hope. Help us to live as a believing community so that we encourage others to believe in your resurrection through our words and deeds. Continue to strengthen us through the power of your resurrection. Amen. 

St Mark 15: 42 – 47

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.

Reflection

They watched. They waited.

Today is a strange day. A day of nothing. A day of waiting and watching. Of remembering and … not hoping. Not yet. Some return to their daily work, glad of the routine to dull their screaming thoughts. Others sit in shocked silence, minds reeling, bodies numb. One man hurries to the local tyrant.

Joseph of Arimathea is a slightly mysterious figure. He appears as if out of the crowd on Good Friday, buries the body of Jesus and disappears back into the masses.

Luke says he was a good and upright man who had not consented to the council’s decision. Matthew tells us that the tomb was Joseph’s own and that he had become a disciple of Jesus. John adds that this was secretly because he feared for his reputation.

John also mentions Joseph’s friend, Nicodemus, the man who had visited Jesus at night. Together they lavished mountains of spices to anoint Jesus’ body – many thousands of pounds’ worth in today’s money. Then they placed him in the tomb, rolled the stone across and left. And that’s it. We hear no more of Joseph of Arimathea in the Bible.

Did he join the huddle of frightened followers behind locked doors? Would he be present to hear Mary’s unbelievable news? Did he go on to become part of the church in Jerusalem? We do not know.

Before this day, he had been frightened to confess his faith, but he stood up when he needed to. He did what needed doing. Joseph is one of the silent faithful, the vast cloud of witnesses who quietly get on with serving. Today, we see him reverently doing what he is able to honour his Lord. Perhaps it seems too little and too late. But he does what he can.

He watches. He waits. He remembers. And tomorrow, he will hope.

Prayer

Dear Lord,
as we wait and we watch today,
as we remember and dare to hope,
teach us to serve those around us
and so doing, to serve you.
Amen.

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Dr John Bradbury

 
Call to Worship

God so loved the world that he gave his own dearly beloved Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.  On this day of remembrance and hope, we declare with joy:
God did not send his Son into the world  to condemn the world, but to save it.

Hymn     There Is A Green Hill Far Away        
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) (alt.) sung by the choirs of All Saints Church, Northampton
 
There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by his precious blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin,
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in. 

Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved,
And we must love him too
And trust in his redeeming blood
And try his works to do.

Opening Prayer

O crucified Jesus, Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,  eternal Word of God, we worship you.

O crucified Jesus,  holy temple of God, dwelling place of the most High, gate of heaven, burning flame of love,
we worship you.

O crucified Jesus, sanctuary of justice and love, full of kindness, source of all faithfulness, we worship you.

O crucified Jesus,  ruler of every heart, in you are the treasures  of wisdom and knowledge, in you dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, we worship you.

Jesus, Lamb of God,  have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins,  have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world,  grant us peace.

Silence

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

Reading     St Luke 23: 13-25

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,  and said to them, ‘You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.  I will therefore have him flogged and release him.’

Then they all shouted out together, ‘Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!’  (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)  Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again;  but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’  A third time he said to them, ‘Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.’  But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted.  He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

Refection     He has done nothing to deserve death

Luke is deeply aware of the context in which his story unfolds. It is a context of Empire. Of high politics, and high religion. We see Jesus shipped from pillar to post and back again. He starts with the Assembly of the Elders, seemingly the Assembly of the chief priests and the scribes – the religious authorities. They are looking for a reason to get him out of the way. For he was stirring up the people. Perhaps they thought that he was going to take away their authority – for he was one who seemed to teach as if with some kind of naturally endowed authority. They are looking to trick him. “Are you the Son of God?”, they ask. “You say that I am”, he replies.

From here he is shipped to Pilate – the chief official of the Roman Empire, the occupying force of the region. A brutal empire – that will brook no opposition to its rule. With deep double standards – justice for its own citizens in a legal system that still influences our own, but for those not Roman citizens, life could be brutal.

The accusation of treason is so easy to bandy about, is it not? We hear it fairly regularly in our own troubled political times. “We found this man perverting our nation”, the Council protest to the representative of the occupying forces. Forbidding the paying of taxes to the emperor, even. But Pilate has some sense of justice within him, clearly. He’s not willing quite that quickly to take all of this at face value – ‘I find no basis for an accusation’, he says. Where upon the Council turn to that other thought, that sounds so familiar to our ears all these thousands of years later – the power of the crowd and popular opinion. ‘He stirs up the people’ – they claim. And the people must not be stirred up – heaven only knows what ideas might get into them.

So on again in this game of pillar to post – to Herod this time, the Israelite King, puppet, seemingly, of the Romans – but a sop to some kind of Israelite independence.  Herod is glad to meet this character he’s heard so much about. He sets about questioning Jesus. Not that Jesus has a lot to say for himself. Unlike the scribes and the chief priests, who stand there, vehemently accusing him.

Herod clearly was not quite sure what to do. He mocked and treated him with contempt – he was the only true king around here. And a fake kingly robe is placed upon Jesus, as he’s sent back to Pilate.

Pilate can find nothing wrong. Herod can find nothing wrong. This man is innocent of the charges brought against him? So how does he end up getting convicted? It’s a heady and toxic mix. Political and religious leaders whipping up the enthusiasm of the crowd, bandying around charges of treason. A political leadership weak, and perhaps a little uncertain of itself. Wanting, the quiet life more than justice. And then we have the crowd. Popular Opinion. ‘The Will of the People’, to use the more contemporary turn of phrase. And it is the will of the people, regardless of the evidence, regardless of the rights or wrongs of the case, regardless of justice or truth – they just want their pound of flesh. ‘Crucify him’. They shout. ‘Crucify him’. And Pilate gave in. Weak leaders often do. His standing amongst the crowd being more important than truth or justice. And so the crowd got it’s way. The sentence was passed.

And so it is, that it is in the interplay of worldly politics and religious fervour, that Jesus is condemned. Untruths whip up the people, and the will of the people must be done. And so it is. Jesus is condemned by powers that be very much like our own powers that be today. By crowds, people, in fact, very much like us.

Silence

Prayer

Loving God, we give you thanks and praise that Jesus was like us in every way, but without sin. That he put himself in the place of a sinner, condemned as a criminal, that we might be freed from sin and death.

We pray for those who administer justice and who wield power. Grant them wisdom and insight. May they resist the voices of popular opinion and seek only the true and the good. May they be upheld by your Spirit, that they might exercise servant leadership, like that of Christ.

We pray for those falsely accused and imprisoned, and we pray for those who seek justice on their behalf. Grant patience, perseverance and hope.

Hymn     Ah, Holy Jesus, How Has Thou Offended? 
Johann Heermann (1585-1647) based on Latin meditation, 11th century paraphrased Robert Bridges (1844-1930) sung by the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, Michigian, Virtual Choir.  

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

Reading     St Luke 23: 26-43

As they led Jesus away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.  But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the days are surely coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.”  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us”; and to the hills, “Cover us.”  For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.  When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.  Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing.  And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’  The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine,  and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’  There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’  But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

Reflection     Today you will be with me in paradise

Amidst the great political actors, Luke’s story is also full of little, ordinary folk. Here we have Simon of Cyrene. We know nothing of him, except that he was forced to carry this cross for Jesus. It is the kind of thing that can happen in occupied empires – being randomly accosted to assist the occupying forces – even in execution. What did this Simon know of Jesus? Who knows. What did he think of this gruesome role he was given – a hand in an execution? Who knows. It tells us something about the state of Jesus, however. This is a weak man, after being dragged from pillar to post, and beaten and flogged. Mercy was not in the Roman disposition – or seemingly that of the religious leaders.

Even one of the criminals on the cross joins in with the taunting and the humiliation. “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us”. It is interesting that the Messiah was supposed to ‘save himself’ – there might be that strand of a sense of a military saviour who would liberate the people running through scripture, but there are other strands too. That of the suffering servant, who is humbled, and suffers for the sake of the people. But that, seemingly, was not the kind of Messiah that the people wanted. They wanted someone a little more worldly in their Kingship. What they got, was a king who moved from a donkey to a cross. 

But yet there is a counterpoint to all of this. Another of those bit-parts in this story. The other criminal on his cross. This one speaks out for Jesus. This one recognises his own guilt. He deserves to be on his cross – as much as anyone can ever deserve to be on cross, I suppose. But he recognises that ‘This man has done nothing wrong’ – indicating to Jesus. Then that remarkable request, of a criminal in the midst of the sentence of death, the chaotic baying crowds below: “Jesus, remember me when you come into you Kingdom”. To which he get’s the most remarkable of responses: ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise’. The innocent one to whom no mercy is shown, in his final moments, shows mercy to the guilty one next to him. Such is God’s way with the world. Such is God’s way with us.

Silence

Prayer

Loving God, we give you thanks for the people who wander into our lives only briefly, but who make a real difference. Those who have helped us bear our crosses. Those who have seen who we really are. 

We give you thanks for the mercy of Christ – who offers us a place in paradise with him, even though we are guilty and he is innocent. For this great love beyond words, we thank you.

We pray for those facing death. Grant them peace. Grant them knowledge of your loving kindness. Grant them the ability to recognise their sin, and the hope we all share that Christ has created a place in paradise with him for us. Amen.

Hymn     O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded
Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)  translated James Waddell Alexander (1804-1859) (alt.) sung by the Gesualdo Six

O sacred head, sore wounded,
Defiled and put to scorn:
O kingly head, surrounded
With mocking crown of thorn;
What sorrow mars Thy grandeur?
Can death thy bloom deflow’r?
O countenance whose splendor
The hosts of heav’n adore!

In thy most bitter passion
My heart to share doth cry.
With Thee for my salvation
Upon the cross to die.
Ah, keep my heart thus moved
To stand Thy Cross beneath,
To mourn Thee, well-beloved,
Yet thank Thee for Thy death.

My days are few, O fail not,
With Thine immortal pow’r,
To hold me that I quail not
In death’s most fearful hour:
That I may fight befriended,
And see in my last strife
To me Thine arms extended
Upon the Cross of life.

Reading     St Luke 23: 44-56

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.  When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’  And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.  But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council,  had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.  It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.  Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Reflection     Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.

The sky turned dark from noon until three. The centurion present, noted that ‘Certainly this man was innocent’. The crowds ended up returning home beating their breasts. Presumably in sorrow. Presumably the crowds that only shortly before hand been shouting ‘Crucify’. And not long before that, ‘Hosanna’. Crowds are fickle.

And at the end, this remarkable cry from the cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’. What are we to make of this, at this extraordinary moment. The cry of a son to his Father? A cry of trust? A cry of hope? 

A cry which takes us into, and even beyond, the very mysteries of the Trinity. One God, Father, son and Holy Spirit. At a moment when the experience of human death is taken up into the heart of the very Godhead. A moment when to all intents and purposes, to those standing at the foot of the cross, God is dead. Hope has died. The very blackest hour in the history of the universe.   

The son of God, God’s very self with us in the midst of the world, we put to death. We did not see him for what he was. He upset our religion. He upset our politics. He upset popular opinion. And because of weak and vacillating leaders, because of the injustice at the heart of a great Empire we killed him. The women looked on from afar, faithful to the last. The disciples had fled and abandoned him. And God was dead upon the cross.

Except. Except. Whilst those who lived through this most terrible of moments could never have known what was to come next, we do. The Spirit of Christ was indeed with the Father. The world might have rejected and killed God, but God was not dead. If such a sentence can ever make any sense at all. We know the end of the story – we know that the injustice, the inhumanity, the failed political and religious leaders, the abandonment of the disciples, and the denial of love ones, did not mark the end. But in that moment it did. At that moment, life in the world was as black as it has ever been. Perhaps you know something of that blackness. Perhaps you know something of what it is to be abandoned by loved ones. Perhaps you know something of what it is to face injustice. Perhaps you know something of political intrigue and turmoil. God does. For God experienced that cross in the humanity of Christ. Nowhere we might go, has Christ not been. No blackness we have experienced or can imagine, can be any blacker than this moment. We will return to this story in the days to come. For the story is not over. But for today we leave it here.

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’. Having said this, he breathed his last’.

Silence

Prayer

Living God, in death upon the cross, 
Christ brought hope for the world. 
In death upon the cross, 
Christ won a victory over death 
that we are invited to share.
In death upon the cross, Christ 
became a mediator for us 
who knows the darkness of human life 
in this world.
In death upon the cross, 
Christ takes the darkness of humanity, 
and refashions it by grace.
For this we give you thanks and praise. Amen. 

Hymn     When I Survey The Wondrous Cross    
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) BBC Songs of Praise

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.

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 through his blood.

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?

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.
 
Closing Prayer

Giver of life, we wait with you to offer the hope that comes from the cross to earth’s darkest places.  
Where pain is deep and affection is denied:  let love break through.

Where justice is destroyed, let sensitivity to right spring up.

Where hope is crucified, let faith persist.

Where peace has no chance, let passion live on.

Where truth is trampled underfoot, let the struggle continue.

Where fear paralyzes, let forgiveness break through.

Eternal God, reach into the silent darkness of our souls with the radiance of the cross.

O you who are the bearer of all pain,
have mercy on us.
Giver of life,
have mercy on us.
Merciful God,
have mercy on us.
Amen. 

St Mark 15: 6 – 20

Now at the festival Pilate 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, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’  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, ‘Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?’  They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’  Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’  So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

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, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’  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.

Reflection

We understand Mark to be the shortest, most obscure Gospel, leading many theologians to name a Messianic secret inside it.  Here, though, there is no shortening of the story. Betrayal by Jesus’s faith family, choosing of Jesus for death instead of another prisoner, teasing and torture of Jesus by soldiers – there is no mystery here.  It is spelled out in shameful detail.  Whoever wrote Mark means us to see this day clearly. 

For us, reading this against the torture of people in so many places in our 21st century, it can feel like obscure irrelevant history. It’s simply part of the annual ritual we have in our Churches. Today’s ritual is to read this on the day we are to recall the mandate – the maundy – to love one another as Jesus loved his own. We read this on a day when we’ve heard more shocking news, more examples of humans doing anything other than love, often deliberately.  I pray as I write this just before Christmas, that the news we will read before Easter is that Ukraine and the Middle East have found peace. Yet we humans are so cyclical that one devastating injustice ceases as another begins.

Why? It’s certainly not God.  It’s us.  Somehow we can’t believe in the peace God calls us to imagine.  Jesus’ message was silenced. God forgave Jesus’ killers and those who bayed for his killing. God gave no ancient revenge. Resurrection was the audacity of the peace God gives. Holy Spirit breathes inside us to give us power for peace.  What do we do? We keep being intensely human. Peace?  Must be a dream!  Perhaps this Maundy Thursday as we prepare for Easter, we can change our mindset. Just once. We can waken Holy Spirit inside us to accept God’s reality. Peace is possible.

Prayer

God, oh God, help us believe.
Help us imagine what peace looks like, smells like, produces.
Give us courage to try it out, to test the results.
Let us try again.
For our sakes, for the world, for the future.
In your power and presence,
Amen and Amen

St Mark 15 : 1 – 5

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, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’  Then the chief priests accused him of many things.  Pilate asked him again, ‘Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.’  But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

Reflection

The former American president, Theodore Roosevelt, gave a speech in 1910 in Paris to urge the United States to participate in the arena of global power, during which he said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” 

I think many Christians, and our churches, fear being in the public arena of power. Perhaps we fear the corrupting influences of violent power, or the shame of failure. We hold back, looking for ways to act in the background, avoiding tension and trying our best to be nice. This makes us lukewarm.

Jesus encourages us to enter the arena. But his way of being in the arena transforms it. Where violent power lobs punches and accusations, the power of God in Jesus sits like a dove. He does not punch back, nor defend himself. In silence, he offers an embrace.

This amazes practitioners of violence. It leaves me wondering that if only Pilate and the chief priests could drop their egos, pride, and faith in violent power, they could embrace and be embraced by God’s love.

For today’s Body of Christ—the church—to offer that same embrace to the world, we too have to go into the arena. We need not be afraid, but we do need to be present in it differently. Friends, let us go with boldness.

Prayer

God, you sent Jesus to show us that your embrace remains even in the face of every form of violence we throw at you or the world. Help us to enter the arena of public life with boldness, following you in laying aside our weapons of violence, and offer your embrace. Amen.

St Mark 14: 66 – 72

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, ‘You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’  But he denied it, saying, ‘I do not know or understand what you are talking about.’ 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, ‘This man is one of them.’  But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.’  But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know this man you are talking about.’   At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.

Reflection

This is one of those Biblical passages that always makes me pause. In many respects there is very little actually written there, and yet the depth of what it contains is challenging and demanding. It asks questions of us, and it demands a response from us as well.

For many of us, when we read this passage, we cannot but help putting ourselves into Peter’s place and wondering how we might have reacted, or responded, if we had been challenged and asked the questions that he was asked. We might, as we initially read the story, be horrified that Peter, of all of the disciples, might so easily turn his back on the one he has proclaimed as the Christ. And yet, as we reflect further, we might recognise just how easily we too turn our backs on our Saviour and, if we are honest with ourselves, we do so without the threats and provocation that Peter faced.

And the trouble is that we always realise what we have done after the fact. It is always something we view with hindsight. This was also the case for Peter, even though he had been given fair warning of what was going to happen. And it leads to one of the great understatements of the Bible.

Each of the Gospels deals with the aftermath of Peter’s denials with a brief sentence that can never fully encapsulate the pain and shame that he must have felt at that moment. And it is a pain and shame that we understand because we have acted in similar ways. Although we haven’t walked in Peter’s shoes, we have walked on similar paths and so we know those feelings of guilt that come when we have let someone down.

Yet despite these feelings, we must remember that there is always the possibility of reconciliation and forgiveness. Although Mark’s gospel may not provide us with the continuation of this particular story, we know from the gospel of John that following the resurrection, Jesus comes to Peter and restores him. This gives us the knowledge that we too can be restored.

Prayer

Loving God,
thank you for never letting us go.
Thank you that you are not like us,
and will never disown or deny knowing us.
Forgive us our faults and frailties and,
as you did with Peter, restore us,
so that we might be able to serve you
as we respond to your call on our lives. Amen.