Holy Week 2018

Emmanuel Presbyterian

Church

Maundy Thursday Scripture Reading: Luke 22:1-6

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.  And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

Hymn: O the Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus (#352) Call to Worship

Scripture Reading: Luke 22:7-13

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Song: God With Us Prayer of Confession and Declaration of Forgiveness Anthem: A Place at His Table

Scripture Reading: Luke 22:14–23

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Video Meditation: Who Could It Be? Prayer of Thanksgiving and the Lord’s Prayer Hand Washing and Communion Hymn: What Wondrous Love Is This Benediction

Blues Friday “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James

Something told me it was over When I saw you and her talkingSomething deep down in my soul said, cry girlWhen I saw you and that girl, walking arround I would rather, I would rather go blind boyThan to see you, walk away from me child, and allSo you see, I love you so muchThat I don't want to watch you leave me babyMost of all, I just don't, I just don't want to be free no uh uh  I was just, I was just, I was just sitting here thinkingOf your kisses and your warm embrace, yeah When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby (yeah, yeah)Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeahAnd baby, baby (baby, baby, bay) I would rather be blind boy Than to see you walk away, see you walk away from me, yeah Baby, baby, baby (baby, baby, bay) I'd rather be blind now (baby, baby, bay)

Welcome to Blues Friday. On this unusual evening we do several things: we gather, remember

God’s story, our stories, listen to Blues music, and commemorate Good Friday. We remember the

night Jesus was crucified and we hear songs of sorrow, desire, hope, failure, and even joy. How in the world do Good Friday and Blues Friday go together? Think about it this way.

Life often goes smoothly, but. . . much of life does not. Much of life feels like a train wreck, a

collision of cross purposes. My way versus your way, my needs versus your needs, my

expectations versus your expectations. The emotional fallout from those collisions often makes its way into art. . . into poetry, paintings, novels, dramas, and into the lyrics of songs. The songs

can be of any genre, but blues music seems particularly adept at capturing and expressing the deep, honest emotions we experience in life. Both the joy and the sorrow.

And on Good Friday we remember another collision. We remember what happened when God walked among us. We are going to weave this collision and its results among several sets of

songs. The words you hear from the speakers come from the Bible, from pastors, from poets, and from people like you.

It may not always be clear how the words and the songs go together. After all, this isn’t some tidily crafted musical. It is, instead, an evening that tries to express the messy, complicated

human experience and the deep mystery of God’s love for broken people. An evening where we remember that God often comes to us disguised as our life.

And that is why we call this Friday, good!

Band speaker: We have a song for you with lyrics that express how life was intended – intended

for good! But somber reality sinks in. The song paints a picture of how our lives often turn out broken and blue.

“On the Seventh Day” by Etta James Now I'm gonna tell you, so you'll understand How it all got started, how it all begin God made the heavens, God made the earth Made a man and a woman out of blood, sweat and dirt And He looked around the neighborhood And He said to His self, "This is good" God made the rivers and the mountains with his hands God made the wind to blow the shifting sands He put the fishes in the, in the deep blue sea Filled up the garden with flowers and the trees And God looked around the neighborhood And He said to His self, "This is good" But the devil he was jealous, took the apple in his hand The devil tempted woman and woman tempted man God, He mourned and the tears rolled down His face It broke His heart to see His children fall from grace And on the seventh day they say, "God rested” But you know that ain't the truth Cause on the seventh day, God made the blue, Cause on the seventh day, God made the blue The blues is been around ever since that day Everybody gets the blues, everybody got to payFor the wicked things we do And what we put each other throughAnd on the seventh day they say, "God rested” But you know that ain't the truth Cause on the seventh day, God made the blueCause on the seventh day, God made the blue, God made the blue

“The blues is been around ever since that day. Everybody gets the blues, everybody got to pay.

The wicked things we do, what we put each other through.”

Our theme tonight is Mosaic. However, a mosaic is created from the fallout of a collision, from broken bits and pieces. So before the mosaic, comes the collision. There are plenty of

opportunities for collisions in life. Enough to go around for all, with chances for seconds and

thirds. You may have experienced some: broken promises, broken relationships, loss, betrayal, emptiness. When life doesn’t turn out how we expected it to, wanted it to, or hoped it would

even our language expresses the reality that we have experienced a collision of cross purposes. We use phrases such as “I was shattered,” “everything just fell to pieces,” “she is really broken up

about it.” Sometimes we encounter suffering with no apparent cause other than tumultuous

weather patterns or bad luck, or suffering bound to the fact that we are mortals in bodies that decay and grey and wither, bodies that sometimes do the opposite of what they are supposed to

do.

It turns out that all of life, for everyone, is a collision of cross purposes, of contradictions seeking

to be reconciled. Life, for everyone has a cross-formed pattern, a cruciform pattern. That means that in this life there is pain and there is suffering; there are hurts and wounds and scars. We are

tempted to think that pain and suffering are our great enemies, to be avoided at all cost. If we are believers, if we think there is a God, then we may become disillusioned or angry when God

seems absent. We might even say, “Because I can’t see where he is in this mess, he doesn’t

exist.”

Tonight, we remember another collision. In John we read, “He was in the world, and the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.” God comes, disguised as our life. Jesus walked the cross-formed pattern. He lived the cruciform life. He died the cruciform death. From the cross he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In Jesus, God has come to dwell with us, to share our human story. Even the parts of our human story that are most painful. God was hanging from the cross. God enters our pain and loss and wounds and takes them into God’s own self so that we might know who God really is. This is our God, a God who weeps, who suffers not only for us, but with us. 3 God comes, disguised as our life.

And that is why we call this Friday, good.

Band Speaker: We’re going to play two songs now. Both describe what it feels like to live in a collision. Both use metaphors. The first uses a metaphor of a chained heart; the second, a beat up-broken guitar.

“Unchain My Heart” by Ray Charles Unchain my heart, baby let me beUnchain my heart 'cause you don't care about meYou've got me so like a pillow case, But you let my love go away so, Unchain my heart oh, Please me set me free Unchain my heart, baby let me goUnchain my heart, 'cause you don't love me no more Ev'ry time I call you on the phone, Some fella tells me that you're not at home so, Unchain my heart, oh Please me set me free I'm under your spell like a man in a trance But I know darn well that I don't stand a chance, So unchain my heart let me go my wayUnchain my heart you worry me night and dayWhy lead me through a life of misery when you don't care a bag of beans for meSo unchain my heart oh, Please me set me free

I'm under your spell like a man in a tranceOh I know darn well that I don't stand a chance So unchain my heart, let me go away Unchain my heart, you worry me night and dayWhy lead me through a life of misery when you don't care a bag of beans for meSo unchain my heart oh Please me set me free Ah won't you set me free, woah set me free Wow, set me free, little darlin’, ah, won't you set me free

“Beat Up Old Guitar” by Shemekia Copeland and Arthur Neilson In a bar down in Texas in a poor part of townSat an old man playin' the blues, played em' dirty and low-downJust trying to make a living, but you know it can't go farPlaying them old blues, playing them old blues Playing them old blues, on a beat up, beat up old guitar

But he holds ya like a woman, holds ya close to his chest Runs his hands across the body, with a soft, soft caressThough he never made much money, when he passed around the jarHe could really play the blues, really play the blues Really play the blues, on a beat up, beat up old guitar The body was all scratched up, the neck a beat up thing But when that man started pickin', he could make the guitar singThough it never made him famous, he never was a starHe could really play the blues, really play the blues Really play the blues, on a beat up, beat up old guitar

One day that guitar just broke down, you know the old man, he broke down tooThis mean ol' life’s gonna get you, no matter what you doBut if you’re ever down in Texas, and you listen really hard You'll hear an old man playin' the blues, old man playin' the blues Old man playin' the blues, on a beat up, beat up old guitar

Mosaic “Unchain my heart. Why lead me through a life of misery? Set me free.” “This mean old life gonna get you no matter what you do.”

We are a people who have experienced collisions. Sometimes we are the victim, sometimes the perpetrator, sometimes both. Always it leads to a big, broken mess.

So how can we call this Friday, good? Because the truth is—God is always present in love and in suffering. Jesus spent his time with people for whom life was not easy, and there, amid those who were suffering, he was the embodiment of love, of compassion, of mercy. Nowhere is the presence of God amidst suffering more notable, more prominent, than on the cross. God does not cause suffering. This is a God who bears suffering. God does not initiate suffering. God transforms it. We know this because the most horrific collision of all time was God himself on a cross. But the cross laid the groundwork for the redeeming, transforming work of Easter. Resurrection follows death…Renewal follows loss…Mosaic follows collision.

The pattern of transformation is a cruciform life, personified in the death and raising up of Jesus. The collisions in our lives are the very places where we can experience transformation. When our foundations have been shaken, our lives shattered and we experience God holding us and putting us back together so that we come out more alive on the other side, then we experience the transformative power of the Good Friday/Easter mystery.

Resurrection never feels like being made clean and nice and pious…God isn’t interested in making us nice and good. God is about making us new. New doesn’t always look perfect. [Like the Good Friday/Easter story itself], new is often messy. New looks like recovering alcoholics. New looks like reconciliation between family members who don’t actually deserve it. New looks like every fresh start and every act of forgiveness and every moment of letting go of what we thought we couldn’t live without and then somehow living without it anyway. New is the thing we never saw coming—never even hoped for—but ends up being what we needed all along. It happens to all of us. God simply keeps reaching down into the broken bits, into the dirt and mess of humanity and rescuing us from our [collisions]; resurrecting us from the graves we dig for ourselves. God keeps loving us back to life over and over.

And that is why we call this Friday, good!

We chose this last song because it names the pain and loss that occurred on the cross. God creates a mosaic from even the biggest messes we make, from the great losses we experience, and in the midst of the pain and chaos of this life.

“Changes,” by Charles Bradley

I feel unhappy. I feel so sad, I lost the best friend that I ever had She was my woman, I loved her so. But it's too late now, I’ve let her go I'm going through changes, I’m going through Changes (in my life)

We shared the years, we shared each day, in love together, we found a way But soon the world, had its evil way. My heart was blinded, love went astray I'm going through changes, I’m going through Changes (in my life)

It took so long to realize that I can still hear her last goodbyesNow all my days, are filled with tears. Wish I could go back and change these years I'm going through changes, I’m going through Changes (in my life) In my life, in my life There gotta be a change in my lifeThis little changes, in my life

Benediction God’s grace, his mercy, his love comes in and fills all the cracks created by the collisions of our lives. God uses it all, our strengths, our weaknesses, our gifts, and our failures. In fact, the broken bits are the perfect places for God to make something new and something beautiful. A mosaic.

And that is why we call this Friday, Good!

Holy Saturday Preparing for Worship (Please enter quietly) Welcome and Prayer

Scripture Reading: Job 14:1-14

“A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last. Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one can. Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass, look away from them, and desist, that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days. “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they? As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep. O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.

Meditate on the Text Prayer Stations

Scripture Reading: Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Meditate on the Text Prayer Stations

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 4:1-8

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Meditate on the Text Prayer Stations

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:57-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Meditate on the Text Prayer Stations

Sending and Blessing

Prayer Stations

The Journey As Jesus journeyed to the cross, we, too, are on a journey. Trace a path in the sand as you pray and reflect on your life’s journey.

Start with a large circle in the sand, and continue creating an inward spiral. As you move toward the center, confess and let go of things that hinder your relationship with God. Shed images or projections of yourself so that you can be real with God. Let go of what you don’t need to take with you on the journey. Often we journey on the open road. Sometimes we have to navigate crossroads and difficult paths. Sometimes we have companions on the journey. Sometimes we seem to be alone.

Who are your traveling companions? Who stops to help you when the road gets tough? Who do you help when you see them in distress on the side of the road?

And here is the paradox of our faith. We seek God. We travel toward God as pilgrims. But God is with us, to guide us, to be our companion. So, as you journey toward the Cross, remember that you are not alone. God is your companion on the journey.

Anointing Before Jesus headed to Jerusalem, a woman washed his feet with her hair and then anointed him with costly perfume. After his burial, the women headed to the tomb to anoint his body as well. These acts were signs of love and extravagance.

Anoint your own hands or feet with the oils on the table.

How often do you allow others to do something generous for you? How often do you allow yourself to be generous to yourself? While there are many good reasons to be generous to others, it is equally important to allow people to be generous to you and to care for yourself. Is that had for you to do? Why?

Pause to offer a prayer that you will live generously and allow other to be generous to you as well.

Giving All Luke 21:1-4

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Look carefully at the coin on the table. This is one of the coins like the widow gave in Luke 21. Then consider your own giving.

What do you want Jesus to say about your way of giving, the offering of your life? Take time to pray about the resources of time, skills, and money you have. What are you holding back from him? Why? Invite God to work in your reluctance to give and to do something new in your life.

Foot Washing John 13:1-20

Jesus rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. . . .

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

Take time to live into the text with your imagination. Read it again. Take off your shoes and wash your feet (or take turns washing each other’s feet). Imagine Jesus washing your feet. Consider your reluctance.

Why is letting another person wash your feet difficult? What are some other ways of caring that are difficult to accept? Why do you think Jesus chose this action to model for his disciples?

(Please empty the basin outside and wipe it down with a disinfecting wipe when you are done so that it is ready for the next person.)

Denial John 15:1-5

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Jesus spoke these words to his disciples after he washed their feet and told Peter that he would soon deny him. Jesus didn’t reject Peter, even though he knew that Peter would reject him!

Think about times you have turned your back on Christ or denied him. In the middle of a flower shape, write a word or phrase to represent a prayer asking for forgiveness. Then reread John 15:1-5, asking God to help you fully abide in and accept the forgiveness you have been given through Christ. Paint the flower, covering the words as a sign of your forgiveness and in hope of the fruit that will come.

Death and Resurrection John 12:23–24

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Take a seed and hold it in your hand. This little seed contains all of the information needed to create new life. But it first must experience death. On a piece of tissue paper, write something you want to bury, or have die, or say goodbye to. Then wrap some seeds loosely in the paper. Go outside and plant the wrapped seeds in the soil of our prayer garden.

Pause to think of the darkness the seed experiences before it can spring to life. On Good Friday, we remember the darkness and death of Jesus on the cross. But new life emerges from the darkness of the tomb on Easter.

What new life do you expect to see in the garden plot? What signs of new life do you hope for in your own life?