GOOD FRIDAY

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
why art thou so far from helping me,
and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not;
and in the night season, and am not silent.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee:
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered:
they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
 
But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him:
let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb:
thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb:
thou art my God from my mother's belly.

Be not far from me;
for trouble is near;
for there is none to help.

Many bulls have compassed me:
strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths,
as a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint:
my heart is like wax;
it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
 
My strength is dried up like a potsherd;
and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me:
the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:
they pierced my hands and my feet.
 

 I may tell all my bones:
they look and stare upon me.

They part my garments among them,
and cast lots upon my vesture.


 

But be not thou far from me, O LORD:
O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword;
my darling from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth:
for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name unto my brethren:
in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the LORD, praise him;
all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him;
and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
neither hath he hid his face from him;
but when he cried unto him, he heard.
 
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation:
I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied:
they shall praise the LORD that seek him:
your heart shall live for ever.

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD:
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom is the LORD's:
and he is the governor among the nations.

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship:
all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him:
and none can keep alive his own soul.

A seed shall serve him;
it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

They shall come,
and shall declare his righteousness unto a people
that shall be born,
that he hath done this.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne





12912

WHAT LANGUAGE SHALL I BORROW TO THANK THEE DEAREST FRIEND?

Dear Friends,

As Christians are about to begin the most solemn time of the year, Holy Week, I thought I would post something appropriate. My apology to church members since this article appears in the April Newsletter, although without the pictures. My regular blog will resume Saturday, April 14.

O darkest woe!
Ye tears forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father's only Son
Now lies buried yonder.

For years as an adolescent and young adult I attended the three hour Good Friday Service run by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at the Palmer House hotel in downtown Chicago. It would be hard for me to underestimate the impact that ritual had in me. The texts were the seven last words of Christ from the Cross. I remember none of the sermons, but I do remember the hymns, the wonderfully moving passion hymns. Hymn after hymn was sung focusing our attention of the sacrifice of our Lord as words alone never could.

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.

I suppose people would declare these are just too gloomy. At a time when even the church is filled with happy talk, there is an abhorrence on anything that pricks the conscience or dampens the spirit. But the crucifixion was terrible, bloody, and awful. All of Jesus' teachings are pointless if we don't see that he was headed to the cross. For my sake he died. For my sake.

In perfect love he dies;
For me he dies, for me!
O all-atoning Sacrifice,
I cling by faith to thee.

Attendance at Good Friday Services are always rather poor nowadays, a tiny fraction of those who will attend the Easter Services a few days later. But who can understand the glories of the resurrection who has not first understood the grief of the crucifixion. As Luther insisted, we must have a theology of the Cross and not a theology of glory.



What language shall I borrow
To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to thee.

I heard the Baptist minister Tony Campolo talking about a sort of preaching contest he got into with an elderly African-American preacher. Campolo gave it his best, and the old preacher said, "Pretty good, young man, but I'm going to beat you with only seven words." And so the preacher did. The word's? "Today is Saturday, but tomorrow is Sunday."



Awake my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When, as on wings in flight,
We soar to realms of light.

Sunday will come. The terrors of Friday and the grief of Saturdayn gone, and we are lifted to new realms of joy.

Tis the spring of souls today:
Christ has burst his prison,
And from three days sleep in death
As a sun has risen.
All the winter of our sins.
Long and dark, is flying,
From the light to whom we give
Laud and praise undying.

It's not just all the people, it's not just the lilies, it's not even the hymns with all their joy. It is the truth that sets us free: Christ who was dead is alive. We who were dead are alive. All who fasted on the bitter tears of sin, have been welcomed to the great heavenly banquet.



At the lambs high feast we sing.
Praise to our victorious king.
Who has washed us in the tide
Flowing from his wounded side.
Praise we Christ whose love divine
Gives his sacred blood for wine;
Gives his body for the feast,
Christ the victim Christ the priest. Alleluia.

Christ has died!
Christ has risen!
Christ will come again!

Amen and amen.

May the Lord bless you on your way and greet you on your arival.

Wayne