Hope in our Darkest Hour - Good Friday

April 7, 2023 Good Friday Service Hope in our Darkest Hour Open in silence Greeting Hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus UMH UMH 297 Something to Think about Hope, that is the word the God gave me to ponder this year during lent and Easter. Jesus came into the world so that we can have hope, and have it abundantly. It will be easy to speak about Hope on Easter Sunday. But I have to be reminded that real hope begins on Good Friday – the darkest day of the year. Real hope begins in the midst of our despair – those times in our life when our feelings are numb. We don’t know quite what to do or what even comes next. And we feel that God is being silent. Tonight in scripture we will be reminded of Christ last cry – My God My God why have you forsaken me? And what strikes me is that in the passion story, God never responds. There is no answer for what it happening. There is no justice, no defense – the events just happen. We actually, never get to see how God is at work in this situation. Hope is a process, hopes is a relationship, sometimes hope can be an adventure. For Jesus in this moment – hope becomes an act of extreme trust – that even in the midst of pain, maybe things are being worked out for the better. Tonight I didn’t want us to go through the entire passion story with words – I wanted us to have an image of Jesus in our minds. I love the Chosen series, and the actor Jonothon Roumie takes his role as Jesus so seriously. The chosen is now on season 4 – and they plan to have 7 seasons of shows – so Jesus has not been gone through death and resurrection yet. But there have been many scenes where he gets close. In this scene that we are going to watch – Jesus is meeting with the Roman authorities – and we know that they will be playing close attention to him and will eventually do everything that they can to erase his memory and his influence. Where is the hope in that? (watch the movie) How can you have hope, when everything in the world is trying to stop you. No one is willing to speak up on your behalf, no one stops the injustice even when they see it happening. And God is silent about the whole thing. There is a lot going on in the world on this Good Friday, there is a lot going on in our lives, in our faith. We would love for God to just tap God’s fingers and make it all okay. But when you think about it – there are times in our lives – when no answer would make it all okay. No explanation would be enough. And promises would still fall short. So God says nothing at all. We just have to sit, trust, hope in an outcome that we cant see right now. In God’s silence, God is still at work. We never do get to see how Christ was actually saved from the grave and yet…. Tonight we will continue to sing, to pray, to relive Christ passion. Our service will end peacefully, with a word. Leave and listen for the silence of God. Tomorrow is holy Saturday – a quiet day when nothing is said of Jesus’ death. Whatever you do tomorrow – I invite you to take an intentional moment to spend with God. Tell God what you hope for. God’s response will be silence – but be assured that even in the silence God heres, God cares – God is working it out. And I look forward to seeing you on Sunday at 9:30 when we all get to experience the next phase of hope. Peace Jesus Last Words to Us Matthew 27:45-51,54 Death 45 From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. 46 At about three Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”[a] 47 After hearing him, some standing there said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 One of them ran over, took a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 But the rest of them said, “Let’s see if Elijah will come and save him.” 50 Again Jesus cried out with a loud shout. Then he died. 51 Look, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what had just happened, they were filled with awe and said, “This was certainly God’s Son.” Christ’s Lament against his Faithless Church Lord’s Prayer Hymn Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross UMH 301 Go Forth into the Night