A Reflective Service for Good Friday
The following service was adapted from a Good Friday service produced by Jim Rand and Brett Swanson of Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church and Kate Fields of Underwood Memorial Baptist Church. It is a meditative and introspective service based on the Stations of the Cross. Usually this service takes place in a walk through the Wauwatosa Cemetery with stops at various graves which brings the reality of death, the pain of the world, and suffering of Jesus even closer. While we may feel we are constantly surrounded by such reminders now, what I hope you'll experience in this "walk" with Christ in the last moments of his life is a deepening of your own call to discipleship and relationship with the God who never lets us walk alone.
The Apostle Paul tells us how to approach this walk.:
 
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8    

Prayer: O God, we bring the cries of our battered hearts, the cries of those burdened by illness, the cries of those bowed down with the weight of fear and anxiety, the cries of grief for all who have lost loved ones. Hear us in the name of Jesus, who cried out and prayed to you even from the cross. Amen.

An old slave song also sets the tone, calling us to put ourselves in the shoes of those who went with Jesus long ago –
In the Garden Luke 22:39-42, 44b-45
J esus went to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”

In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief.
Only in the gospel of Luke, do we find the disciples sharing in Jesus' grief to the point where they cannot function as he needs them. What role does your faith play in your response to fear and grief? In times of trial what enables your compassionate response to others and when do you find yourself becoming more closed in and non-responsive?
Responding to Violence
Luke 22:47-51

While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
When Jesus speaks in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is absolutely clear: weapons will not save us. They are implements of fear, not hope or salvation. Rome sought peace through the sword, but this was not the Way of Christ.
By the end of 2019, there were 419 mass shootings in the U.S. On February 26 of this year, another occurred in Milwaukee at the Molson Coors brewery where a 33 year old man named Jesus died along with four others.
In Wisconsin, an average of 46 children and teens die by guns every year.
The picture above depicts students from Stoneman Douglas HS in Florida where in 2018, 17 were killed and 17 more wounded. Like Jesus they cried out "no more" with a cry loud enough to impact the laws in their State.
Denied Luke 22:54-62
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Solemn Reproaches

Our God cries out: O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you?
 I called forth creation. I established the mountains and oceans, all plants and animals, but you have brooded on destruction. You chose death over life.
Mysterious God, invisible yet seen in the face of our neighbor, have mercy on us.
I breathed life into your bodies and carried you tenderly in my arms, but you have armed yourself for war, breathing out threats of violence.
Mysterious God, invisible yet seen in the face of our neighbor, have mercy on us.
I parted the water and gave you food in the desert. I prepared a place for you flowing with milk and honey, but you grasped the children’s food and eroded fertile lands.
Mysterious God, invisible yet seen in the face of our neighbor, have mercy on us.
I abandoned my power, taking on your fragile flesh and bowing to death on a cross, but you robed yourself in privilege and despised those who could not protect themselves.
Mysterious God, invisible yet seen in the face of our neighbor, have mercy on us.
I came to you in spirit and truth, in grace and truth, but you trusted in lies and denied the love that I gave you.
Mysterious God, invisible yet seen in the face of our neighbor, have mercy on us. We are truly sorrow for the ways we offend you and hurt one another.
The 2019  Global Week for Future  was a series of 4500 strikes across over 150 countries, focused around September 20 & 27. Organized by school children, they gathered roughly 4 million protesters creating what is likely the world's largest climate strike. These youth are crying out in judgement for the death and devastation resulting from human caused climate change that will only grow if we do nothing.
Judged Luke 23:1, 5, 13-14, 23
Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. … They were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea ….”
 
Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man … and I have examined him; and I have not found him guilty of any of your charges against him.
 
But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified ….Their voices won out.
What burden might you – or your congregation –or we as the presbytery help carry for someone else?
Bearing the Cross Luke 23:26-28
As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus.    A huge crowd of people followed Jesus, including women, who were mourning and wailing for him.    Jesus turned to the women and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Rather, cry for yourselves and your children.
Crucified and Forgiving
Luke 23:32-38
They crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” 
The people were standing around watching...
The leaders sneered at him...
The soldiers also mocked him...
Above his head was a notice of the formal charge against him. It read
“This is the king of the Jews.”

Hymn- Ah, Holy Jesus
Death and Discipleship
Luke 23:44-46, 48-49, 50, 52-53, 55
  It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, while the sun stopped shining. Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle. Crying out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my life.” After he said this, he breathed for the last time.
All the crowds who had come together to see this event returned to their homes beating their chests after seeing what had happened. And everyone who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance observing these things.
Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council. He was a good and righteous man...This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Taking it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb carved out of the rock...The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid in it, then they went away and prepared fragrant spices and perfumed oils.
Closing Prayer

Gracious God, we marvel at your presence in Jesus. We like to think that, if we would have been there, we would have treated you with the respect you deserved, that we would have seen with our eyes, heard with our ears, understood with our hearts and recognized Jesus of Nazareth as the servant of the Lord and the Christ of God; that, instead of a crucifixion, there would have been a true coronation. 
But we know that the outcome would have been the same. The only difference would have been the name of the actors.
As we recall their performance and our own, we acknowledge that we have walked in the shoes of each of them. Like Judas, we have put money and personal interest ahead of loyalty to Christ. Like Peter, we have placed self-preservation above your call to witness and action. Like the disciples, we have walked away when needed most. Like Pilate, we put public pressure above the need to speak out to injustice. 
Yet we are even more embarrassed for our absence among those who remained loyal to Christ. We pray for courage that we might be like Simon the Cyrenian who helped Jesus to bear his cross, like Joseph who advocated for a condemned man that at least in death he receive some dignity, like the women who cared for him throughout his ministry and beyond to his death and resurrection. 
Pondering their actions, we give thanks for the thousands across our country and the world who are putting their lives at risk for others, especially we pray for: all those in health care, grocery and food providers, officers, firefighters, mail deliverers, all essential workers and government officials. We also give thanks for those who are caring for others by staying at home.
In the face of death and loss, we know the promise of resurrection and pray that we might hear our Lord say to us, upon observing our common response to those in need, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me...Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Amen.