Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Good Friday – 29 March 2024 – 9am or whenever possible
You may like to light a candle during your time of worship.
Feel free to text the Peace to other members of the congregation.
Introit: “He became poor” – (TiS 721)
He became poor that we may be rich, loving the world and leaving his throne;
King of all kings and Lord of all lords, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone.
Candle Lighting:
Today is a day when light is threatened by the powers of darkness.
As we light this candle, it’s fragile flickering flame pushes back the darkness.
Let us hear again the story of Jesus – the One who confronted darkness in order to defeat it.
God, shine your light among us.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we gather,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nation,
traditional custodians of this land and these waters.
I acknowledge the commitment their ancestors made
across generations, to nurturing this land.
Together, may we walk into the future,
recognising the sacred footsteps
that continue to lead us to the promise of Heaven.
Call to Worship:
A whip. A thorny crown.
A jeering crowd and a cross.
We are bound together in this story
and in the telling of it.
Gathering Words:
Our worship service today is a different take on the Stations of the Cross. Together, we will journey through Jesus’ final moments through the eyes of his disciple, Peter.
In Peter, we see a little of all of us – he is devout and resolute, zealous and rash, and even fearful and flawed. If any of us can locate ourselves in the crucifixion story, it is likely we can see ourselves in Peter.
This is a service of confession, lament and repentance. Through Peter’s experience, we will consider our own. We will look closely at the events of Good Friday to help us honestly assess who we are. As Jesus tells Peter the truth about himself, we will consider the truth about ourselves.
Writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin, once said – ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ Let us journey together through this difficult day, trusting in God’s power and willingness to bind our wanderings hearts to God’s own self.
Prayer of Approach:
Holy God,
as we journey through the familiar story, help us to understand it anew.
Show us, O God, where we find ourselves in the narrative,
and move us toward a more just and compassionate future.
Amen.
We Sing: “Were you there” – (TiS 345)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
were you there when the sun refused to shine?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Station 1: Peter resists then receives the foot-washing
Bible Reading: John 13:1-20
1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”. 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
16 Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”
Peter says:
This feels … strange? What does Jesus mean by all this? What does he mean by saying that not all of us are clean? He washed our feet, which was … strange. But I trust my teacher.
I’ve given up everything to follow him. Is that not love? His words seem … strange. What does he know? What is he not saying?
Poem (Br David Hirt):
And everything is upside down,
like faces mirrored in a bowl:
an earthen vessel, roughly formed,
that’s full of water while the one
who once was robed, incomparable,
in light removes his outer robe
to tie a towel, a servant’s garb,
around his waist and stoops to wash
his follower’s feet of traces from
the dusty Roman roads they’ve walked.
Yes everything is upside down
for whom in all this world would like
to think that him whose praise we sang,
“Hosanna to King David’s son,”
should stoop to take a servant’s part.
Oh we would rather that he reign
on high with us at his right hand.
But Servant Lord, incomp’rable,
you call us to remove our pride,
our outer robe, and stoop to wash
all others’ feet: humility,
and thrust down deep our dusty feet –
to take the love you offer us –
into the bowl reflecting you.
We Sing: “The Servant King” – (TiS 256)
From heaven you came, helpless babe, entered our world, your glory veiled;
not to be served, but to serve, and give your life that we might live.
This is our God, the Servant King, he calls us now to follow him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King.
So let us learn how to serve and in our lives enthrone him;
each other’s needs to prefer, for it is Christ we’re serving.
This is our God …
Response:
We remember that Jesus washed his disciples feet,
and so we are called to serve others in this way.
Like a parent at bath time …
Like a child, feeding their parent who is unable to feed themselves …
Like the lover who holds out their hand without words …
Like the neighbour bringing in your bins …
Like the teacher who listens for the deeper need …
Like a researcher who persists at asking questions …
Like an artist who reveals the truth …
Like the stranger who smiles and says ‘Hello’ …
Like the friend who knocks on the door …
Like the way you may volunteer your time to serve others … seen and unseen …
This is how we wash each other’s feet.
(Write or draw on one of your pieces of paper, one or more names of the people you serve.)
Station 2: Jesus foretells Peter’s denials
Bible Reading: John 13:31-38
– The New Commandment
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.
Peter says:
I am confused. Why would he leave us? Why is he not taking us with him? How will he bring about justice and peace and restore our nation if he is to go? He is the Messiah!
And why does he doubt me? I love him! He called me his rock. I would never deny him! Never!
Response:
“Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another.”
(On a second sheet of paper, write the names of people you profoundly love.)
Station 3: Peter draws his sword
Bible Reading: John 18:1-11
– The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” 5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these people go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
Response:
Violence in all its forms, is a public health issue. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the United States. In Australia, domestic and family violence is disturbingly common and one of the main drivers of homelessness. According to the research group, Counting Dead Women Australia, 64 women were killed in violent incidents in 2023, and 14 so far this year. That means a woman is murdered every 5 days, usually at the hands of a current or former partner. Men, however, are not immune. 1 in 6 women and 1 in 9 men experience physical or sexual violence before the age of 15. Communities living without adequate resources are more susceptible to violence.
Let us pray together:
Holy One, we lament the proliferation and use of firearms,
and bemoan the staggering statistics of domestic and family violence.
God of the accused and the accusing,
who made the mouth, the ear and the heart of all in conflict,
may we turn ourselves towards that which must be heard,
because there we will hear your voice.
Amen.
Station 4: Jesus is arrested and Peter denies Christ
Bible Reading: John 18:12-18
– Jesus before the High Priest
12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.
Peter Denies Jesus
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate.
So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. 17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.
Response:
I invite you to turn your attention to the image by Rev T Denise Anderson, inspired by Peter denying Christ. Of this piece, the artist writes:
Here, I try to capture Peter’s initial paralysis when he’s first asked if he’s one of Jesus’ disciples. When Jesus was arrested, Peter had only begun to see the full extent of the empire’s cruelty. ‘Would they do to me what they’ve done to him?’ he must have asked himself. Maybe he could be so zealous for Jesus in the past because it was all an abstraction. Now, things have gotten frighteningly real.
Friends, when we think of violence, we think of calculated, deliberate, or impassioned action. Here we are confronted with the violence of inaction. Peter has now seen the lengths that power would go to silence Jesus. When asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter freezes. He must suspect that, if his association to Jesus was made known, he might be met with the same violence.
Let us pray together:
Merciful God,
We confess that, too often,
we’ve been inactive bystanders in the face of someone else’s victimisation.
Forgive us for choosing self-preservation over justice.
Amen.
Station 5: Peter denies Christ again and again
Bible Reading: John 18:19-27
– The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”
22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter Denies Jesus Again
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
Response:
I invite you to now gaze upon the complete artwork titled The Descent. Anderson shares these words about the artwork as a whole:
From the top Peter descends into more fear – the kind that does not help us to be our best selves. I depict him going from stunned to defensive and then to belligerent, navigating the full spectrum of the fight, flight, or freeze responses to perceived threat. By the time the cock crows as Jesus predicted, Peter probably no longer recognizes himself. He must feel deflated and ashamed. At the end of his descent he is different, so I depict him differently from his three prior denials. He has much less fire in his countenance and can’t even open his eyes to face what he’s done.
The flames recall the fire where Peter warmed himself, but they also represent purification and illumination. Peter is forced to see himself as he truly is – as Jesus had already shown him. Who will he choose to be after this? When we are confronted with who we truly are, who will we choose to be after that confrontation? As we look at Peter’s journey, it’s my prayer that we will consider and meditate on our own.
You are now invited to place the slips of paper you wrote on earlier into the bowl of water.
In this act, we symbolically participate in Peter’s denial. We recognise the times we have turned away from those we love and from those God has called us to serve. We feel the pain of facing the worst part of ourselves.
We Sing: “When his time was over” – (TiS 357)
When his time was over the palms lay where they fell.
As they ate together he told his friends farewell.
Jesus, though you cried out for some other end,
love could only choose a cross when our life began again.
Secretly they planned it, with money changing hands;
in the quiet garden a kiss betrayed their man.
Priests and elders tried him. Soldiers crowned him king.
We were in the crowd that day when our life began again.
Women wept to see him; he said, ‘Don’t weep for me.”
Many laughed and mocked him: ‘Forgive them, they don’t see.’
Jesus, please forgive me, you know what I am;
I was the one who nailed your hands when our life began again.
There was one who asked you, ‘Remember me this day.’
Jesus, when I’m dying, remember me that way;
when my life is over, be with me, my friend,
like the thief upon the cross, when our life began again.
Station 6: Jesus is Crucified
Bible Reading: John 19:1-30
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So they took Jesus, 17 and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Peter:
When you know the world is grieving and you are partly responsible, what words of solace can you offer? When you could have done something – anything – and you did nothing, what then can you do?
The earth is shaken and so am I. But do I deserve to grieve? Have I brought this on myself? Have I brought this on him? On us? I have not earned these tears. I do not deserve this catharsis. But what else can I do?
We Sing: “When I survey” – (TiS 342)
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 to 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.
Dismissal:
Friends, we are more like Peter than we may like to admit.
Jesus has died and we were not there,
and so, we grieve with Peter.
As you leave this place in silence, remember:
your wandering heart is always tethered to the love of God.
God’s abundant grace existed for Peter and it exists for you.
God’s love will never run out.
So go now in peace
trusting that streams of mercy shall find us all.
Amen.
Thanks to all those who have assisted in preparation for this liturgy with encouragement, prayers and conversation. I have also utilised the following resources:
Sanctified Art (A Wandering Heart) and was Ellie Elia.