Is Good Friday about trying to overcome distance, or is it about acknowledging the distances between us? On this day, we feel a long way from God. We think we’ve resolved that childhood question, “What’s good about Good Friday?” but our answers still seem inadequate. This day doesn’t feel good to us. It feels a long way from good. I suppose that is part of the point.

We gather this day in dim lighting to remember that even the sun refused to shine over this death. Our music is slow and weighty, carrying the hammer blow of crucifixion and the desolation of the abandonment at the cross. We set a mood, not to manipulate emotions, but to express what is in our hearts and heads as we contemplate this day, this event, this gift.

Worship this day is about standing in silence at the foot of the cross. Too many words get in the way of the weight, the meaning, the moment of this day. Tell the story; don’t explain it. Just bow in awe of the sacrifice, tremble at the suffering, weep for the necessity, for the hard-heartedness that made this death a part of the result, the antidote. But don’t say too much. Just listen.

When you do speak, remind the community who gathers that this is not just a historical observance. Crucifixions continue; innocents dying painful deaths still goes on. We weep for them like we weep for his death. We weep for the hardness of heart that believes that violence is a solution to the world’s problems. We bring all this brokenness and hurt with us as we gather for worship today. We bring our doubts and our pains as well as the inclination to recoil from this gruesome death. We offer them up, these burdens, to the one who already carries the weight of the world on his bruised and bloody back. We hear his whispered prayer, asking for forgiveness for all of us, because, indeed, we do not know what we are doing.

Tell the story. And spend some time in silence. And then depart to a Saturday of in-between time, while we wait for Easter.

PLAYLIST SONG

“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday

“The Hanging Tree” from The Hunger Games

*You are invited to use one or both songs linked above with this social media devotional.

Of all the difficult, terrible things that can happen in this world, one of the scariest is being alone. Suffering, pain, tragedy—all are easier to bear when we know we are not alone in the struggle. When Jesus cries out from the cross, echoing the opening verses of Psalm 22, he cries out of a longing not to be alone in the midst of senseless violence. Our song today invites us to remain present and bear witness when suffering and injustice visit our neighbors and us. As you listen, let the music wash over you and consider: “How does God’s steadfast love strengthen you to be present and tell the truth in the face of sin and evil in the world?”