Fourth Sunday of Advent - A

Object: A bowl and a towel.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent

Have you ever gotten in trouble for not doing what you were supposed to do? (Let them respond.) Maybe it was something you were supposed to do at home, or maybe it was something you were supposed to do for someone else. Well, our story today is about the time Jesus’ friends didn’t do what Jesus told them they were supposed to do.

Activity: The Easter Game. See the note. 

Object: A box of Kleenex?

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.

Isaiah 65:17-25
The vision of Isaiah, the new heaven and new earth, a world we cannot begin to imagine, moves us from the sorrow of Good Friday and the waiting of Saturday, into the joy of the resurrection. Isaiah proclaims from God, “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.” What a moment, what a time that will be. What hope there is in this prophecy? God’s promises are laid out before us. God’s promises are proclaimed to us.

Isaiah 52:13--53:12
It’s unclear whether the original prophet is speaking about his own sufferings as a prophet bringing an unwanted word to people who want to believe all is well (and which could have led to severe physical punishment on the part of the authorities), or to the nation as the suffering servant who have suffered under the lash of a foreign oppressor, much as God’s people suffered under the Egyptians. These are legitimate interpretations, and perhaps there’s a bit of truth in all viewpoints.

When Canadian missionaries Don and Carol Richardson entered the world of the Sawi people in Irian Jaya in 1962, they were aware that culture shock awaited them. But the full impact of the tensions they faced didn’t become apparent until one challenging day.

What do you do on the night before God saves you? 

The children of Israel had been languishing in hopeless bondage for centuries. How many of them had lived and died under the taskmaster’s whip? How many of them had cried out to the Lord for help without seeing their prayers answered?  And so, as surely as their bodies were weighed down under the weight of their physical burdens, their spirits must also have been weighed down under years of bondage and despair.

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
It is perhaps not widely known, but the Community Blood Center has a website that contains stories of blood recipients.  I spent some time on that website as I thought about this passage. One of the stories that struck me was Kristen’s. Kristen’s time of need came during the birth of her first child. After a smooth pregnancy, she experienced serious problems during delivery, which led to a massive hemorrhage. She needed transfusions immediately, and ended up receiving 28 units of platelets, plasma, and whole blood.

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. (v. 14)

Mary weeps as she comes to the tomb that first Easter morning. She weeps because her dearest friend is dead. When this friend comes up behind her she turns around and sees him, but she doesn't really see him. Do you know what I mean?

Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. She implores him, "Sir, if you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him…"  She sees him but she doesn't see him.

I’m sorry but I have some bad news. John heard the words of the doctor again as he sat in the pew waiting for the service to start on Good Friday. He was at church because he was a regular and he hoped, he prayed that he could escape the rising fear and dread that had come from the medical appointment yesterday. The doctor had been sure there was no problem when John had told him the symptoms he was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. The doctor even told him to just ignore them as they were a sign of getting older.

In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ (v. 25)

I was seven years old, the same age as my grandson, Leonard, when I asked the big communion question in the barn while helping Dad, the first Leonard Sumwalt, milk cows in 1958.

All my life I have struggled with the concept of calling this day of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion as “good.” What could possibly be good about Jesus being arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified? How can we call this feast day “good”?

When I was a pastor in rural southern Alberta, we held our Easter Sunrise worship services in a cemetery. It was difficult to gather in the dark, since neither mountains nor forests hid the spring-time sun, and the high desert plains lay open to almost ceaselessly unclouded skies. Still, we mumbled in hushed whispers as we acknowledged one another, and saved our booming tones for the final rousing chorus of “Up from the grave he arose…!” We did not shake the earth as much as we hoped.

Gospel Theme:

Different paces and paths to resurrection faith

Gospel Note:
John here obviously mingles at least two Easter morning traditions, the one featuring Mary Magdalene and the other starring Peter and the beloved disciple. The overall effect, however, is to show three different paths and paces to resurrection faith: the unnamed disciple rushes to the empty tomb and comes to faith simply upon viewing it; Mary slowly but finally recognizes the risen Christ and believes; Peter, however, simply goes home, perhaps to await further evidence.

Cast: Two Roman soldiers, FLAVIUS and LUCIUS, and an ANGEL

Length:
15 minutes

FLAVIUS and LUCIUS are seated on their stools, center stage.

FLAVIUS: (Complaining) What was all the hurry about for this burial? I don't understand why we had to rush.

LUCIUS:
(Distracted but agreeable) Hmmmm.

FLAVIUS: I don't know why I even ask. It's so typical of the military: Hurry up and wait.

LUCIUS:
True.

The liturgy can start with a procession in which a child carries the Easter candle from the West end of the church to the altar at the East end, stopping at intervals to raise the candle high and cry, "Christ our Light". The people respond with "Alleluia!" All the candles in church are then lit from the Easter candle.

Call to worship:

The Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! Let us rejoice and be glad in him!

Invitation to confession:

Jesus, we turn to you.

Lord, have mercy.