Stations of the Cross

Walking with Jesus to the Cross

Song: Were you There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Opening:

Lord Jesus Christ, we want to understand why you died upon the cross.  Now we want to pretend that we are walking with you on the last day before you died.  Help us to understand how much you love us and forgive us.  Amen.

Leader: Let us walk to the First Station.

1.The Judge named Pilate gives Jesus the Death Penalty after some People lied about Jesus.

People: This Jesus is trying to overthrow the King Caesar.

Pilate: Is this true Jesus? (no answer)  Well, then take this Jesus and crucify him.

Lord Jesus, we wish that we could have been there with you to tell the truth about you.  We would have told Pilate that you loved children, you healed the sick, you welcomed the strangers.  But since we were not there, we want everyone to know the truth about you now.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Second Station

II. The Heavy Cross is put on the back of Jesus.  He must carry it to the place where he will die.

A tree is beautiful, but the wood of the tree is made into an instrument of death and torture.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are sorry that a beautiful tree was destroyed to make such a bad thing as a cross.  Help us to use all good and beautiful things in our world in the right way.  Please help us get rid of the things that cause harm and pain in our world.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord”

Leader: Let us walk to the Third Station.

III. The Cross was so heavy that Jesus fell to the ground.

People: What is the matter Jesus, are you clumsy?

Lord Jesus, we wish that we could have been there with you to help you carry the cross.  Sometimes we slip and fall too.  Help us to have the strength to get up and keep on going.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Fourth Station

IV. Jesus sees his Mother Mary.

Mary:  My Son is a good man.  Why are they treating him in this cruel way?

Mary’s Friends: Mary, come with us, we will stay with you.

Lord Jesus Christ, your mother was proud of you and she loved you and stayed with you in difficult times.  We thank you for our mothers and grandmothers who have been with us in our times of trouble and sorrow.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified”

Leader: Let us walk  to the Fifth Station

V. A man named Simon helped Jesus carry the Cross.

Soldiers: Jesus is too weak to carry the cross.  Let’s find someone else to carry it for him.

Simon: I will help you carry the cross.

Lord Jesus Christ, give us strength to help you carry the cross.  Help us to make it through the difficult times in the day and at night when we feel sad, alone, or afraid.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Sixth Station

VI. A woman wipes the face of Jesus

Woman: Jesus, stop for awhile and get some rest.  Here, let me wipe the sweat off your face!

Jesus: Thank you for your kind deed.

Dear Jesus, we want to help you in any way that we can.  Help us to do kind deeds to those people in need, because when we help others, we are helping you.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Seventh Station.

VII. Now Jesus has been walking so long, he falls a second time.

People: What is the matter Jesus, are you clumsy?

Jesus: I must be dizzy from being hit too many times.

Lord Jesus, we will help pick you up when you fall.  Help us to be kind to people who have accidents and misfortune.  May we never  make fun of them, but always help them.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Eighth Station

VIII. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

Jesus: Where are my friends Peter, Andrew, & James?

The Women of Jerusalem:  They were afraid that they might be put to death so they ran and hid.  We will stay with you, Jesus.

Lord Jesus Christ, you had men and women and girls and boys who followed you.  Help us always to be faithful to you and never run away from you.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk  to the Ninth Station

IX.  Jesus Falls a Third Time.

Jesus: I am tired and thirsty.  I don’t know if I can walk much farther.

The Soldiers: You must keep going on.  Get up and walk.

Lord Jesus Christ, please help us to stop the violence and the cruelty in our world.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There”

Leader: Let us walk to the Tenth Station

X. The Soldiers Strip the clothes from Jesus.

Jesus: I am getting cold.

Soldiers: Too bad.  Let us take his clothes.

Dear Jesus, we pray for all of the people in our world who are in need of food, clothing, and shelter.  Give them strength to survive, and make us people who are willing to help the poor in this world.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they crucified my Lord?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Eleventh Station.

XI. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.

The Soldiers: This Cross will not fall from you now, because the nails will keep you on the cross.

Jesus: My hands and feet hurt!

Lord Jesus, please help us bring an end to the unnecessary cruelty in our world.  Let all wars and hatred come to an end.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they nailed him to the Tree?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Twelfth Station

XII. Jesus dies on the Cross.

Jesus: My God, why have you forsaken me?  It is finished.  Into your hands I give my spirit.

The Roman Soldier: Truly this man was God’s Son.

Lord Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross, you showed us that God is with us at all times and at the time of death. Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they pierced him in the side?”

Leader: Let us walk  to the Thirteenth Station

XIII. The Body of Jesus is given to his Mother Mary.

Mary: O my Son, my Son.  Why did you have to die in this way?

Mary’s Friends: Come Mary, we will help you.  We will mourn with you.

Lord Jesus Christ, comfort all parents who have had to see their children suffer.  Give them the assurance of your love and care.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they laid him in the Tomb?”

Leader: Let us walk to the Fourteenth Station

XIV. The Body of Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea: Come let us have a funeral for Jesus and put him in the tomb.

Friends of Jesus:  This is the saddest day of our lives because we have lost our best friend.

Dear Jesus, it is sad when we must say good bye to someone who dies.  Give us hope and let us know that all good people will live on in heaven.  Amen.

Song: “Were you There when they laid him in the Tomb?”

 

Blindness and Darkness. Sight and Light

4 Lent A        March 22, 2020

1 Sam. 16:1-13   Ps. 23 

Eph. 5:1-14     John 9:1-38      

Lectionary Link

We are blessed to be reading from the Gospel of John during Lent.  The Gospel of John includes some interesting features. The Gospel writer has a penchant for presenting the conversion from literal seeing to inner or spiritual seeing.

The Book of Signs found within the Gospel of John are wisdom narratives of Jesus of how the encounter with Christ enables me to be able to make this switch from literal understanding to spiritual understanding.

The physical in the Gospel of John is used as a metaphor for the spiritual.

Two weeks ago, we read about Jesus telling Nicodemus, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless one is born from above, or born again."

In our Gospel reading for today, the issue is about blindness and seeing.  Physical blindness is presented as a metaphor for those who are blind and cannot see the kingdom of God.  The Gospel writer lives in the new paradigm of those who have encountered the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, and they have come to see the kingdom of God.  They have been cured of their blindness.

The Pharisees and religious leaders are presented as those who remain blind because they are unable to perceive the new paradigm of God's inclusive love for all people, yes even the Gentile people.

There are two kinds of blindness.  There is physical blindness which is a significant impairment.  But we know that people who are blind can live truly enlightened lives.

The other kind of blindness is the kind of blindness which all seeing people experience.  It is the blindness caused by "darkness."  In the Pauline writing we read, "Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light...."

Darkness is the condition of not being able to see well because of one's environmental surrounding.  The progression in enlightenment means that we have gone through many conversions from darkness to new light, and new seeing.

Followers of Jesus and Christians in many ages who experienced the new seeing because of encounters with Jesus and the Risen Christ, still continued in societies and situations which still practiced slavery and the subjugation of women.  How can we say that they were truly enlightened by Christ?

What this indicates to us is that the work of creation, the work of enlightenment, the work of seeing the fullness of the ideals of the kingdom of God as the full practice of love and justice is not yet finished.  There is no time to criticize or blame people of the past for not living out the fullness of enlightenment.  But we should not delay the full practice of love and justice once we have seen.

Who caused this blindness, his sins or his parents sin?  It is very easy to play the victimization game by presuming to know exact causation.  What did Jesus say?  This man was not blind because of his particular sins or his parents', but for the work of God.   The work of God is always the future when we are offered new seeing, new conversion and new birth into better living.  The Risen Christ is more concerned about our future going forward than what caused the way we were in the past.

And the lesson for us today, is that there is new recovery from the environments of darkness in which have often found ourselves living.

Another saying of Jesus in the Gospel of John is, "I am the Light of the World."  Christ is the light who shines in the darkness of the failing paradigms in which we have been trapped.

As we now live in the midst of the most pronounced pandemic in our life history, it may seem like we are covered with darkness.  But what could the Light of Christ be showing us during this time of crisis?

It is showing us that in good times and in crisis, we are still together.  The worsening situation has forced upon us the demand to care for each other as connected neighbors, in ways in which we have not been doing.  It often seems that we have been living out a "survival of the fittest" mentality in letting the strong, rich and powerful dominate the world's resources.  And this have left many people without enough.  And now the coronavirus is no respecter of person, of class, race or socio-economic-educational status or nationality.  This evil virus is requiring of us to become enlightened by the Risen Christ and recover from the blindness that we have practiced to the needs of other.  Resources are going to have to be reallocated to take care of everyone.  Doing this may be good practice for the times when the crisis is not so dire.

Today you and I are invited to be born from above and see the kingdom of God as a call for us to prove that we love God by loving our brothers and sisters with significant care.  And if we can become enlightened with the practice of care during this time of need, what will we be able to do in better times when we care for each other with the same intensity.

While the coronavirus may seem to be covering our lives with the blindness of darkness, let us see the Risen Christ who is now calling us to the enlightened care of each other as the best model for the paradigm of the kingdom of God becoming the practice in the kingdoms of this earth.  Amen.