May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Last
night we stripped the altar bare. This
symbolized Jesus Christ nakedness on the Cross and the shame, humiliation and
public ridicule he endured for all of mankind.
Just as the saying goes, ‘naked we came into the world and naked we go
out’, it is more appropriate for consideration on this Good Friday. Last night, Jesus instituted the Lord’s
Supper for forgiveness of sins. Tonight
we mourn, Jesus death. Last night, Jesus
washed the feet of His disciples, tonight, Jesus disciples watch in disbelief
their leader, teacher and friend being nailed to a Cross in Crucifixion. Last night, Jesus said to His disciples, stay
awake, watch and pray and yet, He found them weak in body and asleep. Last night, Jesus prayed, ‘if this cup could
be taken away’, but Jesus ended His private time saying ‘God’s will be
done’. Tonight is the low point on our
Lenten Journey, for tonight is the night that we proclaim, Jesus Christ as
dead.
As
has been the case in the last six weeks since Lent began we have had a number
of funerals. Each has cut close to many
families in our church clan, but all have had one thing in common other than
death. At every funeral we have used the
pall to make all of who have entered the church triumphant equal. The pall is used in the funeral as a covering
for the casket. It is symbolic of the
intimate connection we have with our relationship with Jesus Christ through our
Baptism. Though death is symbolized by
most in our culture and society with dark colors, even wearing black as a sign
of mourning, the pall is a stark contrast symbolizing life. It is the polar opposite for a distinct
reason. The pall in symbolizing life
also is to be the great equalizer of all mankind in the eyes of God and man. No matter the money we have here on this
earth, the cars we drive, the house we live in, the land we own or farm, the amount
of money in our banking account, we are all equal before God as symbolized by
the pall being draped over the casket.
We
are equal simply because of our baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and
resurrection. When the Water and Word
washes us clean and makes us children of God, we no longer are understood to be
sinners. We are now redeemed children of
our heavenly Father. Yes we still sin,
but God has redeemed us. The symbol of
the pall is to remind us we are equal in God’s eyes. Yes we are dead, just as Jesus Christ died on
the Cross of Calvary that we mourn tonight.
But with our spreading the pall over the casket we point not to
mourning, not to loss, not to sadness, not to death, we point instead to the
light of the World into Whose life we have been baptized into and that gives us
life. We point to Jesus Christ Who chose
death on Calvary to Glorify His Father in heaven. We point to the Cross not in defeat, but in
triumph. We point to the Cross of Christ
and our being covered by the pall as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for all
of mankind.
Tonight
we gather and see and feel the pall that covers our hearts, it covers Christ’s
nakedness and ours and makes us equal in God’s eyes and is the reminder for all
of what Jesus Christ did on Calvary on Good Friday. With this simple covering of the pall we are
reminded of our baptism into Jesus Christ and claim this especially
tonight. For tonight Good Friday we
mourn Jesus death, we cover our hearts that are filled with sadness, but we
know that Jesus Christ offers forgiveness for all of mankind. It is the forgiveness of sins through His
death that compels us to not look to the Cross in the same way, for unlike the
disciples who felt there was no hope, we know that we have to mourn on Good
Friday, just as we do when we use the pall.
For in our baptism we put on Christ and do so with our use of the
pall. But just as we use the pall, we
look to and believe that Sunday is coming, for all of mankind, but especially
for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Good Friday night. AMEN.
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