Lenten Worship 2021

The Hands of the Passion – March 17, 2021

Order of Service: Prayer at the Close of Day Compline Service

P: The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.

C: (sing) Amen.

P: It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

C: (sing) To sing praise to your name, O Most High;

P: To herald your love in the morning,

C: (sing) Your truth at the close of day.

P: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

C: (sing) Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Evening Hymn 588 Abide with Me

1 Abide with me; fast falls the eventide.

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away.

Change and decay in all around I see;

O thou who changest not, abide with me!

3 Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,

But kind and good, with healing in thy wings,

Tears for all woes, a heart for ev’ry plea;

Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

4 Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,

And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,

Thou hast not left me oft as I left thee.

On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

5 I need thy presence ev’ry passing hour.

What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?

Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!

6 I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless;

Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.

Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still if thou abide with me.

7 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Text: Henry F. Lyte, 1793-1847, abr., alt.

Confession of Sins

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord,

C: who made heaven and earth.

P: Let us confess our sins in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence for self-examination

P: I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault,

by my own fault, by my own grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life.

C: The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all your sins.

P: Amen.

C: I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault,

by my own fault, by my own grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life.

P: The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all your sins.

C: Amen.

Psalm 91

The shelter of the love of God is my refuge and my light:

I trust in him to guide my days and protect me through the night

Because I come to him in love and trust him in all things

He answers when I call his name: he shelters me with his wings.

My faith is in the Lord alone, his Word my help and shield.

When thousand stumble by my side, his faithfulness is revealed.

Because I come to him in love and trust him in all things

He answers when I call his name: he shelters me with his wings.

Ever safe within his love I'll be secure through all my days,

The wonder of his mighty love always fills my heart with praise.

Because I come to him in love and trust him in all things

He answers when I call his name: he shelters me with his wings.

Lesson (Passion history)

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who is misleading the people. Look, I have examined him in your presence. I have found in this man no basis for the charges you are bringing against him. Herod did not either, for he sent him back to us. See, he has done nothing worthy of death. So I will have him flogged and release him.”

At the time of the Festival the governor had a custom to release to the crowd any one prisoner they wanted. At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas, who had been thrown in prison for a rebellion in the city and for murder. The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

So when they were assembled, Pilate said to them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you? Which one do you want me to release to you? Barabbas—or Jesus, who is called Christ?” For Pilate in fact knew that they had handed Jesus over to him because of envy.

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, Pilate’s wife sent him a message. “Have nothing to do with that righteous man,” she said, “since I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death. The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They all shouted together with one voice: “Take him away! Release Barabbas to us!”

Pilate said to them, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews? What should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Crucify him!”

But the governor said, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they kept shouting even louder: “Crucify him!”

Pilate addressed them again, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found no grounds for sentencing him to death. So I will whip him and release him.” But they kept pressuring him with loud voices, demanding that he be crucified. And their voices were overwhelming.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spit on him, took the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head. They also kept hitting him in the face.

Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

When the chief priests and guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He went back inside the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”

But Jesus gave him no answer.

So Pilate asked him, “Are you not talking to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?”

Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in Aramaic. It was about the sixth hour on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”

They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing and that instead it was turning into a riot, he decided that what they demanded would be done. He took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood. It is your responsibility.”

And all the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Since he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.

So then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

After they had mocked him, the soldiers took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Jesus was carrying his own cross.

As they were going out of the city, a certain man, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), was passing by on his way in from the country. They placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of the people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.

Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?”

P: Into your hands I commend my spirit.

C: (sing) Into your hands I commend my spirit.

P: You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth

C: (sing) Into your hands I commend my spirit.

P: Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

C: (sing) Into your hands I commend my spirit.

Hymn 105 vv. 1-4 O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

1 O sacred head, now wounded, With grief and shame weighed down,

Now scornfully surrounded, With thorns your only crown,

O sacred head, no glory Now from your face does shine;

Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call you mine.

2 Men mock and taunt and jeer you, They smite your countenance,

Though mighty worlds shall fear you And flee before your glance.

How pale you are with anguish, With sore abuse and scorn!

Your eyes with pain now languish That once were bright as morn!

3 Now from your cheeks has vanished Their color, once so fair;

From your red lips is banished The splendor that was there.

Grim death with cruel rigor Has robbed you of your life;

Thus you have lost your vigor, Your strength, in this sad strife.

4 My burden in your passion, Lord, you have borne for me,

For it was my transgression, My shame, on Calvary.

I cast me down before you; Wrath is my rightful lot.

Have mercy, I implore you; Redeemer, spurn me not!

Text: attr. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153, abr.; German version, Paul Gerhardt, 1607-76;

tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, St. Louis, 1941, alt.

ermon: Hands of Brutality (Soldiers) Matthew 27:27-31

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spit on him, took the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Prayer

P: Hear my prayer, O Lord.

C: (sing) Listen to my cry.

P: Keep me as the apple of your eye.

C: (sing) Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

P: In righteousness I shall see you.

C: (sing) When I awake, your presence will give me joy.

Prayer of the Church

Lord’s Prayer

C: (sing) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.

Amen.

Hymn 123 Lord Jesus Christ, You Set US Free

The Lamb, the Lamb,

1 Lord Jesus Christ, you set us free-Accept our thanks eternally!

Forgiven through your precious blood, We now are reconciled to God.

2 By virtue of the wounds you bore, True God and Man, our hope restore.

Give courage when we yield our breath; Deliver us from hell and death.

3 Defend us, Lord, from sin and shame; Help us by your almighty name

To bear our crosses patiently, Consoled by your great agony.

4 For thus the certainty we gain That you will always true remain

And not forsake us in our strife But lead us out of death to life.

Text: Christoph Fischer, 1520-97; tr. August Crull, 1845-1923, alt.

Gospel Canticle

P: Guide us waking, O Lord,

C: (sing) And guard us sleeping:

P: That awake we may watch with Christ,

C: (sing) And asleep we may rest in peace.

C: (sing) In peace, Lord, in peace you let your servant now depart according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for every people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. In peace, in peace.

Blessing

P: The almighty and merciful Lord - the Father, the Son,† and the Holy Spirit - bless us and keep us.

C: Amen.