Tidings of Peace
April, 2004
Pastor Johnson’s Message: The Book is Better!
Dear friends,
Quite a number of you have had the opportunity to see Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ.” What a lot of controversy it has engendered! Whatever one may think of the film (and I personally thought it was very good, though difficult), the conversation that has taken place about the death of Jesus and what it means for us has been a very important one.
But I’ve been saying—only partly tongue in cheek—“the book is better!” By that, of course, I mean that nothing from Hollywood can possibly do justice to the incredible story that has been given to us by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They have, each in his own way, told the story of Christ’s passion much more powerfully than Gibson.
One of the interesting things about the controversy over Gibson’s film is that the so-called evangelical Christians have been especially supportive of it. This is remarkable, and it is fascinating to ask why. Many have noted that in these churches, not much emphasis has been put on the passion of Christ. Many do not even have a cross in their place of worship (and none have a crucifix, that is, a cross with the body of Christ depicted on it). So the images of the movie have come as a kind of an emotional shock to many.
It is not so, or should not be, among Lutherans. Lutherans have always “gloried in the cross.” Luther himself talked about his theology as a “theology of the cross.” Lutheran churches make a big deal out of Holy Week; we don’t jump right to Easter, but we take time to reflect on the suffering and death of Christ and what it means. Many of the greatest hymns about the cross have come out of the Lutheran tradition.
On the other hand, I’ve notice over the last several years a kind of decline in interest in the passion of Christ among Lutherans. We generally have a pretty good attendance at our service on Maundy Thursday, but the attendance on Good Friday is generally lower (even though we invite two other congregations to join us!). While the church is crowded on Easter morning, a much smaller number come to the cross to reflect and pray.
I notice especially a lack of younger people, including children and youth. I wonder why that is? Are parents afraid it will be too much for them? It was interesting to hear the discussion of our youth at Peace after we had viewed the Gibson movie together. The first comment made by one of them was this: “I think the story I’ve been taught in Sunday School has been sanitized.” I’m sure she’s right; we don’t spend much time in Sunday School talking about the cross, and the suffering love that it represents.
But even many adults shy away from Holy Week; I wonder why? In part it is because Good Friday is difficult—in its own way, perhaps even more difficult than Gibson’s film. After all, the film doesn’t point out, at least in so many ways, what our Lutheran hymn writer Johann Heerman did, that “’Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee.” Our Good Friday service reminds us that we all betrayed, denied, crucified our Lord.
But that understanding, difficult though it is for us, is absolutely central to the Christian faith. Some have criticized Gibson’s film for focusing only on the passion and death of Christ, but truth be told, that is the heart of it all. If Christ’s death was not for me, for the forgiveness of my sins, then what has it to do with me at all?
The music director at Emmanuel Episcopal Church came into my office the other day to ask if I would be willing to sing a solo verse of the anthem his choir will be doing at the noon Good Friday service at Emmanuel. “Pick any verse you like,” he said. The anthem is a setting of the great hymn of (another Lutheran!) Paul Gerhardt, “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.” I didn’t have to think twice about which verse I wanted to sing—it is the one which goes like this:
To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to thee.
For me, that says it all. Christ died for me. I can’t imagine not taking time during Holy Week to reflect on this with humility, gratitude, and awe. I hope you’ll be there, too.
Peace to you,
Pastor Richard O. Johnson
Classic Prayers
Lord Jesus, when our sins had plowed long furrows on your back, your death broke the bonds of sin and Satan forever. Bless your Church, wounded in its members, and strengthen it by your power and grace, that it may praise you now and forever. Amen.
--The
Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy Notes: Holy Week
The week before Easter has long been known as "Holy Week,” and for Christians it is the most significant week of the year. The several services during the week together tell the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Unfortunately, many church-goers miss the full scope of that story by neglecting the progression of services during the week. Churches are filled on Easter Day, because everyone wants to be in on the victory celebration. But many ignore the part of the story that makes the resurrection such a victory.
The Sunday before Easter was traditionally called "Palm Sunday,” though most Christian calendars are now referring to it as "The Sunday of the Passion." The service that morning often begins with a procession of palms, recalling Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem a few days before his death. Then it turns to a reading of the entire story of the passion of Christ; "passion" in this sense means "suffering." The story is read from the gospel for that particular year, in 2004, we will be hearing St. Luke's version. The service on The Sunday of the Passion is thus a kind of summary of the coming week's events.
On Maundy Thursday, one of the most important services of the year is celebrated, for on that night we remember the Last Supper and the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The term "Maundy' comes from the Latin word for commandment, for at the Last Supper Jesus gave his disciples a "new commandment,” that they should love one another as he loved them. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to demonstrate what he meant by this new commandment. For Christians, the institution of the Eucharist on that night is the supreme depiction of this great love that Christ asks of us.
Following the celebration, many churches have found great meaning in a practice called "stripping the altar", a dramatic way of representing the loneliness and desertion felt by Christ as he left that time of fellowship with his disciples and went out into the Garden of Gethsemane.
Good Friday recalls the crucifixion and death of Christ. In many churches it is customary to hear that story as told by St. John. In others, a service called Tenebrae is popular. "Tenebrae" means "shadows", and the service is a dramatic and moving recollection of the darkness that covered the earth as the Son of God was slain for sinful humanity. Despite the solemnity of the day, it should not be seen as morbid or depressing, but as a wondrous pouring forth of God's love for us.
The celebration of the resurrection begins with the Easter Vigil. The congregation gathers at dusk, with only candles penetrating the darkness. Often there is one or more baptisms at this service, making a dramatic statement that in Holy Baptism God has delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his Son. The service then moves into a joyful, though restrained, celebration of Holy Communion.
Easter Day, of course, is the "queen of feasts." We celebrate the victory of Christ and therefore our own victory through him over sin and death. On no other day does our hymn of praise ring so clearly—"This is the feast of victory for our God! Alleluia!"
J. Gordon Davies has described Holy Week in this way: “The purpose of Holy Week was to set the facts of the Gospel before the worshippers; but it must be emphasized that this should not be taken to mean that Holy Week is merely an occasion for pious remembrance. It is or should be more than a series of commemorations of past events recalled to mind, it is or should be the means whereby the worshippers participate in the saving events. We should not think of it as a number of ceremonies at which the faithful are present, but as a unified sequence of sacramental acts whereby they commit themselves afresh to Christ and share anew in His death and resurrection.”
May Holy Week be such a time for us this year.