This intercessory service of worship is based on one developed by American Christians for the Abolition of Torture. In the introduction to the original, we read, `The service has been designed to assist faith communities relive the passion of Christ and remember that the sufferings of Christ continue through the plight of the poor, the oppressed, and the persecuted throughout the world.`

It was originally made up of a series of litanies based on the final seven words or statements of Christ. However, in keeping with the ideas of Borg and many others, I have replaced the seven statements with passages that reflect the passion that animated his life. And what was the passion of Christ? It was the Kingdom of God, not in some heavenly realm, but here on earth and here and now. It was a new world order, where the hungry are fed, where wars are no more and the persecuted and oppressed find freedom and justice. As Borg suggests, it is this passion that got Jesus killed.

When we view Good Friday in this light, we are asking ourselves some important questions. Do we really follow Jesus in our daily lives, are we really committed, and can we bear the cost? Are we there in solidarity with those still suffering today, working for a better world or are we like the disciples who ran away because it was too hard. Or worse still can we identify ourselves with those who did the crucifying.

We will consider all these questions as we continue our journey this morning. There is a format to this part. Matt will read each passage, I will reflect on them, and we will then say a prayer together which is printed on your sheet. Finally we will sing the first 2 verses of Hymn No 345,Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Please remain seated during the singing.

The First Word of Jesus, Words of Compassion: Luke 6:36
(The plight of those experiencing racial persecution)
Oh what a world this is! Oh what a country this is.
We still judge people based on colour, race and religion. Skin deep hatred, a language that defines our worse and breeds fear into the hearts of many is still alive in our community.

We still judge people on their ability to have a job, a car, and a home. We ostracize and exclude those with mental illness, physical disability, or ill health who cannot contribute in ways we expect. What about those lacking education and life experience. No, they cannot not be given special treatment.

Compassion, the words of Jesus. Compassion for those who are marginalized, who are subjected to racism, discrimination and poverty because of their circumstances.
To those who are different and don`t fit in, let us open the door of our hearts.

Our intercession (together)
Lord
\We remember the plight of those marginalized in our society, particularly our indigenous brothers and sisters and the mentally ill. Hear our cry, O God. Break down the barriers in people`s hearts that divide. Make us open to one another regardless of our differences. Help us to remember your compassion for all, so as to reshape the face of humanity. Amen

Hymn No 345 - Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
Remain seated - 2 verses.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree.

Second Word of Jesus: Words of Forgiveness - Matt 18:21-22
(The plight of those in overcrowded prisons and on death row)
The Prison
Don`t close the door.
Don`t turn the key
on this poor cell today.
I am your flesh, can you not see
we are the same - yes, you and me.
Four walls - that is my destiny,
and here I`ll stay or die.
I too have dreams,
a faith, and love.
I am not less for all my crimes.
There are those who grieve with me
who share my shame, and pity me.
Four walls - not made of stone,
but mind and memory defined.
Remember me,
not for my crime,
lest common decency be lost,
for many fill such cells as mine,
and innocence their only crime.
Four walls - a prison cell to bind
a longing heart confined.

Our intercession (together)
Lord,
Be aware of those who wait for the state to decide their fate. You too, O Christ, were imprisoned by righteous persons. Help us to have compassion and forgiveness in our judgment so as to reshape the face of humanity.
Amen

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.

Third Word of Jesus: Words of Love, for God and Neighbour - Matt 22:37- 40
(Plight of the refugees)
In late 2010, we experienced the horror of watching a wooden boat laden with fleeing and frightened people smash against the rocks of Christmas Island. Men, women and children, escaping one last time, looking for a better home, for freedom and life, drowned. What has changed in the last ten years, vessels still coming, people still desperate and a government still loathed to show genuine compassion and humanitarian assistance.

What drives them? A gun here; a storm there; a famine or a plague; perhaps their skin or religion does not fit. It matters little - all they know is they cannot stay, their very lives depend on their going!

`How many?` you ask. The last census (July 1998) estimated more than 50 million - 22 million in foreign lands; 30 million displaced but still in their own lands. And many of these are being interned and blamed for being present in another country. You might be amazed and horrified at how many people, seeking help and safety away from their homelands, are in detention camps. While in Australia there are fewer people detained now that we have a change in government, we still take in very few refugees, 13,750 a year at last count.

However worldwide approximately 7 million of the world`s estimated 17 million refugees are warehoused under conditions of confinement. In the USA alone 440,000 people are in immigration custody, while in the UK at least 25,000 are in detention centres with numbers rising as they adopt similar policies to those we had here in the Howard years. The problem for many of these people is that they are detained not just for months but for years, with no possibility of returning to their homeland.

Each one, just like you and me. They, too, have careers to pursue, or things to learn, or families to love. Their lives are just as precious as yours or mine. Now they bear the scars of knowing, as you and I can only imagine, just how fragile life and home and love can be.

Our intercessions (together)
Lord
We remember the millions of refugees of this world. Help us receive these words of love, to be aware of our neighbour. Stir us to action for the sake of the powerless so as to reshape the face of humanity.
Amen

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.

Fourth Word of Jesus: Words of Non Violence and Peace - Matt 5:9
(Plight of the suffering in war)
So many guns, so many planes and bombs, rockets and grenades. And it doesn`t stop. Money spent on arms trading has increased globally 22% in the last five years.

So tread carefully, friend, that step could be your last. Watch now, the marksman takes his aim.

It never ends, this senseless killing goes on and on and on. Nations eye one another, defending an uneasy peace. One false move, and it`ll all be on again.

War - what a hideous thing it is. A single decision that changes forever the lives of countless millions. A siren wails, and ants scurry for their holes before the first wave of bombers drop their lethal cargo. `Will my home be there when it is done?` `Will my bed be warm to comfort and ease the tiredness of the day?` `Will all I take for granted be robbed from me in one steely second?`
Will tomorrow come, or will this uncertain night be an eternal future?

Our intercessions (together)
Lord
We place before you the suffering of many people of the world - especially our brothers and sisters in Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq and now Libya. We remember those who long for justice. Help us to feel the pain and work for peace, so as to reshape the face of humanity.
Amen

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.

Fifth Word of Jesus: The Kingdom of God is to Serve God`s Justice - Matt 6:33
(Climate Change and the Poor Earth Day)
In our world of today justice also involves care of the environment, for without that care our future is uncertain. As Thomas Berry has pointed out, we are living through an age of a great extinction, as many of the species that sustains life disappear. And we are the cause. The chemistry, geosystems and the biosystems of the planet are changing on a scale not seen in the past sixty five million years. And we are the cause.

Environmental erosion, climate change, deforestation, ocean degradation and air pollution all affect the poor and vulnerable countries and people the most, ones who have contributed to them the least and are the least equipped to adapt. They face floods and droughts, and a loss of land and livelihood because of them. Is this justice?

We cry out for justice for our planet and for the poor, dispossessed and exploited but we are unable or unwilling to give up our comforts, our gadgets, our way of life to achieve it. We need to see that we are connected to each other and to the world, and that what affects one affects all.

Our intercessions (together)
Lord
We behold with horror the pollution of earth, air, sea and we are humbled by our failure to control the damage we have done. We beg forgiveness for our deformed desire for more of everything, and pray for those who have been betrayed by our greed and faithlessness. We commit ourselves to learn and change, to become one with all people and one with the earth. So we can shape the face of humanity.
Amen

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.
Sixth Word of Jesus: Words of Support for the Poor and Oppressed - Luke 4:18
(The Plight of the Poor)
What about the poor. For many around the world shelter is a cardboard box, and income is by selling either one`s own organs or one`s children. According to some sources there are 40,000 hunger related deaths every day and 500 million children do not get enough food to fully develop mentally and physically. There is no idea of leisure or a playground for the kids, who are working in terrible conditions at a young age to help feed their families. This is poverty and food is scarce. And women are particularly affected. Women make up 66% of the worlds illiterate adults, they earn a small percentage of the income of men, own very little land and are over represented as refugees and fatalities in war. In addition gender based violence kills many women worldwide. They have no money and no control over their lives.

Saima Muhammad is a perfect example. She is desperately poor, her husband unemployed and angry beats her every afternoon. Their house, on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan is falling apart but they have no money for repairs. Saima had to send her young daughter to live with an aunt, because there isn`t enough food to go around. She was scorned because she had daughters instead of sons and has little chance to make a better life.

Yet as an old Chinese proverb says, `Women hold up half the sky.`

Our intercessions (together)
Lord
We pray for the poor in our world, especially women and children, whose lives are clouded by the lack of food or shelter or the basic necessities of life. We pray that through our efforts the poor may be released, and given the freedom to grow, mature, laugh and engage in the world. Let us hear the words of Jesus for the poor, so as to reshape the face of humanity. Amen

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord
Seventh Word of Jesus, Jesus Greatest Commandment: John 13:34-35
In our world of individualism, materialism, commercialism and racism, the words are simple but profound. To bring the kingdom of God into our world entails love, expressed as compassion, justice and nonviolence. As Borg says `Compassion or love is utterly central to the message and life of Jesus, and justice is the social form of compassion. To put the same thought in different language, love is the soul of justice and justice is the body, the flesh of love.

A recent quote by Jonathon Sacks says it all:
`We are here to make a difference, to mend the fractures of the world, a day at a time, an act at a time, for as long as it takes to make it a place of justice and compassion where the lonely are not alone, the poor are not without help, where the cry of the vulnerable is heeded and those who are wronged are heard . . . The choice is not between faith and deeds, for it is by our deeds that we express our faith and make it real in the life of others and the world.`

Jesus is Lord and the powers which drive our world are not. This is what we remember in the dark days of Good Friday.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Candle is extinguished

Join me in our final prayer.
Let us commend ourselves into the hands of God.
We believe in God around us,
Dreamer and sustainer of life.
When there was nothing but an ocean of tears,
God sighed over the waters and dreamed a small dream:
light in the darkness,
a small planet in space.
We believe in God beside us,
Jesus as the Christ, dream made flesh.
When hate and fear were raging, when love was beaten down,
when hope was nailed and left to die,
Christ did not deny the truth, but became the truth,
And stands as our truth today.
We believe in God within us,
Spirit who empowers the dream.
Who weeps with us in our despair,
who breathes on prison doors, never admitting it`s hopeless,
always expecting the bars to bend and sway
and break forth into the light.
Amen

We know Jesus was crucified, an ugly and cruel death, but we know his light shines through us. The question is, are we willing and able to walk with Christ in this world.

Final Hymn 629 When I needed a neighbour, were you there?
Sending Out
Now go in peace and faith. May we be people of love, compassion and justice, even when there is darkness and despair. Amen

Resources used, prayers adapted from Dorothy MacRae-McMahon and Rex Hunt.