Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Lake Worth, Florida

Good Friday [April 6, 2007]

Canon Richard T. Nolan

Hymn 707 Take my life and let it be
Here begins the 44th verse of the 23rd chapter of the Gospel According to Saint Luke.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.

The Word of the Lord!

“Now I lay me down to sleep …” is the beginning of a familiar children’s bedtime prayer. Likewise, words from the 5th verse of Psalm 31 “Into your hands I commend my spirit …” are among Jewish bed-time prayers. Interestingly, a footnote in the New Revised Standard Version reports that the word “life” is a better rendition than “spirit,” because “the Bible does not view people as composed of a body and a separate spirit or soul.” You and I are thereby able to understand the psalmist’s meaning as “…. Into your hands I commit my life – the totality of all that I am and do.” What a wonderful prayer with which to affirm and nurture one’s absolute trust in God each evening – and, as well, when death is at hand!

The Complete Psalm 31

As a whole, Psalm 31 is a prayer of trust in God, both at one’s dying and in one’s living. A significant element of the psalm is that those who trust God unreservedly should expect opposition from others who choose to place ultimate faith in themselves or in any of the “worthless idols” (v. 6); such false gods are likely to permeate everyone’s culture and even sidetrack one’s religious institution. Beware! Wherever it is found, each idol will deliver the opposite of whatever it promises!

Jesus Added “Father” To Verse 5

According to Luke, as Jesus was about to breathe his last on the Cross, he added the intimacy of “Father” to his usage of Psalm 31, verse 5. “Father” affirmed Jesus’ heartfelt conviction that he was indeed a “child of God” - an identity and birthright of every faithful Jew. From all that we know about him, the totality of his life was undergirded with his unwavering trust in the Father.

Choices Accompanied Jesus’ Faith

However, his was not an immature trust that expected the Father to make all his decisions, a naïve faith that excused him from choosing which paths to travel, or an unsophisticated confidence that he would be protected from all harm. He was not called to be God’s puppet. Instead, Jesus accepted his God-given freedom and responsibility to make decisions, some of which led him to the Cross. In faultless harmony with the Father’s loving Will and his own unique calling as the Messiah, Jesus’ trust was grounded in both God’s ultimate sovereignty over all things visible and invisible and over the evolution of the Kingdom of God.

Deriving Our Identity, Vocation, and Power

For us gathered here at this hour to entrust our lives and futures to God, for each of us to be a child of God in our living and in our dying, means that we also derive our common identity not from the worthless idols of our culture, not from our jobs, possessions, tribulations, social standing, or intellect. Instead, we discern who we are from our common baptism and the very character of the Holy One to whom we entrust ourselves. What's more, we recognize that our common basic vocation with Christ is to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves.

Flowing from this love is the enabling power for us to cope with the worst moments of our lives: the pain of grief, the ache of separation, the agony of physical deterioration, and whatever betrayals befall us.

As well, the Father’s Spirit comforts us in our uncertainties about the details of our ultimate destinies. I have disappointed, even exasperated, a number of people throughout my forty-four years of ordained ministry when they have asked what precisely to expect when we die. My reply has been constant; “I can’t tell you. I don’t know. However, I trust God to do with me whatever is appropriate.” The intellect can fail us; trust in God will not.

The Context of Good Friday

Because Good Friday is observed similarly to every other day among Christians, that is, within the context of the Christ’s Resurrection, this need not be a day of contrived gloom and sadness. Rather, it is a day of amazement, wonder and profound respect; it is a day of being confronted with extreme realities of absolute evil and untainted righteousness. Good Friday acknowledges in Jesus Christ that the depths of human torment can be integrated confidently within a trust in the one God who delivers ultimate victories.

The Last Words

We have accounts of some others’ last words, words that largely symbolized their entire lives. Macbeth said, "Out, out brief candle; life's but a walking shadow." Goethe cried, "Light! More light!" François Rabelais remarked, "Draw the curtain; the farce is played out." These cynical, hopeless last words are in such stark contrast to those of Jesus the Christ, ancient words for us to echo this day, every day, and at the hour of our own deaths: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit, my life!"

Please open a Prayer Book to page 622, and, while remaining seated, let us pray in unison verses 1 through 5 of Psalm 31. Perhaps afterwards in silence, or later, you would read the entire psalm. Do reflect on its many meanings for Jesus and for ourselves.

1. In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge;
   let me never be put to shame; *
   deliver me in your righteousness.
    
2. Incline your ear to me; *
   make haste to deliver me.
    
3. Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
   for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
   for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
    
4. Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
   for you are my tower of strength.
    
5. Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
   for you have redeemed me,
   O LORD, O God of truth.