Additional 21st Century Africana Worship Resources for Good Friday, Year B

Were You There
(Based on John 19, NRSV)
An adaptation arranged by Tony Peterson
Scripture adaptation by Valerie Bridgeman Davis

(Readers and Singers Needed)

Congregation:
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Reader:
They stood on that day; it was the day to prepare for Passover. The crowd heard Pilate say, "Here is your king!" But they protested. They demanded his execution. They cried out, "Crucify him!" Pilate was incredulous. He tried to get them to relent; but they insisted that Jesus did not belong to them. He was not their king. He deserved to be executed. So Pilate handed him over.

The crowd took Jesus. John says he carried his own cross to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. He was crucified there, hanging between two others; all of them killed that day; executed, nailed, and hanged to a tree

Congregation:
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Reader:
Pilate insisted that Jesus be identified, so an inscription was put on his cross: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many saw it, translated in three languages Hebrew, Latin, and Greek and many protested. Chief religious leaders demanded: "Change the sign. Say, 'He says he is king of the Jews.'" But Pilate did not relent. He said, "I will not change what I have written."

The soldiers executed Jesus, then took his clothes and divided them among the four of them. They gambled for his tunic, so that it would be kept intact and so that Scripture would be fulfilled: "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots," the psalmist had said. And so the soldiers fulfilled Scripture without even knowing it.

In the crowd were women who had followed Jesus all his ministry: his mother, and her sister, and the woman from Magdala, all named Mary. Jesus, in pain, looked from the cross and saw his mother and one of his favorite disciples, a man he loved deeply. Dying, he cared for her: "Your son, woman; your mother, man," he said, forever making family more than blood. And the disciple took her into his home and treated her like mother from that day on.

He had taken care of the last bit of business when he provided for his mother. His time on earth over, he said only two more things: "I am thirsty"; and they gave him wine from a sponge on a hyssop branch. He held it to his mouth. Then, he said, "It is finished" and lay his head bowed and released his spirit.

Congregation:
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

Reader:
It was coming on Sabbath, and Jewish leaders did not want bodies hanging in full view. How holy would that be? They asked that the execution be expedited: "Break the legs of those not already dead," they said. And the soldiers did break the legs of the ones hanging beside Jesus. But Jesus was already dead, so there was no need. Instead, they pierced his side, and blood and water rushed out (there were eye witnesses whose testimony can be trusted). And so the Scriptures were fulfilled again: "None of his bones will be broken," and "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Congregation:
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

Reader:
Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man, a disciple of Jesus, came to claim his body. He was a secret disciple, for he had been fearful to follow openly. Pilate let Joseph take his body. Another wealthy man, Nicodemus the one who came by night to Jesus also came and brought spices for the body. He brought a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe. Together they wrapped his body in linen to give him a kosher burial. And they took him to the garden and laid his body in a new tomb, in order to hurry in honor of the day of Preparation for Sabbath.

Congregation:
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

An Affirmation
(Based on Hebrews 10:16-25)
[May be read together as a congregation or in several voices]

We believe the Holy Spirit who testifies to us:
"I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds"
(Hebrews 10:16, NRSV).

We believe God forgets our sins and our lawless deeds.

We believe Jesus has opened a new and living way before us.
We believe his death made the difference.

We believe we have a great high priest in Christ.
And because we believe, we approach with hearts fully assured of faith.

We believe that we have been cleansed, conscience and body, of sin;
That we have been purified in baptism and in faith.

We hold fast to our hope; we confess it without wavering
For God who has promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

For God who has promised is faithful.
For God who has promised is faithful.

We believe in pushing one another to love and to good deeds
We will meet together and encourage one another,
Especially as we see trouble approaching.

We believe that "in a very little while,
The one who is coming will come and will not delay" (Hebrews 10:37).

We believe God's righteous ones will live by faith.
We will not shrink from our confession;
We are saved in this faith and not lost.

And God who has promised is faithful.
And God who has promised is faithful.
And God who has promised is faithful.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
(Based on Psalm 22, NRSV)
Arranged by Tony Peterson
Adaptation of Scripture by Valerie Bridgeman Davis

(Readers and Singers Needed)

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from home

Reader One:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1)
You feel so far away certainly not close enough to help;
Certainly not close enough to hear my groaning.
Where are you in the day when I cry? Why don't you answer?
Where are you in the night when I find no rest? why don't you answer?

Reader Two:
But God is holy and sits as a sovereign on the praises of Israel.
Our parents trusted in God;
Our ancestors were delivered when they cried.
They cried, and God answered and saved.
They trusted, and God did not let them feel shame.

Reader One:
But I am not my ancestors;
I feel less than human;
I feel more a worm than a person.
All around me I am scorned; all around me I am despised.
All who see me, mock me; people shake their heads in disdain.
I walk away in disgrace.

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from home

Reader Two:
Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver (Psalm 22:8).
God will rescue and delight in you,
For it is God who knew you from womb to delivery;
God who watched over you at your mother's breast,
And when the bottle was in your mouth.
Since you were born before you were born
God has been your God.

Reader One:
God, do not be far from me,
For trouble is near and there is no one else to help (Psalm 22:11).
People circle me like bulls angry bulls like the ones of Bashan of old.
They open their mouths like lions, roaring and threatening.
They threaten me like hungry lions and charging bulls.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; (Psalm 22:14)
My heart melts like wax within me; I am afraid.
My mouth is dry with fear; my tongue sticks to my jaw.
I am lain in the dust; suicidal and afraid, in the dust of death.

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone
Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone
Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone
A long way from home.

Reader One:
For "dogs" are all around me; a company of evil people encircles me.
I've lost weight; so bone-bare and shrived that I can count my bones.
These enemies gloat over me; they divide my clothes and gamble for them.

Reader Two:
But you, O Lord, do not be far away! (Psalm 22:19)
God, come to my aid. Come quickly to deliver me!
Deliver me from people who would kill me.
Deliver me from those who act like animals: barking dogs and hungry lions!
Save me!

Reader One:
Rescue me from the horns of wild oxen. (Psalm 22:21)
Deliver me from death!
And I will declare your name to my kin;
My friends will know of you also.
I will praise you when we gather for worship!

Reader Two:
You who fear the Lord, offer praise! (Psalm 22:23)
Offspring of the covenant, glorify God!
Offspring of Israel, stand in awe!
For God does hear the cry of those afflicted!
God showed God's face when we pleaded for help.

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone
Way up in that land.

Reader One:
From God comes my praise in the great congregation.
In the congregation of those who worship, I will worship too!
I will pay the vows that I made among those who stand in awe.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
And everyone who seeks will praise the Lord! (Psalm 22:26)

Reader Two:
May your hearts live forever! (Psalm 22:26)
Everyone all nations flung throughout the world everyone will remember God
Everyone all families throughout the world everyone will turn to the Lord.
For power and authority belongs to God; God is the one who rules.

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like freedom is near
Sometimes I feel like freedom is near
Sometimes I feel like freedom is near
But so far away.

Reader One:
To God, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; (Psalm 22:29)
All destined to die will live for God.

Reader Two:
Posterity will serve him;
Future generations will hear of God,
And that generation will tell the next generation.
Every generation will tell those coming behind them:
God delivers again and again;
God has done it again.

Congregation or Choir:
Sometimes I feel like it's close at hand
Sometimes I feel like it's close at hand
Sometimes I feel like it's close at hand
But we're so far from home.

About the Authors: Tony Peterson is a New Solutions Project Manager at the Discipleship Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee.

Valerie Bridgeman Davis, Ph.D., Biblical Studies (Hebrew Bible), teaches preaching, worship and Hebrew Bible at Memphis Theological Seminary. Dr. Bridgeman Davis is a consultant and editor for the 21st Century Africana Worship Resource Project.