Maundy Thursday
The Celebration of the Gospel
March 24, 2016 — 7:00 p.m.
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. — John 13.34
————— We Gather as the Body of Christ ——————
GREETING
PRELUDE
* PRAYER
Leader: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
All: We praise you, God, for the abundance of the earth. You give all creatures their food in due season.
We give thanks for your grace, that when we were slaves in Egypt, you set us free.
You commanded us to remember our bondage, to remember your mighty acts, and to remember all those who are still oppressed.
We come to your table to share this bread that you give to all people.
We receive it with praise and thanksgiving, and pray that by your grace we may bear it to all of your Beloved, especially those who hunger, in the name of Christ. Amen.
* SONG Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence Blue hymnal # 626 vv. 1-2
—————————We Attend to the Word————————
OLD TESTAMENT Exodus 12.1-4, 11-14
[Before the Hebrew slaves escape from Egypt God instructs them how to avoid the tenth plague, of the death of the firstborn, instituting the Passover meal.]
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
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GOSPEL John 13.1-17, 33-35
[The night before Jesus is arrested he celebrates the Passover meal with his disciples. After the meal he washes their feet, which is the job of a slave.]
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to God. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.
And during supper Jesus, knowing that God had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you all are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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MEDITATION
SONG At Your Feet Steve G-H
Jesus, at your feet I bow. I am your completely now.
By your mercy show me how to be loving.
Jesus, Master, you who save, you have served me as a slave.
This the perfect gift you gave: to be loving.
In each hurting one I meet it is you, O Christ, I greet.
Make my faithfulness complete, to be loving.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASSING THE PEACE
THE WORD IN MUSIC O Divine Mystery Fred Gramann (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
—————————We Share at Christ’s Table———————
OFFERING OUR GIFTS My Savior’s Love arr: C. E. Walz
* COMMUNION SONG Broken for Me Black hymnal # 2263
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to our God.
Let us give thanks to Yahweh our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
Holy, whole and infinite One, womb of all that is:
all Creation is glorious with your presence.
We turn to you alone for life.
Blessed is the one who comes in your love.
For your abundant creation that fed multitudes in the wilderness,
for your re-creating us in each breath, we give you thanks.
For your presence with us in this meal,
and your giving of yourself in our very flesh, we give you thanks.
John 6.35:
“I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
… [Silence]
For your covenant in which you claim us as your beloved people,
and for your faithful mercy, we give you thanks.
For your grace in redeeming us in our poverty and slavery,
for saving us from the fear of death and the weight of our sin,
we give you thanks.
Exodus 3.7-8:
You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread,
for on this very day I brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
… [Silence]
To your welcoming grace, accepting the sinner and the broken,
and your universal forgiveness and generous healing, we open our hearts.
To your grace that reconciles us with each other,
and unites us even with our enemies as sisters and brothers at your table,
we open our hearts.
Luke 15.2:
They grumbled and said,
“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
… [Silence]
To the mystery of your call to die and be raised with Christ;
and to your self-giving, in which we receive eternal life, we open our hearts.
To your grace by which we enter into new lives,
and to the love in which we lay down our lives for one another,
we open our hearts.
John 4.14:
“The water that I will give
will become in you a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
… [Silence]
[The Blessing and Covenant]
Feasting on the food of eternal life, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Remembering Jesus and his love, we offer ourselves with him
to you, for the healing of the world.
For the sake of the true spirit of this meal in solidarity with all who are oppressed,
pour out your Spirit on us.
For strength for the journey ahead, and compassion for those who suffer,
for courage in the struggle for justice, pour out your Spirit on us.
Isaiah 58.6-8:
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly.
… [Silence]
For the sake of your Realm of mercy and justice which is to come;
for the sake of the Resurrection Life which you promise,
pour out your Spirit on us. Amen.
Mark 14.25:
“Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
… [Silence]
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. In Christ’s self-giving we receive life. In his Spirit may we give of ourselves, lay down our lives for others, and join in his work for justice for all who are not yet free.
SONG You Feed Us, Gentle Savior Steve G-H
You feed us, gentle savior, the bread that makes us whole,
the wine of your compassion poured out into our soul.
the food of your own presence, your spirit, strong, within,
the grace that heals us deeply and overcomes our sin.
You bind us, gentle savior, and weave us into one,
one flesh and blood, made holy, the Body of your Son.
We gather here in hunger, one hunger, all the same;
and with one grace you bless us together in his name.
You call us, gentle savior, and send us in your name.
You teach and heal and show us how we can do the same.
So strengthened by your Spirit and nourished by your grace,
we go to be your presence in love, in every place.
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
POSTLUDE Herzlich Tut Mich Verlangen J. S. Bach