Maundy Thursday
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the Day
With nightfall our Lenten observance comes to an end, and we gather with
Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus’ death and
resurrection. At the heart of the Maundy Jesus’ commandment to love one
another. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we are called to follow his
example as we humbly care for one another, especially the poor and the unloved.
At the Lord’s table we remember Jesus’ sacrifice of his life, even as we are
called to offer ourselves in love for the life of the world.
Gathering Song – O Blessed Spring (ELW #447)
In the name of the Father,
and of the ☩ Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Confession and Forgiveness
Friends in Christ, in this Lenten season we have heard our Lord’s call
to struggle against sin, death, and the devil – all that keeps us from loving
God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were called at baptism.
Within the community of the church, God never wearies of forgiving sin and giving the peace of reconciliation. On this night, let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor, and enter the celebration of the great Three Days reconciled with God and with one another.
Silence for reflection
Most merciful God,
we confess that we
are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.
We have sinned
against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with our whole heart;
we have not loved our
neighbors as ourselves.
For the sake of your Son,
Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
Forgive us, renew us,
and lead us,
so that we may
delight in your will
and walk in your
ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave
us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Write this
commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the
servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the Book of Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the
land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall
be the first month of the year for you. 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. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a
year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep
it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled
congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 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. Do not eat any of it raw
or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner
organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that
remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your
loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you
shall eat it hurriedly. 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.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
A reading from the First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the
Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and
said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the
same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death until he comes.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 13: 1-17, 31b-35
Glory to you, O Lord.
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 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.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 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.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
Preacher: Pastor John Dut
Let us pray, may the word of love shower us in Jesus name, Amen.
Tonight, Maundy Thursday, is one of the most dramatic nights of the Church’s year; the last supper, the foot washing, the stripping of the altar. Nothing about tonight or the rest of this Holy Week makes sense. So don’t look for clarifications or answers. I will not offer you any.
The only thing I have to offer this night is an invitation.
Don’t justify away this night is going; its caring, its weakness, its grief, its darkness. Most of us do that all the time and it gets us nowhere.
That’s what Peter is trying to do. “You will never wash my feet,” he tells Jesus. He doesn’t understand how or why Jesus could or would wash his feet. That makes no sense.
You do not know what I am doing,” Jesus tells Peter, “but later you will understand.” To give ourselves to this night is to give ourselves to Jesus. If we try to think our way through this night we will miss taking our share with Jesus.
Tonight let’s take our share with Jesus, that why we came here tonight to participate in this Zoom Service? To take our share.
This means we show up to this last supper in our home which tells a lots about our church today. After COVID 19, the pandemic that change think and the way we doing things.
We bring with us all the last suppers at which we have eaten; the endings, the losses, and the tears.
We carry them deep within our hearts. We are our guests at those tables? Picture our faces. Recall our names. What are the conversations? Hear our voices. Listen to our words. What are we feeling? Do not turn us away. Let the emotions touch your heart and run through your gut.
Tonight we eat and drink in remembrance. We let ourselves be fed with a food that will remain even after the table has been cleared.
Taking our share means that we come to the washbowl. We naked our feet to one another and to the water of Jesus‟ love. Strange and familiar feet, young and old feet, healthy and hurting feet, pretty and attractive feet, ugly and deformed feet, feet that have kicked and hurt another, and feet that have been stepped on and hurt by another.
Jesus received and washed them all. Will you risk being that vulnerable and intimate? What does that bring up for you? Fear, embarrassment, shame? Hope, forgiveness, healing?
Tonight we love one another just as he has loved us. We let ourselves be washed in a love that will remain even after the water has dried.
Finally, taking our share means that we be present to the darkness and the stripping of the altar. We acknowledge and recount the times and ways in which the altar of our life was stripped naked.
The light fades and shadows invade: fear, grief, absence, isolation, despair, plus pandemic - Coronavirus. The darkness testifies to just how real life is.
Tonight we cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” We let this stripping hollow out a place in us large enough to hold “the Holy One, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” (Ps. 22:1, 3)
My invitation to you tonight! No explanations and no commentary. This is all I have, for you and for me. But I trust and believe it is a way to the Cross. The mystery of tonight is enough to explain for our journey. So, what do we say? Will we show up? Come? Be present? Will you come, tonight, and take your share with Jesus?
Amen
Hymn of the Day – Will You Let Me Be Your Servant (ELW #659)
Prayers of Intercession
United by the servant love of God in Christ, we pray this holy night for
the needs of the world.
Silence
You call your people to hand on what we receive from you. Form all the baptized into teachers of faith. From one generation to the next, give your church hunger for your promises in the sacraments and joy in receiving and sharing your word.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Your creation provides all that we need. Cleanse and protect the water you have given for washing and drinking, water on which all life depends. Sustain crops and herds that provide food; teach us how to live so that there is enough for all.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
You redeemed your people from slavery. Preserve people throughout the world who flee violence and oppression. Establish just leadership in place of tyranny and peace in place of war.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Jesus loved his followers to the end. Grant assurance of that love to all who need it: those living with guilt, those struggling to forgive, those who are lonely or overlooked. Heal the sick and embrace the dying.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Jesus washed the feet of the one who betrayed him. Inspire this congregation’s ministries of service that we love as Jesus loved us. Give us renewed courage to serve. Bless the ministry of deacons throughout the church.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
Hear these and all our prayers, O God, in the name of the one who loves us to the end, Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.
Offering Prayer
Let us pray.
God of glory, receive these gifts and the offering of our lives. As Jesus
was lifted up from the earth, draw us to your heart in the midst of this world,
that all creation may be brought from bondage to freedom, from darkness to
light, and from death to life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Holy Communion
Remembering the reading from Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the
Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and
said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the
same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death until he comes.
Prayer After Communion
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, in a wonderful sacrament you strengthen us with the saving
power of your suffering, death, and resurrection. May this sacrament of your
body and blood so work in us that the fruits of your redemption will show forth
in the way we live, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Stripping of the Altar
Psalm 22
Silence.
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