Maundy Thursday
March 29, 2018 Rev.
The people gather, sitting at a long table.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts!
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Right side: So, we gather.
Left side: We gather, bringing these stories together with ourselves.
Right side: After centuries of bondage and servitude under the Egyptians.
Left side: After three years of ministry under the Romans.
Right side: After the plagues, the broken promises, the disasters,
and the warnings, showing the consequences of injustice and oppression.
Left side: After the miracles, the healings, the exorcisms,
the preaching and the organizing, showing the promise and presence of God’s Reign.
Right side: On the very night before the people’s departure.
Left side: On the very night before the Savior’s departure.
Right side: The people gathered in their homes.
Left side: The disciples gathered in an upper room.
All: To celebrate the Passover.
Scripture Reading
On the first day of Unleavened Bread,
when the Passover lamb is sacrificed,
[Jesus’] disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
“Go into the city,
and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you;
follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house,
‘The Teacher asks,
“Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.
Make preparations for us there.”
So the disciples set out and went to the city,
and found everything as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover meal. Mark 14:12-16
Invocation
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
O God, we pray with all of your people
who have celebrated the seder meal at Passover,
remembering liberation from slavery in Egypt.
Even as we walk the way of Jesus the Jew,
who fulfills the promise of Passover
in his life, death, and resurrection,
may we also remember your seminal acts
of deliverance and freedom.
We pray with all the disciples who sat with Jesus on this holy night:
Peter, Andrew, James, John,
Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew,
Thaddaeus, Philip, Simon, and Jude.
We pray with the women who stayed with Jesus:
Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene,
Mary and Martha of Bethany, Salome, Susanna, and others.
We pray with all the apostles and saints of the church:
with mystics, martyrs, teachers, deacons,
elders, bishops, pastors, evangelists, theologians,
monks, nuns, reformers,
prophets, healers, and faithful lay persons.
We pray with those saints whom we have known:
grandparents, parents, teachers, pastors, and friends,
from whom we have learned to trust in the Lord Jesus,
whom we now name in our hearts....
[Silence.]
We pray with all angels and heavenly powers of goodness,
uniting our hearts with them in the Holy Spirit;
We pray with the faithful who are now living
on every continent, from every race,
and even those here among us,
who lead us in your holy ways.
As we all gather this night around your holy table, O Lord,
may we also be a blessing to sisters and brothers in faith,
and to all the world.
May your Body and Blood transfigure us.
May we become your Body on the Earth. PfR
Amen.
Hymn: “An Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare” 94
Scripture Reading & Commentary
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.
John the Baptizer calls Jesus
“the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world.” From John 1:29
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.
All share equally in the liberation meal.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male;
you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
We bring only our best to this table.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month;
then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.
Worthy is the lamb that was slaughtered. From Revelation 5:12
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.
Blood is life.
The life of the Lamb is protection from the power of death.
Remember that.
The life – the blood – of the Lamb saves us. From Leviticus 17
Let us live the life of the Lamb.
They shall eat the lamb that same night;
they shall eat it roasted over the fire
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
The unleavened bread – or matzoh –
is a reminder of how quickly the people had to leave Egypt.
There was no time for the bread to rise.
The bitter herbs – or maror –
are a reminder of the bitterness of slavery.
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.
We don’t save the Lamb;
the Lamb saves us.
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.
We are ready to depart quickly.
We are always ready to see that our chains have been broken.
We are always ready to make the journey of freedom.
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 consequences of violence, oppression, and injustice
are catastrophe and death.
“Those who live by the sword
will perish by the sword.” Matthew 26:52b
Empires always fall.
Always.
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.
Death cannot touch
what is covered by the blood – the life – of the Lamb.
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. Exodus 12:1-14
And the Lamb said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”
Hymn: “Lamb of God” 518
Invitation
Now in the presence of loved ones and friends,
before us the emblems of festive rejoicing,
we gather for our sacred celebration.
With the household of Israel, our elders and young ones,
linking and bonding the past with the future,
we heed once again the divine call to service.
Living our story that is told for all peoples,
whose shining conclusion is yet to unfold,
we gather to celebrate the Passover.
Hallel Psalm:
“From the Rising of the Sun” Psalm 113 670
The Passover Story
Pharaoh was the King of Egypt while the Israelites were living there. He made them slaves. He forced them to do hard labor, building cities with bricks made from clay and straw. The people knew neither peace nor rest, only misery and pain. The cruelest decree of all was the Pharaoh’s order that every baby boy born to an Israelite woman be drowned in the Nile River.
One couple, Amram and Yocheved, would not kill their newborn son. Instead, they hid him in their hut for three months. When his cries became too loud, Yocheved placed him in a basket on the river. Their daughter Miriam watched to see what would happen.
As the Pharaoh’s daughter came to bathe in the river, she discovered the basket. She felt pity for the helpless child and decided to keep him as her own. She named him Moshe (Moses), which means “drawn from the water.”
Bravely, Miriam asked the princess if she needed a nurse to help her with the baby. The princess said yes, and so it happened that Yocheved was able to care for her own son and teach him about his heritage.
Moses would have lived at Pharaoh’s palace forever, but he could not ignore the suffering of his people. Once, when he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave, he could not control his anger, and he killed the Egyptian. Knowing his life would be in danger once news of this deed spread, Moses fled to the land of Midian where he became a shepherd.
One day, while tending sheep on Mount Horeb, Moses saw a bush that seemed to be on fire, but was not burning up. From the bush, he heard God’s voice calling him. God said, “I am the God of your ancestors. I have seen the suffering of the Israelites and have heard their cries. I am ready to take them out of Egypt and bring them to a new land, a land flowing with mild and honey.”
God told Moses to return to Egypt to bring the message of freedom to the Israelites and to warn Pharaoh that God would bring plagues on the Egyptians if he did not let the slaves go free. Moses was such a humble man that he could not imagine being God’s messenger. “I will be with you,” God promised Moses. With this assurance and challenge, Moses set out for Egypt.
Song: “Let My People Go” (PH334)
When Moses asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites, he refused, so God brought ten plagues on the Egyptians. Each one frightened Pharaoh, and each time he promised to free the slaves. But when each plague ended, Pharaoh did not keep his word. It was only after the last plague, the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians, that Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go.
Soon after Pharaoh let the Israelites leave Egypt, he regretted his decision and ordered his army to bring them back. His soldiers caught up with the Israelites by the banks of the Sea of Reeds. When they saw the Egyptians, they were afraid and cried out. God told Moses to lift his rod, and when he did, a strong east wind drove back the sea, leaving space for the Israelites to go across on dry land. The Egyptians came after them into the sea. Moses again lifted his rod, and the waters rushed back, covering the Egyptians and their horses and their chariots.
Then Miriam led the women in joyous dance and song, thanking God for saving their lives.
Song: “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep”
(Refrain)
O Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn,
O Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn;
Pharaoh’s army got drownded,
O Mary, don’t you weep.
Some of these morning bright and fair,
Take my wings and cleave the air.
Pharaoh’s army got drownded,
O Mary don’t you weep.
(Refrain)
When I get to heaven goin’ to sing and shout,
Nobody there for to turn me out.
Pharaoh’s army got drownded,
O Mary don’t you weep.
(Refrain)
When I get to heaven goin’ to put on my shoes,
Run about glory and tell the news.
Pharaoh’s army got drownded,
O Mary don’t you weep.
(Refrain)
So we remember this great liberation
when the people were delivered from bondage to freedom,
from darkness to light,
from death to life.
We eat this meal of remembrance
as did the Lord Jesus with his disciples.
He would reimagine it as our central Sacrament,
the primary way he gives us to remember him.
At that holy meal
he remembers the people’s deliverance
with the unleavened bread,
and the bitter herb.
And he was himself the Lamb,
giving his life for the life of the world.
Hallel Psalm: “Not for Ourselves, O Lord” Psalm 115 {PFAS #115C}
Prayer
Let us pray to the Lord:
Dear God,
we thank you for saving Moses and the Israelite people.
We especially thank you for a Jew named Jesus
whom you sent to be the Messiah,
who is lifted up to show all people your saving love.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
When it was evening, [Jesus] came with the twelve.
And when they had taken their places and were eating,
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you,
one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”
They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another,
“Surely, not I?”
He said to them, “It is one of the twelve,
one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.
For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him,
but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!
It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” Mark 14:17-21
Confession
How do we betray you, O God?
How do we betray the Lamb?
Judas did it for money.
Do we betray you when we measure our success
by the standards of the world?
You identify with the convicts, the scapegoats, the undocumented,
the sick, the possessed, the excluded, and the oppressed.
Do we betray you when we ignore the cries of these people in our own time?
You forgive even your tormentors and murderers.
Do we betray you when we fund, defend, protect, and support
tormentors and murderers in our own time?
You came to set people free.
Do we betray you when we keep people in debt, in prison, in slavery,
in fear, in anger, in shame, or in despair?
Those who betray you bring misery into the world.
Would the world be better off if we had never been born?
Who is your betrayer, O Lord?
Not me!
Then, repeated by each one at the Table, moving clockwise:
Not me!
[Silence.]
Yes. Us.
Yet still you accept us at your Table.
And for this we are grateful.
You still call us into the circle of your people.
You still feed us with your Body and Blood,
your life, given to us.
You still send us out as your witnesses in the world.
You still guide us to the Promised Land,
your Kingdom, your holy community,
your new life of resurrection.
Sanctus (St. Anne)
Holy, holy, holy Lord
God of power and might:
Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he, O blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest,
hosanna in the highest!
Blessing of the Bread and Cup
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech olam,
ha motzi lechem min ha aretz.
The celebrant lifts the bread.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech olam,
porei, peri hagofen.
The celebrant lifts the cup.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Liberating God:
we thank you for resurrection life
foreshadowed and prophesied in the liberation
of your people Israel from slavery in Egypt.
We thank you that your goodness and blessing
broke through our institutions and ideologies,
our traditions and our mythologies,
that maintained and imposed injustice on your people.
We thank you that the great victory you won in the Exodus
is fulfilled in the great victory won by Jesus Christ over the power of death.
We thank you that he is the Passover Lamb
whose life saves us from the power of death
and gives us the life of discipleship,
enabling us to witness to your life
and share your life with all the world.
Be with us and guide us
as we follow him through the dark night,
that his strength and love
may sustain us through our dark nights
and deliver us to the Promised Land
of resurrection life
where your peace reigns.
In this knowledge and hope we offer together
the prayer of the Lamb,
as we say together:
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn: “Here, O Our Lord, We See You Face to Face” 517
The Breaking of Bread
While they were eating, [Jesus] took a loaf of bread,
and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said,
The celebrant takes the loaf of unleavened bread and breaks it in full view of the people, saying:
“Take; this is my body.”
We pass the unleavened bread around the Table, clockwise, each person breaking off a piece, dipping it in the bitter herb, and eating it.
Then he took a cup,
and after giving thanks he gave it to them,
and all of them drank from it.
He said to them,
The celebrant having filled the cup, the minister lifts it in the view of the people, saying:
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many.
Agnus Dei 604
The Holy Communion of the People of God
[Jesus said:] 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.” Mark 14:22-25
These are the gifts of God
for the people of God.
Take them in remembrance
that Christ died for you,
and feed on him in your hearts by faith,
with thanksgiving.
We pass the tray around the Table, clockwise.
- Take the tray and hold it so the person from whom you received it may take a cup of juice.
- Pass the tray to the next person.
- Take a cup of juice while the next person is holding the tray for you.
- Keep the cup at your place until all are served, so we may all drink it together.
May the Body and Blood of Christ our God
bring us all to everlasting life.
Amen.
The people drink the cup together.
Scripture Reading
Jesus, knowing that the Father 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.
Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me;
and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’ John 13:3-20
May we always follow the example of the Lord Jesus:
who demonstrates leadership as service,
authority in humility,
and wealth in poverty,
and who showed the greatest love
in giving his life for his friends.
“The Hymn”: “O Thou, My Soul, Return in Peace” Psalm 116 (PH228)
Scripture Reading
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26
All move in silence outdoors.
Scripture Reading
And Jesus said to them,
“You will all become deserters; for it is written:
’I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
’I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.”
Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night,
before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.”
And all of them said the same. Mark 14:27-31
Hymn: “Go to Dark Gethsemane” 220
Scripture Reading
They went to a place called Gethsemane;
and [Jesus] said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.”
He took with him Peter and James and John,
and began to be distressed and agitated.
And he said to them,
“I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.”
And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground
and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
He said,
“Abba, Father, for you all things are possible;
remove this cup from me;
yet, not what I want, but what you want.”
He came and found them sleeping;
and he said to Peter,
“Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep awake one hour?
Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
And once more he came and found them sleeping,
for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him.
He came a third time and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
Enough! The hour has come;
the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Get up, let us be going.
See, my betrayer is at hand.” Mark 14.32-42
Hymn: “Stay With Me” 204
Scripture Reading
Immediately, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the twelve, arrived;
and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs,
from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying,
‘The one I will kiss is the man;
arrest him and lead him away under guard.’
So when he came,
he went up to him at once and said,
‘Rabbi!’
and kissed him.
Then they laid hands on him and arrested him.
But one of those who stood near drew his sword
and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Mark 14:43-47
Then Jesus said to them,
“Have you come out with swords and clubs
to arrest me as though I were a bandit?
Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching,
and you did not arrest me.
But let the scriptures be fulfilled.”
All of them deserted him and fled.
A certain young man was following him,
wearing nothing but a linen cloth.
They caught hold of him,
but he left the linen cloth
and ran off naked. Mark 14:48-52
They took Jesus to the high priest;
and all the chief priests, the elders,
and the scribes were assembled.
Peter had followed him at a distance,
right into the courtyard of the high priest;
and he was sitting with the guards,
warming himself at the fire.
Now the chief priests and the whole council
were looking for testimony against Jesus
to put him to death;
but they found none.
For many gave false testimony against him,
and their testimony did not agree.
Some stood up and gave false testimony against him,
saying,
“We heard him say,
‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands,
and in three days I will build another,
not made with hands.’”
But even on this point their testimony did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus,
“Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?”
But he was silent and did not answer.
….Again the high priest asked him,
“Are you the Messiah,
the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus said,
I am;
and you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power,
and coming with the clouds of heaven.
seated at the right hand of the Power,
and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said,
“Why do we still need witnesses?
You have heard his blasphemy!
What is your decision?”
All of them condemned him as deserving death.
Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him,
saying to him, “Prophesy!”
The guards also took him over and beat him.
While Peter was below in the courtyard,
one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by.
When she saw Peter warming himself,
she stared at him and said,
“You also were with Jesus,
the man from Nazareth.”
But he denied it, saying,
“I do not know or understand what you are talking about.”
And he went out into the forecourt.
Then the cock crowed.
And the servant-girl, on seeing him,
began again to say to the bystanders,
“This man is one of them.”
But again he denied it.
Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter,
“Certainly you are one of them;
for you are a Galilean.”
But he began to curse,
and he swore an oath,
“I do not know this man you are talking about.”
At that moment the cock crowed for the second time.
Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him,
“Before the cock crows twice,
you will deny me three times.”
And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:53-72
All depart in silence.
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