MAUNDY THURSDAY OF HOLY WEEK 4-17

MAUNDY THURSDAY OF HOLY WEEK

04-17-2025 7:00PM “Hybrid” Worship

A Narrative Liturgy

A Brief Introduction

Opening Song: “Go Down, Moses” Tan #543

Reader #1 Three of the Gospels say that it was the first day of Passover, and that Jesus and his disciples had gathered for a full Passover meal – with all its historical remembrance, its religious significance, its special foods and carefully ordered rituals. Israel had been commanded to remember and celebrate how they were delivered out of slavery in Egypt through the blood of a lamb when God “passed over” their homes with a cloud of death upon the Egyptians. This event was so significant that God said that the month in which the Passover deliverance event took place would be, from now on, the beginning of the calendar year for the Israelites. Let us hear again the Old Testament scripture of how the blood delivered from slavery to freedom and from death to life… how the people were instructed to eat in haste and readiness.

Reader #2: Exodus 12:1-14

Song Verse: “The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary,

the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.

IT REACHES TO THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN, IT FLOWS TO THE LOWEST VALLEY!

THE BLOOD THAT GIVES ME STRENGTH FROM DAY TO DAY, IT WILL NEVER LOSE ITS POWER!

It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, and it dries all my tears;

the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.

IT REACHES TO…”

Reader #3 Many centuries later, an upper room in a building in the city of Jerusalem had been borrowed for Jesus and his followers either for or just before the festival of Passover. All twelve disciples were present with Jesus. Only the Gospel of John tells us how Jesus surprised them all when he unexpectedly rose up from the meal, stripped down, humbled down, knelt down, and washed his disciples’ feet. He went from one to the other like a nameless slave, like a lowly servant. Then he added words to explain what he had done and gave them a new commandment, urging them to love one another as he loved them. Let us listen to the New Testament account of this remarkable, powerful symbolic action… and his words.

Reader #4: John 13:1-17, 34-38

Reader #5 The footwashing is a powerful symbol of the love that Jesus Christ showed… and the love that he commands us to practice. We invite those who wish to have their feet washed to come forward. Christians ought to understand and commit to this new social reality that Jesus inaugurated, allowing themselves to be transformed into a new way of living shaped by changed attitude and compassionate action… a new way of living that offers self in humble servant love for one another and for the world, especially the poor and unloved.

Footwashing… You are invited to come forward, removing your shoes and socks

Footwashing Songs: Tan #228 Tan #463 Tan #522 Tan #308

Reader #6 Now that the dust of the street was washed away, they all took their places at the meal again. If someone was looking carefully, they might have noticed that Jesus seemed somber, maybe even unusually shaken, on this particular evening. If someone was reflecting on it all, they might have sensed that there was something different about this particular meal, whether or not it was a Passover celebration. Jesus said quietly, without anger and without malice, “One of you will betray me.” Can you imagine the suddenness of those words, how they shattered the evening, and the deadening silence they created? Only one had an idea of what he was talking about. The others were stunned. They all asked, “Is it I, Lord?”

Reader #7 Note that none of the disciples in the upper room had the courage to say, dared to say, “It isn’t me, Lord.” None of them – none of US – ought to be so certain, so sure, so proud, so arrogant, so righteous, so good, so faithful, so courageous, to believe or to say, “I know it won’t be me!” Every one of them – every one of US – must search his or her own heart. It isn’t just Judas – is it? – that has ever betrayed Jesus. Search your own heart as I search mine. The guilt is all around us. And it is in us. And so let us take a moment to confess…

Confession: O God, I confess that I am a sinner. I have no excuses and no one or nothing else to blame.

I confess that I have not have not loved you with my whole heart. I confess that I have not followed Christ’s

example and Christ’s command to love others as fully or as often as I should. And I confess that I have not

really loved myself in the right way. I admit that I am capable of betraying and denying and deserting my Lord

with my thoughts, my words, and my actions, by what I do and by what I fail to do. On this holy night, I bow my

head and my heart, pray for your mercy, and seek your grace. Amen.

Pastor God demonstrates his love for us in this way: While we were still dead in sin, Christ died for us to make us alive. By grace you have been saved. In the name of (+) Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. God never wearies of forgiving sin and giving the peace of reconciliation. It is why he sent Jesus, and it’s why Jesus was willing to suffer and die. It is a gift, a gift to be celebrated and shared. And God’s forgiven people should always seek to be God’s forgiving people.

Individual Forgiveness… As Lent ends, you are invited to come forward to receive God’s peace

Pastor In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins. Response: Amen.

At the Table…

Reader #8 As Jesus and the disciples ate together, Jesus did something else that they would never forget… that we also continue to remember to this day. As official host of the meal, Jesus blessed and broke the bread – something he must have done many times before. But on this night he said:

Pastor “TAKE AND EAT. THIS IS MY BODY, BROKEN FOR YOU. DO THIS TO REMEMBER ME.”

Reader #8 Jesus surely must have blessed and passed many cups of wine over their time together, but on this night he added new words:

Pastor “TAKE AND DRINK. THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, WHICH IS POURED OUT FOR YOU,

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUIR SINS. DO THIS TO REMEMBER ME.”

Reader #8 As the bread had been broken, so his body would soon be broken in his crucifixion. And his death, his blood, was establishing a solemn promise, a trustworthy agreement, a new relationship with God. Always and forever. It was an ordinary meal, everyday bread and wine, that was transformed by his words, his actions, and what was about to happen.

Tonight at the Lord’s Table, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice of his life as we share bread and wine – his body and his blood.

Holy Communion… All believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table!

Communion Songs: Tan #686 Tan #345

Reader #9 After the meal, the disciples stood up and sang a traditional psalm of joyful praise to God. Then they left that upper room and stepped out with Jesus into the night. This night was different from the previous nights, because this night they did not return to the village of Bethany to stretch out and rest. That’s what the disciples had expected, what they were hoping to do next. But on this night they were led by Jesus to the shadowy trees of the garden in a place called Gethsemane where Jesus wanted to pray, where he wanted to prepare for the end of his life. He asked the disciples to keep watch with him while he prayed… but while he prayed they slept. The hour had come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He was about to be betrayed with a kiss.

Reader #10 We symbolically strip our altar and chancel as we remember Jesus stripped of his power and in the hands of his captors, abandoned by his friends and denied by Peter, condemned by the religious and political authorities, humiliated by the soldiers and mocked by everyone, utterly alone and empty of glory, about to be crucified and soon to be buried – a lifeless body lying on a stone slab, buried in deep rock. It was a life surrendered.

Closing Rite:

Pastor God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

C through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

Pastor We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:

C By your cross you have redeemed the world.

Stripping the Altar [There is no Benediction, no Closing Song. All may leave quietly.]