Maundy Thursday Service
Before you begin, you might want to get some things to use as part of our worship service. Whether you are alone or gathered with your partner of family, you should be able to participate. -Candle (optional) -Bread (or crackers, or tortillas) and juice (any kind, wine, or water) (preferred) -basin/bowl, water, and towel (preferred) **Improvisation is ok! The Jewish people lived in exile and diaspora many times after Egypt and learned to adapt to their situation. If you don’t have bread, use a cracker or a tortilla. If you don’t have grape juice, use apple juice, or wine, or water. The power of our worship is not
in the specific elements, but in the ways, we use what we have to honor and glorify God and invite God to work in our midst.
Invitation to worship
Maundy Thursday is often considered a somber day of reflection and introspection. But it’s also meant to be a day of celebration. After all, it’s rooted in the traditions of the Passover feast. Jewish families all gathered for this sacred meal and remembered God’s actions on behalf of the Jewish people living as slaves in Egypt. On that high holy day, Jesus gathered with his disciples in the upper room to share the Passover meal. As part of the Passover ritual, those gathered regularly washed their hands during the meal. For cleanliness and for ritual-recognizing the need to be clean as they approached God. As part of our worship tonight, I invite you to wash your hands. I know we’ve all been doing that a lot lately. It is about washing. But the washing tonight is also meant to be a holy moment. It’s an act of preparation before drawing close to God. And, maybe, it will help us be mindful each time we wash our hands in the coming days, that we could be preparing to encounter the living God. We invite you to worship tonight at a table like Jesus and his disciples did. We’ve set our table with a washbasin, a towel, and a pitcher of water.
We’ve also placed bread and juice. Finally, we are lighting a candle to remind us of the light of Christ.
Prayer
Let us pray. God of the Exodus—of rescue, promise, and future—tonight we remember the power of your actions throughout history and invite you to send your Holy Spirit to be present with us now. May our worship tonight connect us with Jesus and his disciples in unique and powerful ways. In your blessed and holy name, we pray, amen.
Song
Washing Ritual
On that holy night, Jesus washed his disciple's feet. If you read the passage in John 13, you’ll see that Peter was not a fan of this idea. He objected, but Jesus insisted, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” I believe this meant that Peter had to let Jesus serve him, and by extension, us too. After all, if we don’t let Jesus serve us—then we miss the whole point. His whole ministry was about serving others. And then he tells the disciples. “I have set an example for you. You should do as I have done.” If you’re together with someone tonight—a spouse, child, friend, caregiver, or parent, I invite you to do as Jesus did—to serve as he served. You could wash one another’s feet. Or you could wash one another’s hands. If you are alone, I invite you to wash your own hands, recognizing that Jesus’ humility and service are for all of us. As you do so, know that what you’re doing with humility and love is the embodiment of Jesus.
Song
Sharing the Meal
As we come back to the story, we hear Jesus sharing the meal with his disciples. If you’re unfamiliar with the Passover meal—it’s an event—a drawn-out time of story and Seder, fellowship and food. And the meal is broken into sections with different foods symbolizing and promoting different memories of the Exodus. Different sections of bread represent different things, as do the cups of wine. As we hear this story through the lens of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection, we see him take the afikomen—the bread that represented the Passover lamb, and give thanks to God, share it with his disciples
and say, “Take and eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.” In essence, he was saying he is the sacrificial lamb. The one whose death and blood protected the people. And at the end of the meal, he took the cup of wine—the last cup, the one known as the cup of Elijah—the one that represented hope and promise—God was not done with God’s people. Jesus took that cup and gave thanks to God, shared it with his disciples and said, “This is the cup of the new covenant, take and drink and do this in remembrance of me.” Within our Methodist tradition, we believe communion requires two main things:
1) Remembering and retelling the story of Jesus and his disciples in the Upper Room.
2) Blessing the elements and asking God to make them holy. So, let us pray:
Holy God, you draw us together with your people around the world, offering grace and mercy through this holy meal. We ask that you would bless the bread and cup we have before us. Make them holy as you are holy. And join us together as the body of Christ— wherever we are—near or far. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen. If you have elements with you, I invite you to eat and drink them now.
Song
Prayer and Repentance
After the dinner, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. A few of the disciples went with him but stayed when he retreated to a private place. The hard truth is Jesus asked his friends to pray for him, but they were weary and fell asleep—3 separate times. Jesus knew what lay before him. He was anxious and afraid and wanted the support of his friends. But they were distracted and tired and failed him. And then things got worse. Jesus was betrayed. He was arrested. He was denied. As we walk in this story, we’re invited to empathize and see ourselves as one of the disciples. It may be uncomfortable, but here in the garden, the disciples failed Jesus. They fell asleep when he asked for their support. He was betrayed and denied. In seeing
ourselves in their midst, we recognize that we, too, have fallen asleep when Jesus needed us, and betrayed him. We have denied the depth of our relationship because of our fears. Let us confess to God the places we know we have failed God, ourselves, and others.
Silence.
At this point in the story, Jesus’ journey to the cross is just beginning. He’ll endure a long night of trials and then a day of torture, abuse, and, ultimately, death. We don’t want to rush through the story, but we do want to underscore that what Jesus did was not to suffer in vain. But to give us forgiveness, hope, and life. We aren’t asked to wallow in the shame of our sin, but to confess our sin so that we might receive forgiveness. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. I invite you to claim that gift for yourself. Say: In the name of Jesus Christ I am forgiven. Amen.
Song