BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH
MAUNDY THURSDAY
April 14, 2022
Gathering Music
*** If you are joining us from home, please have bread and drink ready to share in the Agape Meal***
Thank you to our readers for tonight’s service: Eithne barker, David Stafford, and Neil Lowes.
Welcome & Centering
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us tonight – in person or by Zoom – as we continue our journey through Holy Week. It’s not an easy journey. A week that began with a triumphal parade into Jerusalem now takes a darker turn. It would be so much easier to head straight to the joy of Easter morning, wouldn’t it? But, in order to understand and fully appreciate the profound depth of that joy, we really need to follow Jesus and his disciples on that last week, to celebrate with them the sacredness of Passover, so steeped in the history of their ancestors – our ancestors – and to feel the chaos, confusion, and sorrow that followed the hope-filled excitement of Palm Sunday. So, tonight we will join Jesus and his closest friends as they gather together in an upper room to celebrate the night that God led the people out of slavery in Egypt, the time of Passover.
Lighting of the Christ Candle:
(Richard Bott, Gathering L/E 2016, p62. Used with permission)
Even as the days grow longer, Jesus’ time grows short.
Even as the Christ-Light shines, the world works to hide it:
To hide Christ’s hope,
To hide Christ’s understanding,
To hide Christ’s love.
But we will not let the Christ-light or the Christ-love be hidden.
Even on our way to the cross, in the best, in the worst,
Christ’s light shines.
Sung Response: Don’t Be Afraid MV 90
(Words; John Bell & Graham Maule, 1995; Music: John Bell, 1995)
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger
and I have promised, promised to be always near.
*Call to Gather (Responsively)
(Susan Lukey, gathering Lent-Easter 2022, p 39. Used with permission)
Come, let us journey with Jesus this evening.
Come, O people, to journey the way of passion.
We travel with heavy hearts.
Come, O people, to journey through shadow and valley.
We travel in trust and in faith.
Come, O people, to journey the way of conviction.
We travel in love and in hope.
Maundy Thursday Liturgy - adapted from Ali Smith, Gathering L/E 2016, p 65, with permission:
Hymn: Silent Night (vs 1) VU67
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Lorrie
We remember, from a few short months ago, the story of Jesus’ birth.
Calmness, contentment, concord… these words could be used to set the scene.
O God, how we want to stay in that sweet place, adoring the holy child, oohing and aahing, brimming with peace. But, like it always does, time marches on…
Hymn: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus (vs 1) VU357
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear,
Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
That baby did grow up and he became the type of man to make his mother proud. Courageous, compassionate, convinced… that is what he became.
Surely, God we can stay by the seashore a little while longer. Perhaps we can hear one more sermon or see one more person healed. But that time, too, has passed.
Hymn: Were You There (vs 1) VU144
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Here we are, preparing to say good-bye.
Chaos, commotion, calamity… that is how this night will end. When the mob shows up in the idyllic garden with lanterns and torches and swords, they will arrest the one who changed the world.
We know what comes next. It makes us anxious, God, for we have heard the story before. We know we must go there, but first we ask for just a little more time with our friend, a moment longer to prepare ourselves so we may fully live though death is near.
Let us go now to the upper room.
The Reading: John 13:2-5, 12-17
And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 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.
12 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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Hymn: Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love (vs 1) VU593
Refrain:
Jesu, Jesu,
Fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbours we have from you.
1. Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them. (Refrain)
Body Prayer
(This is a participatory prayer that you can do comfortably from your chair, with your feet on the floor)
(Maggie Watts-Hammond, Gathering L/E 2021, p71. Used with permission)
When the disciples came to the upper room, they had been walking for miles. They were tired and a little frightened, their hands were clenched and their feet were sore, and they were breathing so fast. Place your hand on your heart and take a deep breath in…for God is as near to you as the air you breathe… and breathe out. And now take another deep breath as you feel your heart slow, for the journey of the day is over and you are already here.
And say after me:
Look upon us, O lord, and let all the shadows of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness.
And Jesus came, hot and footsore but smiling: a day was ending and a new era beginning. Roll your shoulders forward and back – it’s been a long day and you can relax in the presence of the Christ.
And say after me:
Look upon us, Lord, and fill us with holy love.
The disciples saw he had a bowl and water for their tired feet. Raise your right foot slightly from the floor and set it down – the foot that symbolizes a thousand journeys. And lift your left foot from the floor and set it down; the foot that has crossed a thousand thresholds now crosses into the upper room.
Repeat after me:
Look upon us, Lord, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.
Set your hands upon your knees as you would if Jesus was kneeling before you with his bowl. And, lean forward as if you are leaning toward him as he leans toward you. And imagine he takes your feet in his hands, a touch of gentle grace that makes that foot feel fresh. And imagine the feel of water, warm enough to relax, cool enough to refresh.
And repeat after me:
All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened in us, let us ask in prayer.
Raise your hands, palms inward beside your face. Gently lay your left hand on your left cheek. Now stretch your right hand out forward toward Christ.
Repeat after me:
Look upon us, Lord. We seek thy face. Turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.
Lower your hands into the prayer position, palms almost touching, thumbs toward your heart, leaving space in between for the God you have known but don’t know yet. And breathe once more into the presence of God.
Repeat after me:
Look upon us, Lord. Then shall our longing be satisfied and our peace shall be perfect. Amen.
Now rest your hearts – and rest your hands open upon your knees – as we begin the ritual that first began that night.
Before all the pandemonium, there was a beautifully intimate moment in an Upper Room – a room made holy by the love that was present there.
There was a man who was anxious, a man who was afraid, a man who was savouring a moment of comfort surrounded by his friends. He was a man who knew he was about to be betrayed, knew he would be arrested, and knew he would be denied… but, for now, he was just a person having dinner with his friends, eating and chatting…
Knowing what was to come, he left his friends – and us – with a special gift for remembrance:
Reading
“The Farewell Tear” by Joyce Rupp
a feast of friendship
a story of betrayal
a memory of gifts given
you look with such intense love
on each one gathered there,
mist covers your deep brown eyes
as you hold each one in your gaze,
you close your eyes and I see
the farewell tear of friendship
as it follows the curve of your cheek.
you take the bread,
bless it gently, profoundly,
with old words and new.
(do you mean to say it is yourself?)
and then the wine,
again with words old and new.
(do you mean to say this, too,
is now yourself?)
you look again at each one there
and give the eternal gift:
“remember me and do the same.”
like those around the table then,
so with us who gather now,
if we knew how close our hearts
are held inside of yours,
we would always be amazed
that you meant this for us, too.
how shall we ever be brave enough
to do what you have done,
when grief engulfs our every breath
and each memorial word
is laden with our loss?
Communion/Agape Meal
Joyce Rupp so beautifully tells the story of that last meal Jesus shared with his friends. And so, as we gather tonight, we are reminded of Jesus’ instructions to his followers:
Hymn: Bread for the Journey MV202 (English/ French/English)
Bread for the journey, food for the way.
Cup full of blessing, tomorrow, today.
Pain pour la route, pour nos chemins.
De Dieu la coupe, aujourd’hui, demain.
Bread for the journey, food for the way.
Cup full of blessing, tomorrow, today.
On the night before he died, Jesus took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “Take and eat; whenever you do this, remember me.”
Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, saying, “This is the wine of the new covenant; whenever you drink it, remember me.”
By remembering Jesus in this way now, we claim our common heritage and we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Let us pray:
Send, O God, your Holy Spirit upon us and what we do here,
That we and these gifts, touched by your Spirit, may be signs of life and love to one another, and to the world.
With Jesus, we pray together, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory, Forever and ever, Amen.
The bread of tomorrow. (Bread is broken)
The cup of new life. (Cup is poured)
Come, join the feast at Christ’s table! (Bread and wine are consumed)
Let us pray:
We give thanks that bread broken brings wholeness;
that wine poured out replenishes;
that time spent with Christ and one another is gift and grace.
Amen.
Hymn: Bread for the Journey MV202 (English/French/English)
Bread for the journey, food for the way.
Cup full of blessing, tomorrow, today.
Pain pour la route, pour nos chemins.
De Dieu la coupe, aujourd’hui, demain.
Bread for the journey, food for the way.
Cup full of blessing, tomorrow, today.
Reading: John 13:33-35
33 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.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Matthew 26:30, 36-39
30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” 39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”
Reading:
Gethsemane by Mary Oliver
The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.
The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows it never sleeps.
Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe *
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn't move,
maybe
the lake far away, where once he walked as on a
blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.
Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be a part of the story.
Hymn: Go to Dark Gethsemane (vs 1) VU133
Go to dark Gethsemane, you that feel the tempter’s power;
Your redeemer’s conflict see; watch with him one bitter hour;
Turn not from his grief away: Learn from him to watch and pray.
Reading: Matthew 26:45-50
45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
Hymn: Stay With Us Through the Night VU182
Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the pain.
Stay with us, blessed stranger, till the morning breaks again.
Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the grief.
Stay with us, blessed stranger, till the morning brings relief.
Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the dread.
Stay with us, blessed stranger, till the morning breaks new bread.
Sending Forth
(Gill LeFevre, Gathering Lent – Easter 2022, p40. Used with permission.)
Whatever the next hours hold, remember that you are blessed by God, and strengthened by God.
When the wilderness looms, take comfort in God’s love, that your life may affirm the good news of Jesus Christ.
You are beloved. Amen.