Holy Week/ Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday: 
This is the time when we recall the Last Supper.
We follow in the footsteps of others before us;
we walk back in time and walk into an upper room where Jesus gathers with his friends.
He will speak to them of the ways of the Kingdom.
He will show them what real leadership looks like.
He will share bread and wine and create a meal to remember.
This is the last gathering  before the darkness finally takes the light
and the love of God  is silenced....

READING/
John 13:1-17
1Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then 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. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’
7Jesus answered,
‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’
8Peter said to him,
‘You will never wash my feet.’
Jesus answered,
‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’
9Simon Peter said to him,
‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’
10Jesus 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.’
11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said,
‘Not all of you are clean.’
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? 13You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right,
for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought
to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have
done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are
messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.'

MUSIC MEDITATION/ 'The basin and the towel' by Michael Card...

PRAYER/
When we find the kingdom
in the most generous of acts,
silently arriving
in a cupful of water,
may we pause
and recognise where we are,
O Saviour of the basin and towel.

When the moment is shaped
in an act of giving
and the kingdom unveils
what it is really about,
may we pause
and recognise what is happening,
O Saviour of the basin and towel.

When the words have gone
and the doctrine spent
and the act of giving
is all we have,
may we pause
and recognise the truth,
O Saviour of the basin and towel.
May we bless the brokenness of heaven
which has fought against the words of religion
that has too often lifted itself up
and given itself power
and lauded itself over others
that we might pause in this place
where she reveals herself
in acts that are self-giving
and sacrificial,
serving the world
and all within,
and may we draw breath
in the truth of it all:
a kingdom unlike any other
humble,
forgiving,
serving,
redeeming.

When the darkness shifts
and the truth is revealed
and the moment arrives
and we do not understand,
may we pause
and recognise the moment,
O Saviour of the basin and towel.
Amen.

READING/ Matthew 26:17-19
17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying,
‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’
18He said,
‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”’
19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. ... ... ...
26 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said,
‘Take, eat; this is my body.’
27Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying,
‘Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’
30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

REFLECTION/ 
THE MEAL

The evening was unusual, to say the least. There was nothing out of the ordinary in us eating in the company of Jesus. We had done it often, but outside, a picnic on the grassy slopes of a hillside maybe, folk joining us- one or two or, occasionally, thousands, though always with enough food to go round. Sometimes we had been invited into a home and been given a meal - at Simon's mother-in-law's house  when she was ill - with Martha, Mary and Lazarus on frequent occasions.
But this was different. Jesus had arranged it so that we would, all twelve of us, be there in a
room with Him. We were to celebrate Passover. It was what Jewish people everywhere did, a
recalling of how the Jews had escaped death by the smearing of blood from the sacrificial lamb,
onto the lintel of their door, so that the angel of death passed over them.
So we were all seated round the table, a motley assortment of men, if ever there were.
One so sure of himself, given to boasting that would go with Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Another who disliked Jesus' way of doing things and wasn't afraid to say so. One rescued from
a dubious job, working for the government, collecting taxes;  a fourth who was a fanatic,
not afraid to kill for his belief. And the rest of us, quieter, staying out of the limelight, uncertain
of our place in the scheme of things. We all called him teacher, for that is what he had been to us,
these last three years.
And Jesus rose from the table , tied a towel round his waist, took a bowl of water and a cloth and began to wash our feet. Our feet, dusty and soiled from the road, all calloused skin and broken nails and blisters. It was unlovely, embarrassing. Embarrassing because this was something we ought to have done for each other and for Him and we hadn't, too proud, maybe, to be the one to do this menial task. Jesus went on to say that this was an example of what we must do - that we must be willing to do the job of a servant, however lowly that job might be.
We were to love one another.
But this was not all.
Then he took bread and broke it and gave it to us.

'This is my body given for you.'
The same with the cup of wine past round the table:
'This is my blood poured out for you.'
I was confused, I have to admit.
'Do this in remembrance of me.'
I didn't understand what he was saying. All I knew was that something momentous was happening, that this Passover meal  superseded all such meals that had taken place in years past.
It was a few days later that I realised the significance of the words he had spoke in that upper room  and the look of suffering on his face as he left the table and went out into the night.
by Dee Yates

TAKE, EAT.../
At the edge of everything lies this—

when we cannot understand the world
and the questions it asks us to answer,

when we cannot hold onto the world
because it is running out,

when we cannot hear what is truth and what are lies
in a cacophony of conflicting doctrine,

when we are fed up with control and a religion of power
that decides who is saved and who is not,

when we cannot find the words that express our faith any longer
within a religion that has lost its meaning,

when we can no longer sit comfortably
and feel connected with a polarised world,

when we have nothing left to say
and the words make no sense anyway,

when the story feels like it is coming to an end
and the Saviour is living on borrowed time,

when the darkness has greater hold than the light
and the rumours of conspiracy continue to grow,

when the disciples are confused and do not understand
and the Saviour is quiet with a darkness in his eyes,

when we feel the crack of a broken heaven
appearing in everything we thought sure,

at the edge of everything lies this—

a table:
bread,
broken;

wine,
waiting;

take,
and eat.

PRAYER/
Holy God,
we have remembered that final meal
shared  between Jesus and his disciples;
we have remembered his life,
we have remembered his death,
and we look forward to celebrating his resurrection.
Before that happy day,
we remember his suffering,
his pain,
and his desolation on the cross;
we remember his loved ones
looking on from a distance, 
unable to offer any comfort,
and we remember the men who sat at his feet
dividing up his belongings as if he was already dead.

Holy God,
on this night
when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us all,
help us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice,
willing to let our egos go
and instead, choosing to serve you
body, mind and soul.
May we be renewed and refreshed,
confident and bold,
ready to share your love
and your story
with all people.
Amen.

ONWARD...
Bread:
blessed, broken, given—
his body.
Wine:
thanksgiving, sharing, drinking—
his blood, poured out for many.
On this night, a meal is shared among friends at table.
On this night, darkness gathers.
In a garden,
where prayers are offered,
and disciples sleep,
the sound of coins jingle in a purse
as footsteps march in time growing nearer:
the hour is at hand...