Maundy Thursday Service
Gordonsville Presbyterian Church
March 28, 2013
Call to Worship:
Leader: Jesus said: I give you a new commandment that you love one another.
People: Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another
Opening Prayer
We gather together tonight to witness to the amazing love that is the sacrifice of the cross. We remember the love that is nailed to the cross, and sealed in the tomb, realizing that the nails could not hold and the tomb could not trap the power and love of God, the God who created us, sets us free, and shows us the amazing possibilities of love. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
*Hymn #101 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" HAMBURG
Unison Prayer of Confession:
Eternal God, whose covenant is never broken, we confess that we fail to fulfill your will. Though you have bound yourself to us, we will not bind ourselves to you. In Jesus Christ you serve us freely, but we refuse your love and withhold ourselves from others. We do not love you fully or love one another as you command. In your mercy, forgive and cleanse us. Lead us once again to your table and unite us to Christ, who is the bread of life and the vine from which we grow in grace.
Canticle (Sung):
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
(Silence)
Assurance of Pardon
The mercy of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting
I declare to you in the name of Jesus Christ
you are forgiven.
May the God of mercy
who forgives you all your sins
strengthen you in all goodness,
and by the power of the Holy Spirit
keep you in eternal life.
Amen.
Prayer for Illumination:
Eternal God,
whose word silences the shouts of the mighty:
Quiet within us every voice but your own.
Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ
that by the power of your Holy Spirit
we may receive grace to show Christ's love
in lives given to your service.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 53:1-12
53 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
9 They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
11 Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
New Testament Reading: John 19:16-30
So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Reflection on The Cross
What greater shadow
Is so soon forgotten
Than the cross?
Cast in darkness
By Easter morn’s light
Mem’ry’s loss.
Can we hope to bear
Such intense pain?
Could we ever care
Outside of gain?
Giving all, into pain to sustain and reclaim those lost tossed and scattered by the wind.
Of course not, which is why our minds like to skip the cross, Ignore the pain,
The nail marks, the mocking crown, the burning vinegar, the speared side,
For us, Who drove the nails, who crowned the king,
Who offered burning drink and pierced the side.
Did we really not know?
Or was it just too much?
Is it still?
The amazing miracle,
Grace, Hope,
Faith, Love,
God in our midst,
With us,
And for us,
Became us,
Whom we despise
To raise us.
May we remember the cross
For the cross of hate,
The height of cruel,
The pinnacle of evil,
The high water mark of sin,
Somehow,
Is not enough,
To overcome
Love.
Hymn "In Remembrance"
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
And so we come to the table,
This is not my table, nor is it the table of Gordonsville Presbyterian Church
but is the table of our Lord Jesus Christ
And all who are baptized in the faith are welcome to participate in its full communion
Come not because you must but because you may
Come not because you are worthy but because you are not
The blessing of this holy sacrament be upon us each and all this night.
Let us pray together the great Prayer of Thanksgiving found in your bulletin
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is truly right and our greatest joy. . .
to give you thanks and praise,
O Lord our God, creator and ruler of the universe.
You bring forth bread from the earth,
and create the fruit of the vine.
You made us in your image
and freed us from the bonds of slavery.
You claimed us as your people,
and made covenant to be our God.
You fed us manna in the wilderness,
and brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey.
When we forgot you, and our faith was weak,
You spoke through prophets,
calling us to turn again to your ways.
Therefore we praise you,
joining our voices with the celestial choirs
and with all the faithful of every time and place,
who forever sing to the glory of your name:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest.
You are holy, O God of majesty,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
whom you sent to deliver us
from the bondage of death and slavery to sin.
In humility he descends from your heights,
to kneel in obedience to love's commands.
He who is boundless takes on the bondage of our sin.
He who is free takes our place in death's prison.
In the deserts of our wanderings, he sustains us,
giving us his body as manna for our weariness.
The cup of suffering which he drank
has become for us the cup of salvation.
In his death, he ransomed us from death's dominion;
in his resurrection, he opened the way to eternal life.
Remembering all your mighty and merciful acts,
we take this bread and this wine
from the gifts you have given us,
and celebrate with joy
the redemption won for us in Jesus Christ.
Accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy offering of ourselves,
that our lives may proclaim the One crucified and risen.
Great is the mystery of faith
Christ has died.
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Gracious God,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these your gifts of bread and wine,
that the bread we break and the cup we bless
may be the communion of the body and the blood of Christ.
By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ
and with all who are baptized in his name,
that we may be one in ministry in every place.
As this bread is Christ's body for us,
Send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.
Lead us, O God, by the power of your Spirit
to live as love commands.
Bound to Christ,
Set free for joyful obedience and glad service.
As Jesus gave his life for ours,
help us to live our lives for others
with humility and persistent courage.
Give us strength to serve you faithfully
until the promised day of resurrection,
when, with the redeemed of all the ages,
we will feast with you at your table in glory.
Through Christ,
all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father,
With the Holy spirit in the holy church,
now and forever.
Amen.
Invitation
Hear the words of the institution
of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, too bread,
and after giving thanks to God,
He broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying:
Take, eat.
This is my body, broken for you
Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same manner he took the cup, saying:
This cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood,
Shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
Do this in remembrance of me.
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the saving death of the Risen Lord,
until He comes.
With thanksgiving
Let us offer God our grateful praise.
These are the gifts of God
for the people of God.
Prayer after Communion
Jesus, Lamb of God.
have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins,
have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
grant us peace.
God of grace,
your Son Jesus Christ
left us this holy meal of bread and wine
in which we share his body and blood.
May we who have celebrated this sign of his great love
show in our lives the fruits of his redemption;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
Light and Darkness
In this great vigil of remembrance we light the candles of hope remembering the time that God spent with us as Immanuel.
We light again the candle of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, remembering the child of Promise who was born so lowly in a manger.
We light a candle remembering the his baptism in the Jordan River
We light a candle remembering his amazing stand against temptation while fasting in desert.
We light a candle remembering his holy teachings on the Mount and on the Plain where he told us of the possibilities and responsibilities of love
We light a candle remembering how he healed the sick, offering hope and presence to the faithful, who came to him.
We light a candle remembering how he asked the children to come to him, remembering also that to welcome a child in his name is the way to be truly great.
We light a candle remembering the miracles he performed, like feeding the multitudes and walking on water, showing us that our thoughts of limitation are invalid.
And finally we light a candle for the triumphant entry he made into Jerusalem, which seemed to be the high water mark of his work and the beginning of the end. . . as he upset more than just the tables in the Temple.
And now we say a prayer in the light of his teachings as he taught us to pray saying. . .
Our father
Who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven,
Five us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom
And the power and glory forever.
Amen.
And then we betrayed you Jesus, and we need to remember.
And then we denied you Jesus, and we need to remember
And then we tried you Jesus, and we need to remember
And then we demanded that you be crucified, Jesus, and we need to remember
And then we beat and whipped you Jesus, and we need to remember
And then we mocked you with a cross of thorns Jesus, and we need to remember
And then we nailed you to a tree, and we need to remember
And you said, I thirst, and all we gave you was vinegar, and we need to remember.
And you said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, and we need to remember
And you said, My God, my god why have you forsaken me, and we need to remember
And you said, Into thy hands I commend my spirit, and we need to remember
And you said, it is accomplished, and we desperately need to remember.
Special Music (acapella) "Were You There"
Closing Prayer
God, the amazing thing is this, that you love us, and Christ's sacrifice proves that you do. What wondrous love is this. that you can love us so much, that you gave your only begotten son, so that we shall not perish but have eternal life in the bosom of your grace and steadfast love. Amen.
Hymn #85 "What Wondrous Love?
Benediction
And in three days he rose again from the dead, and is risen, truly what wondrous love this is. We do not have to walk that lonesome valley by ourselves, but that Our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is walking it with us. Go in Peace to walk that lonesome valley with Jesus, and with each other, brothers and sisters in Christ. May it be so, Amen.
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