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Maundy Thursday April 1 "Streams of Grace" (John 13)
Rev.  Alastair Hunting
Rev. Alastair Hunting
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Order of Service with Hymns
Playlist

Welcome and Land Acknowledgment

Opening Words If I say “surely the darkness shall cover me and the light around me become night.” Even the darkness is not dark to you; The night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:11-12)

Be still and aware of the presence of the Divine within and all around

This is the day that Christ the Lamb of God gave himself into the hands of those who would slay him. This is the day that Christ gathered with his disciples in the upper room.

This is the day that Christ took a towel and washed the disciples’ feet, giving us an example that we should do to others as he has done to us.

This is the day that Christ our God gave us this holy feast, that we who eat this bread and drink this cup may here proclaim his Holy Sacrifice and be partakers of his resurrection, and at the last day may reign with him in heaven.

Hymn: #504 Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love
Refrain:
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.

Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.
Refrain

Neighbors are wealthy and poor,
varied in color and race,
neighbors are near us and far away.
Refrain

These are the ones we should serve, 
these are the ones we should love,
all these are neighbors to us and you.
Refrain

Loving puts us on our knees,
silently washing their feet,
this is the way we should live with you.
Refrain

Opening Prayer and Thanksgiving I am bending my knee in the eye of the God who created me In the eye of the Son who died for me
In the eye of the Spirit who moves me in love and in desire.
For the many gifts you have bestowed on me Each day and night
Each sea and land Each weather fair each calm, each wild Thanks be to you O God. Amen

Readings (Marion Edmondson)
Psalm 116.1, 10–17 Refrain I will lift up the cup of salvation.

Corinthians 11.23–26

Gospel Hymn: #144 (MV) Like a Healing Stream
Like a healing stream in a barren desert,
Spirit water bringing life to dusty earth,
God is trickling through our lives as in a dream unfolding,
promising revival and rebirth... like a healing stream.

Like a gentle rain on a thirsty garden,
Spirit water come to nourish tiny seed,
God is bubbling through the soil to coax a new creation,
yearning for an end to want and need... like a gentle rain.

Like a river strong with a restless current,
Spirit water rushing on to distant shore,
God is carving out a channel in a new direction,
calling for an end to hate and war... like a river strong.

Like a mighty sea reaching far horizons,
Spirit water with a love both deep and wide,
God is working in our hearts to shape a new tomorrow:
God will always challenge and provide!

Like a mighty sea... Like a river strong... Like a gentle rain... Like a healing stream.

Gospel: John 13.1–17, 31b–35

Reflection

Fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night before his death, Jesus set an example for his disciples by washing their feet, an act of humble service. He taught that strength and growth in the life of the kingdom of God come not by power, authority, or even miracle, but by such lowly service. Therefore, I invite you (who have been appointed as representatives of the congregation and) who share in the royal priesthood of Christ, to come forward, that I may recall whose servant I am by following the example of my Master. But come remembering his admonition that what will be done for you is also to be done by you to others, for “a servant is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

A basin of water is placed at the chancel step. Members of the congregation, or their representatives, are seated on chairs near the front of the assembly. The celebrant, carrying a towel, proceeds to wash the feet of those seated. During the ceremony suitable anthems or songs may be sung.

The Lord’s Prayer

Poem (Read by Alison Hunting)

“Maundy Thursday, All the World is still”

Maundy Thursday, all the world is still
The planes wait, grounded by departure gates
The street is empty and the shopping mall
Deserted. Padlocked, the playground waits
Against the day that children play again
Till then our sad refrain is just refrain

Maundy Thursday, all the world is still
And Jesus is at supper with his friends
No longer in the upper room, that hall
In Zion where the story starts and ends,
For he descended from it long ago
To find his new friends in the here and now

Maundy Thursday, all the world is still
And Jesus is at supper with his friends
Our doors are locked for fear, but he has skill In breaking barriers.
With ease he bends Our prison bars, slips past the sentry post
And joins us as the guest who is our host.

Maundy Thursday All the world is still|
But in cramped quarters on the fifteenth floor,
In lonely towers made of glass and steel,
And in the fierce favelas of the poor,
Touching with wounded hands the wounds he tends
Christ Jesus is at supper with his friends.

Intercessions O God I place myself with those who struggle this night. I am here in need I am here in pain I am here alone O God help me.

Open Intercessions

Closing Prayer O Christ you are a bright flame before me You are a guiding star above me You are the light and love I see in others’ eyes. Keep me O Christ in a love that is tender Keep me O Christ in a love that is true Keep me O Christ in a love that is strong Tonight, tomorrow and always.

Closing Hymn: #568 Nada te turbe
Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God shall never go wanting.
Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
God alone fills us.

Nada te turbe, nada te espante
Quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta
Nada te turbe, nada te espante
Solo Dios basta

Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God shall never go wanting.
Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten. 
God alone fills us.

Stripping of the Altar

Sources: Prayers: Celtic Prayers from Iona – J. Philip Newell, New York: Paulist Press, 1997;
Book of Alternative Services p. 304-306, https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/BAS.pdf
Poem by Malcolm Guite, https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/a-new-maundy-thursday-poem/