Bring a bowl of water with you to participate in this evening’s liturgy!

Welcome
All are invited to fill a bowl of water and place it nearby to be used during the Remembrance of Baptism within this evening’s service.

Maundy Thursday Litany[1]:
You knew your hour had come.
You knew your betrayer.
You knew your enemies.
You knew that the straw vote would not be in your favor.
But you loved unto the end.
Thank you for loving us, even unto death.
Teach us to love like you love.
Teach us to love each other, to love even our enemies,
like you loved us.

You took on the form of a servant,
washing the feet of those whom you discipled.
You defined humility and servanthood.
You are he who was surely sent from God.
Thank you for serving for us.
Teach us to be servants without fail;
to make humility our constant companion
and to seek no glory for ourselves.
Remind us when we forget.

On that solemn evening,
you surrounded yourself with friends and enemies,
persons of faith and persons of ill-will.
Help us to be able to always emulate you
when we are surrounded by our friends
and especially when we are surrounded by our enemies.

You have established a “new commandment;”
help us to live it out in every moment,
in every aspect of our lives,
in our families, in our churches, in our communities,
and throughout the world.
On this Holy Day, we gather to remember again
the miracle that you performed in our lives.
You have brought us into the marvelous light.
At great cost to you,
you have given us new life and life eternal.
Amen.

Gospel: John 13:1-35
¹ Now 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. ² The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. 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. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus 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.” ¹¹ For 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? 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. ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ ¹⁹ I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. ²⁰ Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

²¹   After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²² The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. ²³ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; ²⁴ Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. ²⁵ So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” ²⁸ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

³¹   When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 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.”

Reflection

Remembrance of Baptism:[2]
Holy God, source of living water,
all life flows out from you.

In this time of uncertainty, with a future unknown, let us give thanks to our God who is always with us.

In the days of chaos,
Your voice moved over the water and life sprang forth.
In the days of the flood,
You kept Noah and his family safe from harm.
In the days of fleeing Egypt,
You separated the sea so your people could pass.
In the days of wandering in the wilderness,
You made water flow from a rock.
In this night in which your Son was betrayed,
He poured water into a servant’s bowl to wash the feet of his betrayer.
Holy God, source of living water,
all life flows out from you.

Through the baptism of Jesus, all water is made holy.
The water that nourishes the land.
The water we drink.
The water we bath in.
The water we use to wash our hands so many times a day.
Holy God, source of living water,
all life flows out from you.

We praise you for the gift of baptism that binds us to one another and to you.

All are invited to stir up water in a bowl.

As we stir this precious water, remind us of who we are: your beloved children.
Help us see each person as a member of your body.
Ease our anxieties and strengthen our resolve to care for each other.
Deepen our faith.

All make the mark of the cross with the water on the forehead.

Holy God, source of living water,
All life flows out from you. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, we are bold to pray as Jesus taught us 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.
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 kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
             forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 22
¹            My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
²            O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

³               Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴            In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵            To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

⁶               But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
⁷            All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;

⁸            “Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
⁹               Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰          On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹          Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

¹²             Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³          they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴             I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵          my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶             For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
¹⁷          I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸          they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹             But you, O LORD, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰          Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
²¹                        Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

²²          I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³          You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴          For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.

²⁵             From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
²⁶          The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!

²⁷             All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
²⁸          For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.

²⁹             To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
³⁰          Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
³¹          and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

John 18:1
After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

 

 

[1] written by Nolan Williams, Jr., and posted on The African American Lectionary website.

 

[2] Adapted from Rev. Rebecca Ajer Frantz’s Thanksgiving for Baptism During a Global Pandemic