Maundy Thursday Worship
“Lift Up Your Heads, O Mighty Gates” (based on Psalm 24:7, tune: Truro)
Lift up your heads, O mighty gates. Behold, the King of glory waits!
The King of Kings is drawing near.The Savior of the world is here.
Fling wide the portals of your heart. Make it a Temple, set apart
from earthly use for heaven’s employ, adorned with prayer and love & joy.
So come, my Sovereign, enter in! Let new and nobler life begin.
Thy Holy Spirit guide us on, until the glorious crown be won.
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“The King of Glory” (a traditional Israeli folk song) © 1967, W.F. Jabusch
(used with permission, CCLI# 1117-0235, First Congregational UCC, Alpena, Michigan)
The Refrain: The King of Glory comes, the nation rejoices.
Open the gates before Him, lift up your voices.
Who is the King of Glory? How shall we call him?
He is “Emmanuel”, the promise of ages.
In all of Galilee, in city or village,
He goes among His people curing their illness. (sing the refrain)
Sing then of David’s son, our Savior and brother.
In all of Galilee was never another
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“Maundy Thursday” worship – April 9 – “The Lord’s Last Supper”
Opening Hymn # 193 “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” Kat Tomaszewski, Organist
(1) In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story gathers ’round its head sublime.
(2) When the woes of life o’ertake me, hope deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me: Lo! It glows with peace and joy.
Opening Prayer Lynn Borke, Lay Reader
One: Each of us in our own home, through the medium of the internet, remember Maundy Thursday, the night of our Lord’s Last Supper. We do so in order to worship God in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: This is the hour for remembering both the communion meal and the conflict, both the courage and the suffering that Jesus endured on the night before He went to the Cross.
One: It is a time for each of us to face our own thoughtless betrayals, our sleepy inattention, and the brokenness of our own lives and the brokenness of our world in its fear of disease & recession.
All: We come together to turn that thoughtlessness and brokenness over to Christ, so that
we can be restored by Him, who knew no sin, and yet who carried the burden of us all.
The Gloria Patri (sung)
“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.”
First Scripture: Mark 14:12-16 Rev. Paul Lance, Minister
Hymn # 207 “Just as I Am”
(1) Just as I am, without a plea but that Thy blood was shed for me,
and that you called inviting me, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. (2) Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come. I come.
Second Scripture: Mark 14:17-25
One: On the night that Jesus was betrayed, God’s heart broke -- but through that sacrifice, we who follow Jesus’ Way have learned to love one another. Our hope and our reconciliation are found in the gift of grace at work among us by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name.
All: Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, One with the Holy Spirit: All glory is yours everywhere, now and forever.
hymn “Walls Mark Our Bound’ries” (verse 1)
Walls mark our bound’ries and keep us apart. Walls keep the world from our eyes & our heart.
Tables are round, making room for one more, welcoming friends we had not known before.
So build us a table and tear down the wall! Christ is our host. There is room for us all.
(verse 2)
Walls make us sure who in in and who’s out. Walls keep us safe from all questions and doubt,
But at a table in open exchange new ties are formed as our lives rearrange.
So build us a table and tear down the wall! Christ is our host. There is room for us all.
One: At this time in the silence of our homes, we remember all those who are afraid or who grieve, who suffer from the virus, and who are in pain… Bless them and their caregivers, we pray…
those who are without work as things are shut down, or are seeking a new occupation in life..
those who are at war, serving in uniform in harm’s way, or who are otherwise unsure of life,
those who have been displaced from their homes, or who live with oppression, or hunger…
those who long for your peace, love, and justice. (silence)
(verse 3)
Once we were strangers, divided, alone. Hate and distrust built a wall stone by stone.
Now at a table the bread that we share joins us to Christ in a circle of care.
So build us a table and tear down the wall! Christ is our host. There is room for us all.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
One: We thank You, God, for the gift of life and for all good things that sustain us: food and drink, air to breathe, solid ground upon which to move and to build, daylight and all sources of energy. We are grateful for all the people who are attentive to their health and that of their neighbors by staying home and staying well. But on this Maundy Thursday night, we thank You especially for Jesus Christ, who has shown us what true humanity and true divinity is.
All: May our lives reflect His life in all that we say and do, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Third Scripture: Mark 14:26-31
Hymn # 197 “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”
(1) Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain, free to all, a healing stream,
flows from Calvary’s mountain. … In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,
’til my ransomed soul shall find rest beyond the river.
(2) Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me. Help me live from day to
day with its shadow o’er me. … In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,
’til my ransomed soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Fourth Scripture: Mark 14:32-52
Hymn # 195 “The Old Rugged Cross”
(1) On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross ’til my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to that old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.
(2) In that old rugged cross, which bore Love so divine;, a wondrous beauty I see
For upon that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross ’til my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to that old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.
Fifth Scripture: Mark 14:53-72
Hymn # 224 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
(1) When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
(2) See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
(3) Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Closing Prayer
One: God, our Heavenly Father, we are torn by so many conflicting thoughts and feelings on this Maundy Thursday night. We grieve our Savior’s suffering, of course, and we feel shame
knowing that it was unjust sinners who made it happen. But we also feel deeply the suffering
of our world today, with thousands of families around the world who have died from the coronavirus plague, and millions of people who have been affected by these weeks of social isolation and economic standstill. So we pray both for Jesus’ sacrifice and for current ones.
All: In your mercy, ease our grief, O Lord, and remove our sense of fear and shame.
Restore us by your grace, and forgive us now as you did them back then. Thank you.
One: As we have heard again tonight the story of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are both overwhelmed by
sadness at the injustice that followed on Crucifixion Friday and amazed by Jesus's courage.
All: We draw near to you, O God, author of life and giver of all good things.
Bless us with calmness in the midst of our fear, clear thinking among our political
leaders, and acts of compassion and generosity toward people who are suffering.
One: We are comforted by the grace won for us on the cross, O God, but we are also challenged by the fact that the world continues on its course, ignorant of your dawning Kingdom in our midst.
All: Give us the courage, boldness, and resources, God, to speak the truth of Jesus’ Way to
those around us, that they might also join in the salvation that you have brought.. We
ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Benediction
Lord God, we need your grace. We need your forgiveness. We need your Spirit right here and now. We have too often failed to follow your will. The weight of sin -- back then and still now -- crushed Jesus, your beloved Son, our Savior. The implications of that horror hangs heavy around us. Open our souls to your forgiveness, God, and open our hearts to love our neighbors, for in so doing, we become your disciples in this day. Bless our homes with peace and health, we pray. Amen.
Closing Hymn # 226 “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”
(1) O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns thy only crown. How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn! (2) What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend, for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end? O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee!
