Maundy Thursday Worship

This Maundy Thursday worship is designed to be an accompaniment to your evening meal. You can print off the pdf below, or scroll through the page for the liturgy and audio recordings of the scripture passages, along with music.

PDF of Worship Service

Introduction

Maundy Thursday is centered on two commandments shared by Jesus in the last few days before his crucifixion: that we ‘love one another’ by serving as Jesus serves; and that we share the communion meal together. (“Maundy” comes from the Latin word for “commandment.”)

While we wait to be able to eat at the worship table together, we offer this prayer service to accompany you through your Maundy Thursday meal. No special menu is required; we remember that, “God is good at blessing ordinary things,” as one prayer puts it. Throughout your meal, you’ll be prompted to pause for scripture reading and to connect your movements and actions to the stories of this day.

Music

Much like meals, music in its most pure form is a tool for relationship and community. As individuals work to share rhythms, harmony, and pulse with one another, they show a living example of how to work together in common respect and love, much as Jesus symbolizes in the washing of feet this night. As you begin your meal, consider playing the music offered here by various HSLC members, or any other music that has deep meaning to you.

Song Information

Washing

Over this past year, washing hands has taken on a new urgency, reminding us that we are deeply connected to one another. Washing our hands and wearing masks are acts of love and service and contribute toward the healing and wholeness of the community. As you wash your hands in preparation for your meal tonight, remember Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and his command: “you also should do as I have done to you.”

Before washing your hands, read John 13:1-17, 31b-35

A Prayer for Handwashing
Creator God, you fashioned us with love and care, shaping and forming our frail and holy bodies. Your hands held the suffering, the lonely, those who were hungry and cried out for healing; your hands bore the wounds of violence inflicted by those in power. As I wash my hands this day, show me how my body, my mind, and my care might be offered to heal, love, and serve my neighbors. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Meal

In the gospel of John, Jesus’ last gathering with his friends is the night he washes their feet and commands them to love one another as he has loved them. In the other three gospels, Jesus’ last gathering with his friends is the Passover meal they share. Below are a series of prayers, readings, and questions for reflection as you make your way through your meal.

Preparation

Read Luke 22:7-13

Consider who has been a part of the meal you are preparing this night: perhaps those in your household, but also many whose names you may never know. Grocers, farm workers, bakers, truck drivers, those who care for livestock, ranchers, winemakers – all the way to those who made your plates and silverware. Try to name as many as you can and then offer a prayer.

A Prayer for Preparation
God of the laborers, we remember all whose hard work makes possible the food on our tables. We pray for all whose work is not justly paid, and for all whose work puts them at risk. We remember the fragile earth we share and pray that we might be better stewards of its gifts. Plant in us a gratitude that bears the fruit of justice and equity for all who labor, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

During the Meal
Jesus and his friends gathered for the Passover meal, which includes a re-telling of the bitterness and pain of slavery, the plagues which came before freedom, and God’s determination to liberate the people. God’s people are commanded to tell this story again and again, every year, to connect them to the realities of their history and the promise and presence of God.

Read Luke 22:14-23

Prayer for the Meal

Jesus,
when you had nothing else to give,
you gave yourself.
And as your friends shared and ate,
they were confused and complicit,
just like all of us.
May we give – our lives and our confusions,
our hollowness and our hearts –
because when we give like this
we are like you,
who became like us.
Amen.

Questions for Reflection
The Passover meal is a joyful celebration, and Jesus and his friends probably enjoyed joyful moments as they ate. They were also aware of increasing threats to Jesus’ life, and perhaps to theirs; they probably had a lot of anxious moments as they ate. Jesus spoke about betrayal by one who was at the table with them, and they wondered among themselves who could do this. Joyful, worried, hopeful, anxious, confused and complicit – a lot of emotions at the table.

We come to this Holy Week with our own mix of emotions and experiences. Shaped by a year of pandemic, we might also feel joyful about possibilities for the future; worried about the virus’ ability to change and adapt; hopeful about connecting to others again; anxious about how to do that; confused and complicit as we look honestly at the wounds of the world. A lot of emotions at our table.

The stories of this night invite us to recognize our mix of emotions. To confess when we are part of the problems in front of us. To place our fragile hopes before God with trust and joy. To ask ourselves when we have betrayed others. To look for things in this world that threaten life. As you hear these stories, listen for where you feel connected, challenged, or comforted. Reflect on your own, or with others at your table, with these questions or your own.

How have meals changed for you over the last year?
Where and when have you experienced joy?
How has grief or loss been a part of your year?
What are you looking forward to?
What makes you anxious?
How have you shown love to others this year?
What have you learned about yourself, others, or the world?
Where do you see deep wounds in this world?

After the Meal

A traditional Maundy Thursday worship service ends with stripping the altar in preparation for Good Friday. Items are removed in silence as the lights are dimmed. We remember how Jesus was mocked, stripped, and beaten as part of his trial – as all too many have been treated and humiliated by unjust powers. As you clear your table tonight, remember how we still use unjust power to harm, humiliate, and kill. Remember in prayer those who are imprisoned. Remember those fleeing violence. Remember that God has called us to love as we have been loved.

Read Psalm 22

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you shared peace
around a table of anxiety:
Peace with the bread, peace with the wine,
peace in the face of the uncertain,
peace in the place of pain.
May we share tables of peace
in places of pain,
sharing food and friendship
and words and life,
because you came to a fearful world
and found your place
around those tables.
Amen.