Maundy Thursday Service (April 7, 1977)
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| (tranquil music) | 0:03 | |
| (orchestral music) | 3:15 | |
| (orchestral music) | 5:51 | |
| (piano playing) | 8:13 | |
| (congregation singing) | 11:56 | |
| (piano playing) | 13:16 | |
| (choir singing) | 13:55 | |
| (piano playing) | 15:18 | |
| Speaker 1 | And we're gathered to praise God. | 17:44 |
| We remember that we are the people of God | 17:47 | |
| who have referred our wills to the divine will. | 17:50 | |
| Accepting the power | 17:54 | |
| God offers us now to become new persons in Christ, | 17:55 | |
| let us confess our sin before God and one another. | 18:00 | |
| Let us pray together. | 18:05 | |
| (all) Most merciful God, | 18:08 | |
| we confess that we have sinned against you | 18:10 | |
| in thought word and deed. | 18:13 | |
| We have not loved you with our whole heart. | 18:16 | |
| We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 18:19 | |
| We pray you of your mercy, forgive what we have been, | 18:23 | |
| amend what we are, direct what we shall be, | 18:28 | |
| that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways | 18:33 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 18:39 | |
| (tranquil music) | 18:46 | |
| (choir singing) | 19:10 | |
| Hear the good news, | 25:18 | |
| Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 25:20 | |
| That is God's own proof of His love toward us. | 25:25 | |
| In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 25:29 | |
| (congregation responding) | 25:36 | |
| Amen | 25:42 | |
| Speaker 2 | Listen now, for the word of God, | 25:51 |
| as it is contained in the gospel, | 25:56 | |
| according to Saint Mark out of the 14th chapter. | 25:58 | |
| "As evening fell, He came with the 12 | 26:07 | |
| and as they lay back and ate Jesus said, | 26:12 | |
| "Amen I tell you that one of you will betray me, | 26:17 | |
| the one eating with me." | 26:24 | |
| They started grieving and saying to Him one by one: | 26:27 | |
| 'Surely not I." | 26:31 | |
| He said to them, | 26:35 | |
| "One of the 12, him dipping with me in the common bowl. | 26:36 | |
| For the Son of Man is really going His way, | 26:43 | |
| as was written of Him. | 26:47 | |
| But woe to the man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed. | 26:50 | |
| Better for him if that man were not born. | 26:55 | |
| As they were eating, He took a loaf | 27:01 | |
| and blessing it, He broke and gave it to them and said, | 27:04 | |
| "Take this is my body." | 27:08 | |
| And taking a cup and giving thanks, He gave it to them, | 27:12 | |
| all drank of it. | 27:18 | |
| He said to them, | 27:22 | |
| "This is my blood of the covenant poured out for many. | 27:22 | |
| Amen I tell you | 27:28 | |
| never in any way will I drink of the fruit of the vine, | 27:29 | |
| till that day when I drink it new in the reign of God." | 27:34 | |
| After singing the hymn, | 27:40 | |
| they went out to the Mount of Olives | 27:43 | |
| and Jesus said to them, "All of you will fall. | 27:46 | |
| Since it was written, | 27:51 | |
| I will strike down the shepherd | 27:54 | |
| and the sheep will be scattered. | 27:57 | |
| But after I'm raised, I'll go ahead of you to Galilee" | 28:00 | |
| Peter said to Him, "Even if everybody stumbles, not I" | 28:07 | |
| Jesus said to him, | 28:14 | |
| "Amen I tell you, | 28:17 | |
| you, | 28:20 | |
| today, | 28:21 | |
| tonight | 28:22 | |
| before the cock crows twice, | 28:25 | |
| you'll deny me three times." | 28:28 | |
| But he just kept saying, | 28:33 | |
| "If I must die with you, | 28:34 | |
| no way would I deny you" | 28:36 | |
| All said, "likewise too" | 28:40 | |
| They came to a piece of land whose name was Gethsemane. | 28:45 | |
| And He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray. | 28:50 | |
| He took Peter, James and John with Him | 28:57 | |
| and began to be deeply appalled and harrowed, | 29:01 | |
| so He said to them, | 29:07 | |
| "My soul is anguished to death, | 29:10 | |
| stay here and watch" | 29:14 | |
| Going on a little, He fell on the ground and prayed | 29:17 | |
| that if it were possible, the hour might turn away. | 29:23 | |
| And He said, "Abba, | 29:28 | |
| Father, everything is possible to you, | 29:30 | |
| take this cup from me, | 29:36 | |
| Still, | 29:39 | |
| not what I want, but you" | 29:41 | |
| He came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, | 29:46 | |
| "Simon, why are you sleeping? | 29:50 | |
| Couldn't you watch one hour? | 29:54 | |
| Watch and pray, so you don't come to testing" | 29:59 | |
| Oh, the spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak. | 30:05 | |
| Going off again He prayed saying the same words. | 30:11 | |
| Coming back He found them sleeping, | 30:15 | |
| since their eyes were growing heavy | 30:18 | |
| and they didn't know how to answer Him. | 30:21 | |
| He came the third time and said to them, | 30:26 | |
| "Sleep now | 30:29 | |
| and rest, | 30:31 | |
| it's over. | 30:33 | |
| The hour came. | 30:35 | |
| Look, | 30:38 | |
| the Son of Man is betrayed into sinner's hands. | 30:39 | |
| Get up, | 30:44 | |
| let's go. | 30:46 | |
| Look, | 30:49 | |
| the one who betrays me | 30:50 | |
| is nearing" | 30:53 | |
| Speaker 3 | Dear people of God, | 31:05 |
| on this holy night, | 31:09 | |
| we remember Jesus' last night on this earth. | 31:12 | |
| And we come to celebrate the Last Supper, | 31:17 | |
| Holy Communion, | 31:22 | |
| through which the divine mystery of God's love | 31:25 | |
| works in us in ways | 31:31 | |
| we cannot comprehend. | 31:34 | |
| Every time I read about Jesus in the garden on that night, | 31:38 | |
| before He was crucified, | 31:43 | |
| I identify with those disciples. | 31:47 | |
| Jesus wanted to spend that night | 31:52 | |
| with those who were dear to Him. | 31:55 | |
| He needed their support. | 31:58 | |
| He felt alone, | 32:02 | |
| deserted, | 32:04 | |
| and He asked that they stay awake with Him. | 32:05 | |
| Reynolds Price translation, | 32:09 | |
| which we just heard makes obvious and poignant, | 32:10 | |
| Jesus' sorrow and heaviness | 32:15 | |
| that His disciples could not stay awake | 32:18 | |
| and watch, | 32:23 | |
| but repeatedly went to sleep. | 32:23 | |
| He finally said, "Sleep now | 32:27 | |
| and rest, | 32:30 | |
| it is over" | 32:33 | |
| The response of Jesus' disciples is our response. | 32:35 | |
| We sleep, we promise more than we can give. | 32:41 | |
| We are not sensitive to those who are dear to us. | 32:47 | |
| To the need of our family, | 32:52 | |
| our neighbors, | 32:55 | |
| our roommates, our colleagues, | 32:57 | |
| much less to the need of the stranger | 33:01 | |
| who knocks at our door. | 33:05 | |
| Our spirits are willing, but our bodies are weak. | 33:08 | |
| We are too busy with matters of importance. | 33:13 | |
| And because we know who we are, | 33:18 | |
| because we can identify with the response of the disciples, | 33:21 | |
| we are drawn this night | 33:25 | |
| to come to this table. | 33:29 | |
| We come with hope and expectation | 33:33 | |
| and yearning. | 33:38 | |
| Many years ago, I talked with a minister, | 33:41 | |
| about the absence of any deep meaning | 33:44 | |
| for Holy Communion for me. | 33:47 | |
| The minister did not answer my quest, | 33:50 | |
| but offered me an opportunity to confess | 33:53 | |
| what great sin it must be that would be causing the tears, | 33:56 | |
| which were welling up in my eyes as I talked with him. | 34:00 | |
| What made sense to me, | 34:05 | |
| but was incomprehensible to that minister, | 34:07 | |
| is that those were tears which were welling up, | 34:10 | |
| out of the great yearning for depth, and meaning in my life | 34:13 | |
| and the potential for the depth and meaning | 34:18 | |
| was found and symbolized in the Holy Communion, | 34:22 | |
| with all of its mystery. | 34:27 | |
| Many of us come to this holy night with the same yearning, | 34:31 | |
| recalling our past communions | 34:38 | |
| and remembering this holy season. | 34:41 | |
| Our celebrations of the Christian year, | 34:46 | |
| our memories, our symbols and sacraments, | 34:49 | |
| our stories and our histories are crucial dimensions | 34:53 | |
| of our humanity and our Christian faith. | 34:59 | |
| For our lives need to be rooted | 35:03 | |
| in order for there to be a richness | 35:07 | |
| and depth of meaning in our present, | 35:10 | |
| And for there to be hope for a grace filled future. | 35:13 | |
| That is what we yearn for. | 35:18 | |
| And we cannot as Christians seek our meaning of our lives | 35:23 | |
| solely in the past, solely in the present, | 35:27 | |
| or solely in the future. | 35:31 | |
| Hans Küng in his book, "On Being a Christian", | 35:34 | |
| talks about the danger of a sort of memory, | 35:38 | |
| which ribands people to the past and dims their present | 35:42 | |
| and blocks their future. | 35:47 | |
| He describes it as spending time | 35:50 | |
| dusting paper flowers, | 35:54 | |
| when we could be cultivating real roses. | 35:57 | |
| But Kung sees the Christian faith | 36:02 | |
| as having the power of activating our memories, | 36:06 | |
| so that it becomes, | 36:11 | |
| they become a springboard, | 36:13 | |
| which enables us to take the unmet sleep, | 36:15 | |
| which frees us from being bound to a specific time | 36:20 | |
| or a specific place and enables us to live in the present, | 36:26 | |
| claiming our history and looking | 36:31 | |
| toward our grace filled future. | 36:34 | |
| Such a memory is not one where we dust paper flowers, | 36:39 | |
| but is a our liberating memory. | 36:44 | |
| On this holy night, | 36:48 | |
| we are seeking the liberating memory. | 36:51 | |
| We are the contemporary disciples of Christ | 36:56 | |
| who gather here as did the first disciples around the table | 37:00 | |
| to break bread and to drink wine, | 37:06 | |
| with Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 37:10 | |
| That last supper, that final meal, | 37:14 | |
| was like many of the meals Jesus had with His disciples. | 37:18 | |
| He always blessed the bread and broke it | 37:22 | |
| and gave a piece to every person present, | 37:26 | |
| and likewise with the cup. | 37:29 | |
| That was a part of His Jewish heritage, | 37:32 | |
| a custom many Jewish families participate in today. | 37:35 | |
| But there was a difference between all those other meals, | 37:40 | |
| all those other feast and this last supper. | 37:45 | |
| This difference was in what Jesus said | 37:50 | |
| as He blessed the bread and shared the wine | 37:53 | |
| on this particular night, | 37:57 | |
| which may have been on April the seventh, 30 AD. | 37:59 | |
| On this particular night, He said, | 38:04 | |
| "This my body | 38:07 | |
| soon to be broken, | 38:10 | |
| this my blood | 38:13 | |
| soon to be shed. | 38:16 | |
| Jesus was incorporating His disciples | 38:19 | |
| into His life and suffering. | 38:23 | |
| They were entering the new covenant, | 38:25 | |
| which had been promised them. | 38:28 | |
| He was binding them together, | 38:30 | |
| He was founding the church, | 38:33 | |
| even though they did not comprehend what was happening. | 38:36 | |
| We His contemporary disciples | 38:41 | |
| identify with those disciples of old. | 38:44 | |
| We know that we too are weak and fall away, | 38:47 | |
| we yearn for the depths of God's love and for meaning | 38:52 | |
| which the holy meal offered to the early church | 38:57 | |
| and to our fore-parents. | 39:01 | |
| And so we are called on this night, | 39:04 | |
| as a community and as persons | 39:09 | |
| to share in His body, broken, | 39:12 | |
| to share and His blood, spilled, | 39:16 | |
| to have our covenant renewed again, | 39:21 | |
| to be reconstituted as the church. | 39:25 | |
| The invitation to come to this table is to all, | 39:30 | |
| to you who are anxious and burdened | 39:36 | |
| by too many demands and too much to do, | 39:40 | |
| By you who are lonely and bereaved, | 39:45 | |
| To you whose faith is weak and whose hope is dim, | 39:51 | |
| And to you whose life is joyous | 39:58 | |
| and whose life is full and rich. | 40:01 | |
| It is an invitation to bring to this table, | 40:05 | |
| your shattered dreams and your new hope, | 40:08 | |
| your broken lives and those tender new shoots of life, | 40:14 | |
| which are new beginnings. | 40:19 | |
| It is an invitation for you | 40:22 | |
| to join the company of God's people | 40:24 | |
| and gather around this holy table | 40:27 | |
| with the promise that God will be present | 40:30 | |
| in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine. | 40:35 | |
| And we know that because we meet God, | 40:41 | |
| in the midst of our hurt and brokenness, | 40:45 | |
| as well as in our joy and exaltation. | 40:48 | |
| Because we meet God | 40:52 | |
| in the very ordinary things of this world, bread and wine, | 40:53 | |
| we can also meet God in our ordinary lives, | 40:59 | |
| when we leave this place | 41:04 | |
| and the places we find ourselves each day. | 41:06 | |
| We believe, we know that we will be sustained by God's love | 41:11 | |
| the same love which sustained Jesus during that last night, | 41:18 | |
| when He was deserted by all, | 41:23 | |
| even through His death. | 41:27 | |
| We have come on this holy night | 41:30 | |
| to remember Jesus' last night on earth | 41:35 | |
| and to participate again in this Last Supper, | 41:38 | |
| through which the divine mystery of God's love works in us | 41:45 | |
| in ways we accept and for which we give thanks, | 41:51 | |
| but which we can never fully comprehend. | 41:56 | |
| Dear people of God, what wondrous love is this, | 42:01 | |
| which is offered to us, | 42:07 | |
| in the name of God who creates us, and redeems us | 42:10 | |
| and sustains us, | 42:15 | |
| Amen. | 42:18 | |
| Speaker 4 | Would you join with me now | 42:29 |
| as we offer a prayer for others. | 42:30 | |
| God in this moment we remember those | 42:36 | |
| who claim the name of Jesus Christ, | 42:38 | |
| who were a part of the Holy Church, Universal. | 42:41 | |
| We ask your blessing upon each one. | 42:46 | |
| We ask your blessing upon us all, oh God, | 42:50 | |
| may we ever be mindful of who we are, | 42:55 | |
| as well as whose we are. | 42:59 | |
| And may our allegiance to Christ | 43:03 | |
| determine the love which we receive | 43:06 | |
| and the love which we share. | 43:10 | |
| God, we pray now for those who lead | 43:14 | |
| the nations of this earth, | 43:17 | |
| surely in times of confusion and distrust, | 43:20 | |
| and envy and jealousy, | 43:25 | |
| in times when perhaps not even the leaders themselves | 43:28 | |
| know what they want, nor what is best for us all, | 43:32 | |
| we pray that your wisdom might guide their minds | 43:37 | |
| even though they may be unaware. | 43:41 | |
| Oh God we pray now for all peoples in need. | 43:45 | |
| For those who suffer from hunger and malnutrition, | 43:52 | |
| from loneliness and weariness, | 43:56 | |
| from sickness and hopelessness. | 43:59 | |
| For those oh God who need your healing hand | 44:02 | |
| to touch their lives. | 44:06 | |
| And oh, God help us, that we who do claim the name of Christ | 44:10 | |
| might not offer to you any prayer, | 44:15 | |
| which we are not willing to help fulfill. | 44:17 | |
| So may we now be mindful of those who are hungry, | 44:21 | |
| in prison, sick, lonely. | 44:25 | |
| Those who are oppressed, | 44:30 | |
| those oh God who need to be ministered unto. | 44:33 | |
| Bless, oh Lord, | 44:40 | |
| your peoples up on this earth, | 44:43 | |
| Amen. | 44:49 | |
| Christ our Lord invites to His table all who love Him | 44:53 | |
| and who desire to live in peace | 45:00 | |
| and in love with one another. | 45:03 | |
| May the peace of the Lord be with you always. | 45:06 | |
| (congregation responding) | 45:12 | |
| Now as forgiven and reconciled people, | 45:14 | |
| let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 45:18 | |
| May I inform you that the offering, | 45:23 | |
| which we will receive tonight, | 45:26 | |
| will go for a very special purpose. | 45:28 | |
| Two years ago, on this night, we received a special offering | 45:31 | |
| for the postnatal clinic in the hospital, | 45:34 | |
| where children are born, who have parents, | 45:38 | |
| a parent or both parents | 45:42 | |
| who have no money to take care of them. | 45:43 | |
| And they're apparently at times are no funds | 45:47 | |
| to feed them while they're in the hospital | 45:50 | |
| and during the early days when they're at home. | 45:52 | |
| So tonight I would like to let you know | 45:56 | |
| that every penny of which you give, | 46:01 | |
| every penny of which we give, | 46:02 | |
| will go to the postnatal clinic in the Duke Medical Center, | 46:04 | |
| so that some newborn child, | 46:08 | |
| might have strength | 46:11 | |
| through the food which your money will have to buy. | 46:14 | |
| I don't tell you that to ring your hearts | 46:17 | |
| and ask you to pour out your pocket books, | 46:20 | |
| But to say that here in our own place, | 46:23 | |
| is an opportunity for us to care | 46:26 | |
| for those who need our love. | 46:28 | |
| So, let us now give in response to God's love. | 46:30 | |
| (orchestral music playing) | 46:40 | |
| (energetic orchestral music) | 50:52 | |
| The Lord is with you. | 52:56 | |
| (congregation responding) | 52:59 | |
| Lift up your hearts. | 53:00 | |
| (congregation responding) | 53:03 | |
| Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 53:04 | |
| (congregation responding) | 53:08 | |
| Oh God, it is right that we should always | 53:11 | |
| and everywhere give you thanks and praise. | 53:14 | |
| We thank you Holy God that you loved the world so much, | 53:18 | |
| that you sent your only son to be our savior. | 53:21 | |
| We remember that on the night | 53:24 | |
| in which he gave Himself up for us, | 53:26 | |
| the Lord Jesus took bread, | 53:29 | |
| after giving you thanks He broke the bread, | 53:32 | |
| gave it to His disciples and said, | 53:35 | |
| "Take, eat. | 53:38 | |
| This is my body which is given for you" | 53:41 | |
| When the supper was over, He took the cup. | 53:44 | |
| Again, He returned thanks to you, | 53:47 | |
| gave the cup to His disciples and said, | 53:49 | |
| "Drink from this all of you. | 53:52 | |
| This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood | 53:55 | |
| poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins. | 53:58 | |
| When we eat this bread and drink this cup, | 54:03 | |
| we experience anew the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 54:06 | |
| and look forward to His coming in final victory. | 54:10 | |
| Help us, Oh God, to know in the breaking of this bread, | 54:15 | |
| the presence of Christ, | 54:20 | |
| who gave His body and blood for all people, even us. | 54:23 | |
| Make us one with Christ, one with each other, | 54:29 | |
| and one in service to all people." | 54:33 | |
| (congregation responding) | 54:38 | |
| Because there is one loaf, we many as we are one body. | 54:41 | |
| For it is one loaf of which we all partake. | 54:47 | |
| When we break the bread, | 54:52 | |
| is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ? | 54:53 | |
| When we give thanks over the cup, | 54:57 | |
| is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ? | 55:00 | |
| (whispering) | 55:11 | |
| (tranquil music playing) | 55:30 | |
| (whispering) | 55:34 | |
| (whispering) | 55:40 | |
| Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. | 1:00:59 | |
| By their fruits you shall know them. | 1:01:06 | |
| You shall know that they are my disciples, | 1:01:11 | |
| if they love one another" | 1:01:13 | |
| Dear friends in Christ, as God in Christ loves you, | 1:01:17 | |
| may you love one another | 1:01:25 | |
| Amen | 1:01:29 | |
| (tranquil music) | 1:01:31 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:04:31 | |
| (piano playing) | 1:08:08 | |
| (choir playing) | 1:08:42 | |
| Jesus said I have come that you might have life | 1:09:31 | |
| and have life abundantly. | 1:09:35 | |
| Dear friends in Christ, | 1:09:39 | |
| as our Lord has given to us the abundant life | 1:09:41 | |
| by giving us His all, | 1:09:45 | |
| wll you receive now the love, | 1:09:49 | |
| which God offers to you in this moment, | 1:09:50 | |
| and will you go from this place to share that love, | 1:09:54 | |
| in the name and in the spirit of Christ, | 1:09:59 | |
| Amen. | 1:10:03 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:10:04 | |
| (tranquil music) | 1:12:08 | |
| For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, | 1:13:02 | |
| that whoever believes in Him should not perish, | 1:13:09 | |
| but have eternal life. | 1:13:15 | |
| Dear friends in Christ, as you, as we all, | 1:13:18 | |
| have this night received the life of Christ, | 1:13:23 | |
| even His body and His blood. | 1:13:26 | |
| Will you go now in the peace of God, | 1:13:31 | |
| to share that love with others, | 1:13:36 | |
| Amen. | 1:13:42 | |
| Let us join together now | 1:14:52 | |
| in this responsive prayer of commitment. | 1:14:53 | |
| You have given yourself to us, oh Lord. | 1:14:57 | |
| (congregation responding) | 1:15:02 | |
| Your love has made us a new people. | 1:15:04 | |
| (congregation responding) | 1:15:08 | |
| Your glory has filled our hearts. | 1:15:11 | |
| (congregation responding) | 1:15:15 | |
| Amen. | 1:15:18 | |
| Will you stand please. | 1:15:19 | |
| With whatever word you feel appropriate | 1:15:24 | |
| to greet the person beside you or across the aisle from you, | 1:15:26 | |
| or when you get back to the dorm or wherever you're going, | 1:15:31 | |
| even someone there, | 1:15:34 | |
| I invite you now to offer a kiss of peace | 1:15:36 | |
| and it may indeed be that, | 1:15:41 | |
| or it may be simply a symbol of the kiss of peace. | 1:15:43 | |
| As we exchange with one another and with others, the love, | 1:15:47 | |
| which God has given to us. | 1:15:51 | |
| (orchestral music begins) | 1:16:46 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:18:10 | |
| Go out in peace to serve God and your neighbor | 1:20:52 | |
| in all that you do. | 1:20:55 | |
| (congregation responding) | 1:20:58 | |
| The blessings of almighty God, creator, | 1:21:00 | |
| redeemer, sustainer, | 1:21:05 | |
| is with you always. | 1:21:08 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:13 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:16 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:21 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:26 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:34 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:21:45 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:22:00 | |
| (orchestral music) | 1:22:23 |