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Maundy Thursday Worship: A Service of Anointing

———— The Miracle ————

GREETING

PRELUDE

OPENING
Leader: As children of God our Creator we come together.
All: Upon the invitation of Christ we gather at this table.
In the power of the Holy Spirit we who have been served by love
are led to serve in love.
Holy One, Holy Three, bless us this night with your love;
anoint us with your grace, that your joy may be in us,
and our joy may be complete.

SONG

SCRIPTURE — John 11.17-27, 43-44*

John 12.1
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

SCRIPTURE — Romans 6.1-11

RESPONSE
All of our failure, O Christ, you bear,
you bear with love to the cross.
All of our losses, O Christ, you bear,
you bear with love to the cross.
Our world-weary clinging we surrender to you.
Our old lives we commit to you.
We die in you, O Christ;
raise us from our death.
Call us, with Lazarus, to new life.
Raise us with you, O Christ.

SILENT MEDITATION

PRAYERS … THE PEACE

THE OFFERING

SONG

———— The meal ————

John 12.2
There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served,
and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.

SCRIPTURE — Mark 14.22-25

RESPONSE
God of love, we hunger for your love.
In this meal we are fed by your promise to be with us in love.
You set us free, and bless us, body and soul.
You make of us one flesh, the Body of Christ for the world.
Fill us with your Spirit, that we may live by the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

SILENT MEDITATION

PRAYER
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
baptized into his death and raised with him by your glory.SHARING THE MEAL

SONG

———— The anointing ————

John 12.3
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,
anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

SCRIPTURE — John 13.3-11

RESPONSE
O Christ, you bear the suffering of the world.
Help us join you in compassion.
You died in loving service to even the lowest among us.
Give us the faith to serve you humbly.
As you took the lowest place,
help us find our place of service.
Anoint us with the oil of your gladness.
Anoint us with the oil of healing.
Anoint us with your Spirit, who calls us to serve.
May we receive and share the love of Christ.

SILENT MEDITATION

THE ANOINTING
[You may receive anointing of your head, hands or feet. (For anointing feet, if you keep your shoes on, a few drops of water will be used.) You may remain to anoint another. Pray for those who come forward to be anointed.]SONG

——— The charge ———

John 12.4-8
Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,
“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii
and the money given to the poor?”
Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me

SCRIPTURE — John 13.12-17, 34-35

CLOSING PRAYER
Creator God, you make us new each moment, raising us to new life.
Loving Christ, you have given yourself to us.
Holy Spirit, you have anointed us with your power and your grace.
In humility and gratitude may we go into the world
to love and to serve, in the spirit and the company of Jesus.
Amen.SONG

BLESSING AND SENDING

POSTLUDE

_______________

* Recent scholarship has revealed that “Martha” is a character invented and inserted into the original text in the 2^nd or 3^rd Century. In John’s original gospel it was Mary Magdalene who proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, as well as the one who first witnessed the risen Christ and proclaimed the Resurrection.

By the 2^nd Century male church leaders sough to downplay Mary’s significance in relation to Peter by taking the the Messianic proclamation away from her and giving it to an invented character, Martha, likely lifted from Luke’s story of a Mary who has a sister Martha. In light of this, I read the passage according to John’s original story:

          When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
            … Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. … He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

_________________

Suggested Songs

At Your Feet (original Song)

Jesus, at your feet I bow.
I am yours completely now.
By your mercy show me how
to be loving.

Jesus, Master, you who save,
you have served me as a slave.
This, the perfect gift you gave:
to be loving.

In each hurting one I meet
it is you, O Christ, I greet.
Make my faithfulness complete,
to be loving.

Click here to download this liturgy in a .doc format.

Good Friday Liturgy

INTRODUCTION (Philippians 2. 5-11)

Though Christ was by nature divine,
he did not cling to equality with God,
but emptied himself, took the form of a slave,
and was born as a human.
Lord have mercy.
Appearing in human form,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Christ have mercy.
Therefore God has highly exalted him,
and given him the name above all others,
that every knee should bend, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Giver of Life.
Lord have mercy, and grant us your peace.

KYRIE

PRAYER
Jesus, you carried our sins and sorrows in your own body on the cross so that we might have life. God, look with mercy upon your beloved people, for whom Christ was willing to suffer. Look upon us with mercy, that by your grace we, and all who remember this day, may find forgiveness, liberation from our sin, and new life in you, that we may walk in your ways, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to your eternal glory. Amen.
SILENT PRAYER

FIRST GOSPEL READING John 18: 1-27
SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYER
God of Truth, keep always in our minds your love for us, and our love for you. Deliver us from our fear of speaking out for justice and standing with those who are oppressed. Forgive us for tolerating injustice and wrong. Give us the strength to confront evil and to proclaim your grace, in the spirit of Christ. Amen.

HYMN

OLD TESTAMENT      (Isaiah 52:13 — 53:12)
My servant, you shall prosper;
        you shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at you—
        so marred was your appearance, beyond human semblance,
        and your form beyond that of mortals—
so you shall startle many nations;
        rulers shall shut their mouths because of you;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
        and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who would have believed what you have just heard?
        And to whom has the arm of the Holy One been revealed?
For you grew up before God like a young plant,
        and like a root out of dry ground;
you had no form or majesty to impress us,
        nothing in your appearance that we should desire you.

You were despised and rejected;
        one who knew suffering and was familiar with pain;
people despised you and looked away,
        and considered you worthless.

Surely you have borne our weakness and carried our diseases.
We thought you were being stricken by God,
        punished and humiliated—
but you suffered because of our sins,
        and were wounded by the evil we have done.
You were punished, and yet we are made whole;
        for in your suffering we find healing.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
        we have all turned to our own way;
        in you God has exposed our violence.

SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

You were oppressed, and afflicted,
        yet you did not open your mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
        and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
        so you did not open your mouth.
By a perversion of justice you were taken away.
        Who could have imagined your future?
For you were cut off from the land of the living,
        and suffered what was not yours to suffer.

They made your grave with the wicked
        buried you with the rich,
although you had done no violence,
        and had only spoken the truth.

Though you were crushed with pain, yet God believed in you,
        and healed you, whom we made an offering for sin.
You shall see your offspring,
        and shall prolong your days;
        through you God’s will shall prosper.

Out of your anguish you shall see light;
        and knowing the truth, you will find peace.
You, God’s righteous servant,
        shall make many righteous,
        and you shall bear their sins.

Therefore God will allot you a portion with the great,
        and you shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because you poured yourself out to death,
        and were numbered with the transgressors.
You bore the sin of many,
        yet forgave the transgressors.

SONG

NEW TESTAMENT (Hebrews 10: 16-25)

RESPONSE     [Kyrie, Song, Choir or instrumental piece]

SECOND GOSPEL READING (John 18:28 — 19:16)
SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYER
God of mercy, deliver us from our fear in which we judge others. We pray for all who are oppressed, imprisoned, persecuted or rejected. To you who have delivered us from slavery we pray for the faith and courage to work for justice and the freedom of your children, and to proclaim the good news of your grace. Amen.
RESPONSE    [Kyrie, Song, Choir or instrumental piece]

THIRD GOSPEL READING (John 19: 17-30)

PSALTER — Psalm 22

FOURTH GOSPEL READING (John 19: 31-42)
SILENT REFLECTION

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
Have mercy on us.
O Christ, in your humility, your lonely struggle and your agony,
you share our suffering. Give us faith to trust your grace.
In your weakness, rejection and humiliation, your crown of
thorns, your bitter death and your resting in the grave,
you accompany those who suffer, who are in sorrow or who are alone, who face death or who know injustice.
In your steadfast love and forgiveness,
receive our sins, set us free, and grant us peace.
In your kindness in the face of evil,
give us trust in the power of love.
By the mystery of your grace in the face of violence,
show us your way, God. Put to death all that is evil in us, that we may never judge, blame or harm your children; that we may resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves; that we may bear your love to the world. Grant that we may die with Christ; and raise us to new life. Into your hands we commit our spirit.
We pray for your holy Church, the Body of Christ. Impart to us the Spirit of gentleness and peace, the Spirit of compassion and forgiveness, the Spirit of justice and freedom for all. By the grace of the crucified Christ, may we learn your way of love.
God, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. God, have mercy.

SILENT PRAYERS … THE LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN

THE SEVEN LAST WORDS

SILENT REFLECTION

You may remain as long as you wish, in silent prayer.

Click here to download this liturgy in a .doc format.

Good Friday Liturgy

INTRODUCTION (Philippians 2. 5-11)

Though Christ was by nature divine,
Christ did not cling to equality with God,
but in utter self-emptying, took the form of a slave,
and was born as a human.
God have mercy.
Appearing in human form,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Christ have mercy.
Therefore God has highly exalted Christ,
with a name above all others,
that every knee should bend, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ reigns supreme, to the glory of God the Giver of Life.
God have mercy, and grant us your peace.
SONG

PRAYER
Jesus, you carried our sins in your own body on the cross so that we might have life. God, look with mercy upon your beloved people, for whom Christ was willing to suffer. By your grace may we, and all who remember this day, find forgiveness, liberation from our sin, and new life in you, that we may walk in your ways, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to your eternal glory. Amen.
SILENT PRAYER

OLD TESTAMENT (Isaiah 52.13 – 53.12)
My servant, you shall prosper;
        you shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at you—
      so marred was your appearance, beyond human semblance,
      and your form beyond that of mortals—
so you shall startle many nations;
      rulers shall shut their mouths because of you;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
      and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who would have believed what you have just heard?
      And to whom has the arm of the Holy One been revealed?
For you grew up before God like a young plant,
      and like a root out of dry ground;
you had no form or majesty to impress us,
      nothing in your appearance that we should desire you.

You were despised and rejected;
      one who knew suffering and was familiar with pain;
people despised you and looked away,
      and considered you worthless.

Surely you have borne our weakness and carried our diseases.
We thought you were being stricken by God,
      punished and humiliated—
but you suffered because of our sins,
      and were wounded by the evil we have done.
You were punished, and yet we are made whole;
      for in your suffering we find healing.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
      we have all turned to our own way;
      in you God has exposed our violence.

SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

You were oppressed, and afflicted,
      yet you did not open your mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
      and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
      so you did not open your mouth.
By a perversion of justice you were taken away.
      Who could have imagined your future?
For you were cut off from the land of the living,
      and suffered what was not yours to suffer.

They made your grave with the wicked
      buried you with the rich,
although you had done no violence,
      and had only spoken the truth.

Though you were crushed with pain, yet God believed in you,
      and healed you, whom we made an offering for sin.
You shall see your offspring,
      and shall prolong your days;
      through you God’s will shall prosper.

Out of your anguish you shall see light;
      and knowing the truth, you will find peace.
You, God’s righteous servant,
      shall make many righteous,
      and you shall bear their sins.

Therefore God will allot you a portion with the great,
      and you shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because you poured yourself out to death,
      and were numbered with the transgressors.
You bore the sin of many,
      yet forgave the transgressors.

KYRIE

GOSPEL READING (from John 18.27-19.42)

SONG

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS (“Lord’s Prayer”)

MEDITATION ON THE SEVEN LAST WORDS

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
PRAYER
God of truth, we are not aware of our evil or conscious of how we hurt others. Awaken us, O God, that we may be mindful of our sin. Open the eyes of our hearts, that we may see ourselves with loving clarity, as you see us—and repent. God, have mercy.
SILENCE

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”
PRAYER
Holy One, you promise us a realm of mercy and justice, yet we thwart it by our judgment and injustice. Heal us and all the world, that we may truly enter into the Empire of your love that you have prepared for us. God, have mercy.

“Woman, here is your son. Son, here is your mother.”
PRAYER
Christ our brother, you make us one family in your love. We pray for all our siblings and our kin the world over, for communities, and for mothers who must see their children suffer because of injustice. For the sin of our racism, our divisions and our fears. Forgive us and heal us. God, have mercy.
SILENCE

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
PRAYER
Gentle God, you share our fear and loneliness. You are always present with us and for us. May the Passion of your beloved Son give us help in all our trials, and strength in our human weakness. We pray for all who are lonely, and all who feel unworthy. God, have mercy.
SILENCE

“I am thirsty.”
PRAYER
We pray for the poor and all who are hungry and thirsty in body or soul. We ourselves hunger for your presence and thirst for your grace. We pray for all who suffer, and for those who exercise power in the world. God, have mercy.
SILENCE

“It is finished.”
PRAYER
Eternal One, you have loved us so deeply, so dearly, so wholly. Christ has faithfully embodied your love among us; the light of your love has shone, even in the darkness. You have set us free from the fear of death, so that we may love courageously. May we, the church, the Body of Christ, embody your love and forgiveness, and radiate your light. God, have mercy.
SILENCE

“Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
PRAYER
O Holy, Indwelling One, may we live by your Spirit, the spirit of gentleness and peace, of compassion and healing. Put to death all that is evil in us, and grant that we may die with Christ, that you may raise us to new life. Into your hands we commit our spirit. God, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. God, have mercy.

SILENCE

SONG

BLESSING

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[After each segment of this prayer is a scripture reading, followed by silence. The contents of the scripture readings, in brackets, may be included or omitted from the congregation’s printed materials.]

Eucharistic Prayer

God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God thanks and praise.

Loving God, for your abundant creation that sustains us
and fed multitudes in the wilderness,
for your re-creating us in each breath, we give you thanks.
For your presence with us in this meal,
and your giving of yourself in your very flesh, we give you thanks.
John 6.35
[“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.”]
          Silence…

Holy, whole and infinite One, womb of all that is:
all Creation is glorious with your presence.
We turn to you alone for life.
Blessed is the one who comes in your love.
Ezekiel 34.16
[I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. .]
          Silence…

To your welcoming grace, accepting the sinner and the broken,
and your universal forgiveness and generous healing, we open our hearts.
To your grace that reconciles us with you and with each other,
and unites us even with our enemies as siblings at your table,
we open our hearts.
Luke 15.2
[“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ]
          Silence…

For your invitation to your table,
and the gift of gathering here, we give you thanks.
We pray for all who are not yet free,
who know oppression, servitude, poverty or discrimination,
who are trafficked, abused or imprisoned,
that we may ever be mindful of your yearning for their freedom.
Exodus 3.7-8a
[“I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land.”]
          Silence…

For your mercy upon us in our sin, we give you thanks.
For your mercy upon us whose greed and complacency
contribute to the suffering of others, we humbly thank you.
Luke 19.42
[If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.]
          Silence…

For your covenant in which you claim us as your beloved people,
and for your faithful mercy, we give you thanks.
For your grace in redeeming us in our poverty and slavery,
for saving us from the fear of death and the weight of our sin,
we give you thanks.
John 8.35-36
[The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ]
          Silence…

To the mystery of your call to die and be raised with Christ;
and to your self-giving, in which we receive eternal life, we open our hearts.
To your grace by which we enter into new lives,
and to the love in which we lay down our lives for one another,
we open our hearts.
John 12.24
[I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.]
          Silence…

[The Blessing and Covenant]

Feasting on the food of eternal life, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Remembering Jesus and his love, we offer ourselves with him
to you, for the healing of the world.
John 4.14
[Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.]
          Silence….

For the sake of the true spirit of this meal in solidarity with all who are oppressed,
for the sake of good news for the poor and freedom for those in prison,
pour out your Spirit on us.
For compassion for those who suffer, and strength for the journey ahead,
for courage in the struggle for justice, pour out your Spirit on us.
Isaiah 58.6-8
[Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? ]
          Silence…

For the sake of your Realm of mercy and justice which is to come;
for the sake of the Resurrection Life which you promise,
pour out your Spirit on us. Amen.
John 14.26-27
[The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom God will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.]
          Silence….