April 9, 2020
Live-streamed from Bethany Lutheran Church in Lyons, NE
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As you prepare to worship, we encourage you to prepare a worship space in your home: a basin of water for washing your hands, perhaps some bread, a candle to be extinguished at the end as the altar is stripped.
PRELUDE
WELCOME
God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace we have been saved. Our sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ. Almighty God strengthen us with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in our hearts through faith.
Amen.
Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
FIRST READING: Exodus 12:1–14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the Lord, who has heard my voice, and listened to my supplication,
for the Lord has given ear to me whenever I called.
How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things God has done for me?
I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all God’s people.
Precious in your sight, O Lord, is the death of your servants.
O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.
I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all God’s people,
in the courts of the Lord ‘s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Word of God, word of life
Thanks be to God.
The holy gospel according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL: John 13:1–17, 31b–35
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. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 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.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
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? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 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.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ
REFLECTION
HAND WASHING HYMN: ELW 642, Where True Charity and Love Abide (repeated)
Where true charity and love abide, God is dwelling there; God is dwelling there.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
United with Christians around the globe on this Maundy Thursday, let us pray for the church, the earth, our troubled world, and all in need, responding to each petition with the words, “Your mercy is great.”
A brief silence.
Blessed are you, holy God, for the church. Gather all the baptized around your presence in the Word. Strengthen the body of your people even when we cannot assemble for worship. Grant bishops, pastors, deacons, musicians, and all worship leaders faithfulness and creativity for their ministry in this time, and accompany those preparing for baptism. Hear us, holy God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, bountiful God, for this good earth and for the flowering of springtime. Save dry lands from destructive droughts. Protect the waters from pollution. Allow in this time the planting of fields for food. Make us into care-givers of your plants and animals. Hear us, bountiful God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, sovereign God, for our nation. Inspire all people to live in peace and concord. Grant wisdom and courage to heads of state and to legislators as they face the coronavirus. Lead our elected officials to champion the cause of the needy. Hear us, sovereign God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, faithful God, for you accompany suffering humanity with love. Abide wherever the coronavirus has struck. Visit all who mourn their dead; all who have contracted the virus; those who are quarantined or stranded away from home; those who have lost their employment; those who fear the present and the future. Support physicians, nurses, and home health aides; medical researchers; and the World Health Organization. Hear us, faithful God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, gracious God, for you care for the needy. We beg you to feed the hungry, protect the refugee, embrace the distressed, house the homeless, nurse the sick, and comfort the dying (especially). Hear us, gracious God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, loving God, that your Son knelt before us, your unworthy servants. Preserve our lives, comfort our anxiety, and receive now the petitions of our hearts. All may lift up prayer petitions, silently or aloud.
Hear us, loving God.
Your mercy is great.
Blessed are you, eternal God, for all who have died in the faith, especially the martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom we commemorate today, and those whom we name before you, silently or aloud. At the end, bring us with them into your everlasting glory. Hear us, eternal God.
Your mercy is great.
Receive, merciful God, our prayers, for the sake of Jesus Christ, the host of our meal of life, who died and rose that we might live with you, now and forever.
Amen.
OFFERING
HYMN: ELW 360, Love Consecrates the Humblest Act
Love consecrates the humblest act and haloes mercy’s deeds; it sheds a benediction sweet and hallows human needs. When in the shadow of the cross Christ knelt and washed the feet of his disciples, he gave us a sign of love complete. Love serves and willing stoops to serve; what Christ in love so true has freely done for one and all, let us now gladly do!
STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR
As we listen to the words of this psalm of lament, the worship space is stripped of all its adornments, just as Christ was stripped and beaten and mocked. The supper is ended; we remember how Christ was handed over to be arrested and executed. This service ends in silence and darkness, as all hastily leave this space.
PSALM 88
O Lord, my God, my Savior,
by day and night I cry to you.
Let my prayer enter into your presence;
incline your ear to my lamentation.
For I am full of trouble;
my life is at the brink of the grave.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I have become like one who has no strength;
lost among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have laid me in the depths of the pit,
in dark places, and in the abyss.
Your anger weighs upon me heavily,
and all your great waves overwhelm me.
You have put my friends far from me;
you have made me to be abhorred by them;
I am in prison and cannot get free.
My sight has failed me because of trouble;
Lord, I have called upon you daily;
I have stretched out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Will those who have died stand up and give you thanks?
Will your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in the land of destruction?
Will your wonders be known in the dark
or your righteousness in the country where all is forgotten?
But as for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Lord, why have you rejected me?
Why have you hidden your face from me?
Ever since my youth, I have been wretched and at the point of death;
I have borne your terrors and am helpless.
Your blazing anger has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me;
they surround me all day long like a flood;
they encompass me on every side.
My friend and my neighbor you have put away from me,
and darkness is my only companion.
Worship Leaders:
Pastor Heidi Wallace (Bethany Lutheran & First Presbyterian, Lyons)
Deacon Timothy Siburg (Nebraska Synod staff; Salem Lutheran, Fontanelle)
Pastor Allison Siburg (Salem Lutheran, Fontanelle)
Pastor Day Hefner (St. John’s Lutheran, Schuyler)
St. John's Lutheran Church 