Maundy Thursday - April 9, 2020 - Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Atlanta GA USA by redeemeratl

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MAUNDY THURSDAY

MAUNDY THURSDAY Maundy Thursday technically brings an end to our Lenten observance and penitence. “Maundy” means literally “commandment,” as in “Do this for the remembrance of me,” “You must also wash one another’s feet,” and “Love one another.” In addition to word proclaimed (nearer the beginning than usual), there are historically important observances at this service in which the congregation is invited to come forward. The first is the once-a-year opportunity for individual absolution. This is particularly poignant since Lent began on Ash Wednesday with an extended confession of sin, but instead of absolution, we received ashes with the reminder that we are but dust. The penitential observance of withholding the priestly absolution during Lent ends on Maundy Thursday with the opportunity for each individual to receive the words, “In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.” The second liturgical opportunity is the washing of feet, still observed in many traditions and revived as an option in our Evangelical Lutheran Worship book. We currently do not observe this at Redeemer, but it is a humbling reminder of serving and of being served. At the end of the evening Maundy Thursday service, the altar and chancel are stripped bare in preparation for the darkness and grief of Good Friday.

MAUNDY THURSDAY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APRIL 9, 2020 The Order of Worship at 7 pm Livestreamed CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS Friends in Christ, in this Lenten season we have heard our Lord's call to struggle against sin, death, and the devilâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were called at baptism. We have shared this discipline of Lent with new brothers and sisters in Christ who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Within the community of the church, God never wearies of forgiving sin and giving the peace of reconciliation. On this night let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor, and enter the celebration of the great Three Days reconciled with God and with one another. Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. | Amen Individual absolution will be available via Zoom immediately after the live segment. GREETING The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | And also with you. PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. 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 the 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

Pre-recorded PRELUDE

Meditation on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pange linguaâ&#x20AC;? (Hymn 355)

Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle; tell the triumph far and wide; tell aloud the wondrous story of the cross, the Crucified; tell how Christ, the world's redeemer, vanquished death the day he died.

Leo Sowerby (1895-1968)

Bend your boughs, O tree of glory, your relaxing sinews bend; for a while the ancient rigor that your birth bestowed, suspend; and the Lord of heav'nly beauty gently on your arms extend.

God in mercy saw us fallen, sunk in shame and misery, felled to death in Eden's garden, where in pride we claimed the tree; then another tree was chosen, which the world from death would free.

Faithful cross, true sign of triumph, be for all the noblest tree; none in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit your equal be; symbol of the world's redemption, for your burden makes us free.

Tell how, when at length the fullness of th'appointed time was come, Christ, the Word, was born of woman, left for us the heav'nly home, blazed the path of true obedience, shone as light amidst the gloom.

Unto God be praise and glory; to the Father and the Son, to th'eternal Spirit honor now and evermore be done; praise and glory in the highest, while the timeless ages run. Amen.

Thirty years among us dwelling, Jesus went from Nazareth, destined, dedicated, willing, did his work, and met his death; like a lamb he humbly yielded on the cross his dying breath. READING

Text: Venantius Honorius Fortunatus, 530-609 tr. John Mason Neale, 1818-1866, alt.

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 5

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. READING

I 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. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

SERMON

John 13:34

Pastor Ron Bonner

HYMN 359

Where Charity and Love Prevail

STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR The chancel area is stripped of paraments and appointments in preparation for Good Friday. The altar will be restored at the opening of the Easter Vigil.

Sung by the choir when the cross has been veiled ANTHEM

Lamb of God The Redeemer Choir

Lamb of God, most holy! Who on the cross didst suffer, Patient still and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer; Our sins by thee were taken Or hope had us forsaken: Have mercy on us, O Jesus! Please depart in silence.

Arranged by F. Melius Christiansen