Maundy Thursday

April 14, 2022

Scripture 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.

The Lord’s Supper seems a necessity of life for me as sharing in it with other Christ-followers whether in person or online restores my soul. We live in a complex and sometimes frightening world that Jesus, the Christ, left us to make new with his guidance and in his name. Indeed, he did not leave us alone surrounding us with the Holy Spirit in all phases of our lives and with comfort and awakenings as we interact with the Lord in our spiritual disciplines. Since COVID, my church has been using prepackaged communion cups filled with grape juice covered in foil with a small disk of bread on top covered with plastic. The challenge of accessing the elements in them is a new experience each Sunday but I have noticed that most people work hard to break the seals so they can once again eat the bread and drink the cup to remember who we serve and why.

Prayer: Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether

 Draw us in the Spirit’s tether,
  for when humbly in your name
 two or three are met together,
you are in the midst of them.
        Alleluia! Alleluia!
Touch we now your garment’s hem

As disciples used to gather
in the name of Christ to sup,
then with thanks to God the giver
break the bread and bless the cup,
        Alleluia! Alleluia!
so now bind our friendship up*.  Amen.

*First two verses of the Hymn Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether by Percy Dearmer see at https://charlesghose.com/2020/05/23/draw-us-in-the-spirits-tether/

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.