A Musical Meditation for Maundy Thursday -
using the music of Michael Card and art from the Methodist Modern Art Collection
Introduction:
Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American, Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. Through his music, he invites us to hear, again, familiar Bible stories and to think about them in new ways. He uses different styles of music drawing on Gospel, Jazz and Contemporary Christian traditions.
This meditation for Maundy Thursday will use Michael’s music, intertwined with Scripture readings and opportunities for prayer.
The songs can be found by following the Youtube links or on Spotify as a playlist by following the link below -
“Not that kind of king.” - https://youtu.be/GyHOTvcsWwo We begin by looking back to Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with Michael’s Song that reminds us that Jesus never intended to be a conquering emperor.
Reading: Mark 14:12-16 - Jesus’ disciples prepare for Passover
Prayer
God our Father,
as we watch, wait and walk with your Son
in the upper room, at the table and in the garden,
be with us, even though we cannot be with each other.
Feed us on your word,
comfort us with your presence
and help us as we pray,
we ask this in Jesus’ name,
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen
Reading: John 13:1-17 - Jesus’ Washes His Disciples’ Feet
Song - The Basin and Towel - https://youtu.be/cxsPnNvRrQM
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| Ghislaine Howard - The Washing of the Feet (c) TMCP |
In this song, Michael tells the story of Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet. He focuses on the way in which communities are built when we become willing both to serve others and to allow them to serve us. He sums up the challenge to all of us to be both available and vulnerable in the line:
“When one will kneel and one will yield.”
A community of service is built when we give up our independence and acknowledge our interdependence recognising, in the words of John Donne that “no man is an island entire of itself.”
Even on this Maundy Thursday, when we are unable to gather at a table and take part in the Meal of Remembrance that Jesus gave us, we are nevertheless a community, built and strengthened by our mutual love, concern and service of each other.
Reading: Matthew 26:20-30 - Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper
Song - Come to the Table - https://youtu.be/9txi01Ht2mA
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| Jacques Iselin - The Elements of Holy Communion (c) TMCP |
And here at the table sit those who have loved you
One is a traitor and one will deny
And He's lived His life for them all
And for all be crucified
We are reminded that the community of Jesus’ disciples was not a perfect community.
When we gather at the table and share bread and wine, it is not a token of our worthiness or a reward for our faithfulness. It is a reminder that God meets our frailty and failure with love, grace and mercy.
The prayer of access reminds us:
“We come to your table, trusting in your mercy and not in any goodness of our own.”
The willingness to be formed into a community at Christ’s table is not without risk. We are all human with our own fragility and failings. In our Church community, just as among Jesus’ disciples, there may be times when we feel that others have betrayed our trust or have denied us those things we needed. Yet at the table, we are invited to give and receive forgiveness, to lay down our failures and our disappointments and to receive Christ’s healing.
Today, we cannot physically take bread and wine, but as we ponder them, we can still know the spiritual benefits of “the bread of forgiveness, the wine of release”
The interdependent community of Christ’s people is built on Jesus’ grace and forgiveness and our willingness to receive them. We become bound together as we seek and give forgiveness as Jesus taught us in the prayer he gave us.
The Lord’s Prayer
Reading: Matthew 26:36-50 Judas betrays Jesus
Song - Why? https://youtu.be/kFGXW3kJ3as
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| John Muafangejo - Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord Jesus for R3.00 (c) TMCP |
Ultimately, the song suggests, the answers to our questions about the extent to which Jesus suffered lie not in understanding the depths of human capability for wrongdoing, but in grasping the depths of God’s love demonstrated in Jesus. Charles Wesley expresses a similar thought in “And Can it Be:”
‘Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the first-born seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
let angel minds enquire no more.
Let us pray.
Father, on this night, the night on which he was betrayed, your Son Jesus Christ washed his disciples’ feet and said that they ought to wash one another’s feet.
We commit ourselves to follow his example of love and service.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, humble us.
On this night, Jesus prayed for his disciples to be one.
We pray for the unity of your Church . . .
Lord, hear us.
Lord, unite us.
On this night, Jesus prayed for those who were to believe in him.
We pray for the mission of your Church . . .
Lord, hear us.
Lord, renew our zeal.
On this night, Jesus commanded his disciples to love, but suffered rejection himself.
We pray for those who are rejected and unloved . . .
Lord, hear us.
Lord, fill us with your love.
On this night, Jesus reminded his disciples that if the world hated them it first hated him.
We pray for those who are persecuted for their faith . . .
Lord, hear us.
Lord, increase our faith.
Reading: Philippians 2:5-8
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| Beyer - The Son of Man is Come (c) TMCP |
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