You Have Loosed My Bonds

Maundy Thursday worship tends to be heavy, somber, and quiet. We aren’t necessarily recommending you throw a raucous party here, but we are suggesting that might focus on the resolution of the Savior instead. Jesus, whether you are reading the John text or the Luke one, has his face set toward Jerusalem. This doesn’t diminish the prayer in the garden where, for the last time, Jesus asks for the cup to pass from him, but emphasizes the end of that prayer, “nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”

It is that word nevertheless that needs to carry the worship this day. Whether we want to emphasize the call to humble service and engage in some form of foot washing or gather around the Table and hear the words of institution as we catch a glimpse of the preciousness of the sacrament, both carry the act of will of the one who came to love us in person and redeem our lives. We kneel in awe, first of all, amazed at the love that would bring him to his knees before us for cleansing and claiming. We kneel, amazed at the gift he wanted to give that the common elements of bread and wine now become signs and symbols of his eternal presence and transforming love.

Following the awe is a resolution, once again, to love like that. To serve like that. To give of ourselves, to sacrifice like that. As the traditional prayer after Communion states:

“We give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others.”

“A Service of Word and Table I,” United Methodist Hymnal, 11

When we rise from the Table or from washing feet, we rise to a life of Spirit-directed service. We know that such a life will gather others, and together we will go to this brand-new home. Our playlist song, “Stand Up,” may seem unusual for Maundy Thursday, but it conveys something of the essence of this day, this call to walk with Christ to a new reality, a new hope. There are difficult days ahead, we know that. But we also walk because we can hear freedom calling.

PLAYLIST SONG

"Stand Up" by Cynthia Erivo

At the center of Maundy Thursday is a mandate, or a command, to love one another as Christ has loved us. “Stand Up” by Cynthia Erivo may seem unusual for Maundy Thursday, but at its core, it is a call to live into this new reality and to embody hope, care, and love with one another. Difficult days lie ahead, but God's steadfast love frees us to move forward toward life together in Christ. As you listen to this powerful song, consider: “How does the command to love one another as Christ has loved us set you free?”