Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
April 9, 2020

Maundy Thursday
Worship At Home

(Prepare a place with the least distractions. If possible light a candle or 2 and if you have a cross or crucifix that you can stand or lay on your worship space, you should so do.

If there are two or more people let the leader review this entire Service before attempting to lead it. Let him make notes and highlights as he needs to.

If possible print this Service out on paper for each worshiper, rather than reading it from your device.)

V: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
R: Amen

INROIT

Psalm 116:1–4

V:Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
R: our God is merciful.
V: I love the Lord, because he has heard
R: my voice and my pleas for mercy.
V: Because he inclined his ear to me,
R: therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
V: The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
R: I suffered distress and anguish.
V: Then I called on the name of the Lord:
R: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
V: Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
R; our God is merciful.

ALL: Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us.

COLLECT (READ BY LEADER)

O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

R: Amen

LEADER: The Old Testament lesson is Exodus 24:3-11

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the just decrees. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

V: This is the Word of the Lord.
R: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL

V: Christ entered once for all into the holy places, by means of his own blood,
R: thus securing an eternal redemption.

V: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant,
R: so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

V: He sent redemption to his people;
R: he has commanded his covenant forever.

LEADER: The Epistle lesson is Hebrews 9:11-22

11When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

15Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

V: This is the Word of the Lord.
R: Thanks be to God.

(Rise for the Gospel. Trace the sign of the cross with your thumb over your forehead, lips and heart by which the church prays that the Lord’s gospel may ever be in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts.)

All: Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

V: The Holy Gospel is St. Matthews 26:17–30
R: Glory be to you O Lord.

17Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

20When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray e. 24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

26Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

V: This is the gospel of the Lord.
R: Praise be to you O Christ.

THE NICENE CREED (ALL – REMAIN STANDING)

I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men* and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

LEADER READS THE SERMON (by: Rev. Dean Kavouras)

Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
April 9, 2020
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras

Maundy Thursday
What Comes Next?

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Matthew 26:26-30

In this holy gospel given to us by St. Matthew we learn the blessed events that took place in our Lord’s life immediately prior to his passion. The Lord gave us a Sacrament that night in which the entire Christian religion resides. The forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In short the entire Christ and all his promises and blessings are concentrated in this priceless sacrament.

It is the only form of worship that Jesus left his church. It is called the New Testament not only because it is New, but because it renews the Old Testament. It brings it to life and shows its logical end which is the Christ we encounter in tonight’s gospel and the Sacrament he institutes. For, you see, every Lamb ever slaughtered in the Old Testament for the remission of sins. Every grain offering, wine offering and any other offerings that ever were commanded by God, awaited this one Great Sacrifice and Sacrament.

Think of it as a mystery story where you are given any number of clues along the way but you read right past them. Then at the end, when the plot is revealed, the seemingly unimportant details suddenly are filled with meaning.

When Jesus told the Jews in John 8:56 “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad,” they were outraged, for Abraham had lived and died 1800 years earlier. What could this mean? It means that Abraham and Jesus had met before, a meeting in which Jesus showed Abraham what the future held. Not the sacrifice of Abraham’s own son, that was but a preparatory liturgy. But the sacrifice of God’s Son for the sins of the world, which no angel would stop, and no ram be given to save. Jesus himself would be bound, carry the wood of the sacrifice up the hill as did smiling Isaac, but he would not return like Isaac did. Until the third day, that is.

Once the new has come the previews that were the Old Testament are subsumed by the New Testament. That is why St. Paul taught people that salvation comes now from Christ alone, and that the Old Testament methods of atonement that they had staked their lives on, that were commanded by God … could no longer justify us before God.

This became a serious controversy in the early church that caused great division and the shedding of much Christian blood.

Also being that it is Maundy Thursday let us be reminded that This Cup … IS … the New Testament”. Said another way the celebration of this sacrament constitutes and defines us as Christians.

Why do we say this? Because in our day more than a few Christians think of the Lord’s Supper as an accessory to Christian worship; rather than the essence of Christian worship itself.

But of all the things our Lord says in tonight’s gospel most intriguing is verse 29, “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Most people when hearing that verse assume the Lord is speaking of a the Messianic Banquet that will take place in heaven at the end of the age. And that might be the right interpretation.

But there is another one, a better and truer one. Namely that the Lord would again eat this meal with his disciples upon his resurrection from the dead. And so he did. Many times. And will eat it again in heaven as well, but in a wholly different way than we do it here on earth.

What we hear of tonight might be termed “The First Holy Communion” and so it is. But it was only the first of many. Many!

The second Holy Communion took place on the Road to Emmaus on the evening of the resurrection when Jesus approached two of his followers on the road, and begins to discuss with them on the things that had just occurred.

In that talk he opened the Scripture to them so that they could now understand that what the Old had predicted, namely the suffering and death of the Christ, the New Testament perfected so that all was now accomplished.

As the encounter was closing they urged Jesus to stay the night. St. Luke tells it like this: “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"

Scripture records yet another post-resurrection Holy Communion in John 21 when Jesus calls to his disciples from the shore and prepares a meal of bread and fish for them. It is different than the others. But still a post-resurrection meal with Jesus in the Kingdom of God. John understood what it was when he says to Peter: It is the Lord! And so it was.

And there was yet another post-resurrection, Kingdom of God, Holy Communion when Jesus met the disciples in the upper room, gave them absolution for their unfaithfulness and made them his Eucharistic ministers.

And was a week later when Thomas arrived. Faithful Thomas, that is, not doubting Thomas. He was only willing to believe what Jesus had established, a communion with his own flesh and blood. And Thomas received it that night.

But that isn’t the end of the story either because we read in Acts 1:4 that for the forty days after the resurrection, and before his ascension, he “ate the sacrificial meal with them”. And it was in the context of these daily Eucharistic celebrations that the post-resurrected, pre-ascended Christ “spoke to them about the Kingdom of God” and gave them their final instructions that would be in effect till the end of the age.

What comes next? The entire New Testament era. Jesus still celebrates this meal with us in the church which is the Kingdom of God on earth. Here we still obtain his precious and life-giving flesh, and his death-defying blood. Here we still receive all that the eternal and omnipotent Jesus is and does. Nor will we ever have to worry about shortages because this Sacrament, like the Lord who gave it, is eternal.

God will continue to provide THIS daily bread for us until the end of the age when we the Liturgy of the Sacrament will bloom to a new level.

Then we will no longer need bread or wine, nor Christ’s minister to consecrate it to us. For we will see Jesus with our own clear eyes, and touch him with our newly perfected hands, and hear him with ears sanitized from all the pollution that entered them in the world.

Then Jesus will be the only thing. And “we shall be like him,” says St. John,
“for we shall see him as he is.” There is nothing better than that. And so in the words of the Bernard Cluny Hymn:

Strive, man, to win that glory;
Toil, man, to gain that light;
Send hope before to grasp it,
Till hope be lost in sight.

There is nothing greater to live for. There is nothing greater to die for. Amen.

(A Note from Pastor Kavouras: Be at peace, we will soon gather about the Lord’s high and holy altar together with shouts of great joy.)

(Pause for a moment of silent prayer.)

PRAY THE LORD'S PRAYER TOGETHER ALOUD:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAY THE EVENING PRAYER TOGETHER ALOUD

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

V: The Lord bless us and keep us, the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us, the Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace.

R: Amen, Amen, Amen.

(a moment for silent reflection and prayer)

LEADER: The Service is ended, go in peace.

Let all go about the gift of this day with joy and confidence.

This Service is prepared by Rev. Dean Kavouras, Pastor. Christ Lutheran Church Cleveland, Ohio. www.christlutherancleveland.org
pastordck@gmail.com