Treehouse Living Room Worship
We are gathered today on the occupied territory of the Sana and Tonkawa People who have stewarded this land for generations.
“Love”
Welcome to worship. God welcomes you here, as does this community. In tonight’s worship, you will be invited to offer a song, poem, essay, reflection, photograph, story, or letter (no more than one minute) around the theme of “Love” Be brave! We are all enriched by your sharing.
Opening song
Prayer
Surely.
I would never betray you, never deny you.
Surely?
Beloved,
give me the faith to doubt
my righteousness.
Give me the assurance to question,
to examine myself honestly,
to ask.
Give me the confidence to wonder
how I might betray your perfect love,
to see.
Give me grace to confess
how my promises are broken, my heartbroken.
Give me the peace to be troubled
by my smugness,
and repent.
Open my eyes to see that you see,
you know, and knowing, you keep right on
eating with me.
Reading: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.
Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”
“No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”
Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”
After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.
When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’
“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”
Time of Sharing
Tonight’s reading gives us a story of Jesus telling the disciples there is a new commandment, to love one another. What does it mean to love?
Song –
Prayers
Communion
This was just a cup filled with wine
(gesture towards the cup)
this was just ordinary bread, baked for guests
(gesture towards the bread)
until Jesus took them
took and drank from the cup,
even though it was his cup of pain,
filled with the agony of the world;
took and broke the bread –even though his body
was too young to be broken.
This (gesture towards self),
and these (gesture to the community)
would be ordinary lives
unless the bread, unless the wine,
is poured into them:
and the mystery of grace takes place.
Come, not because you fully understand,
but because you need to reach out
and receive the life that is offered to you.
Closing Song –
Blessing
So may the blessing of the God who calls the people out of Egypt
call us out from our comfort and our safety
to embrace a journey of challenge and risk
May the blessing of the Son who kneels and washes our feet
call us out from our comfort and our safety
to embrace and serve those we meet on the journey
May the blessing of the Spirit who weaves dreams of a new community
call us out from our comfort and our safety
to provide welcome and hospitality to strangers as well as friends.
Amen.
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