We are gathered today on the occupied territory of the Sana and Tonkawa People who have stewarded this land for generations.
Treehouse Dinner Church on Maundy Thursday
Welcome to Dinner Church at Treehouse! We are thrilled you are here. Tonight’s worship mirrors a form of worship known by the earliest Christians. If it is new to you, not to worry! We will guide you through everything. Take a moment in prayer to settle yourself and recognize the presence of God already at your table. Then relax and enjoy this night!
Welcome and Explanation of night
The Lord be with you!
And also with you.
Let us pray…
God of our lives,
Six weeks ago we gathered in this place to begin our Lenten journey.
We reflected on our mortality, on our need for each other, on our need for you.
Since that day of ashes, we have journeyed day by day to Jerusalem,
to the procession of palms and hosannas,
to the temple and to the streets,
to the Garden of Gethsemane and what lies beyond.
It has not always been an easy journey.
We have been stretched and challenged,
as we will continue to be in the days to come.
We are grateful, God, that we have not been alone on this way.
We are grateful that you have been with us all the while,
supporting us even as you confront us.
And we are grateful that we have had each other as travelling companions.
You have created us to be in community with each other,
and in days like this we know why.
Thank you for this sacred community,
cast in your image, shaped by your love.
Help us, as we follow Jesus together,
to broaden our concept of community,
to include not only those we know and love,
but also strangers both near and far,
and, yes, even our enemies and those who hate us.
Capture our hearts and minds with a vision of your kingdom,
and inspire us to work tirelessly to bring it to be in this world.
You have shown us, God, what is right and just;
you have shown us what it means to love as you love.
In Christ, you have shown us what it means to give everything to this call,
to live lives of radical obedience, radical humility, radical love.
Lord, may we live our lives with such determination and focus
that we might find the courage to lay aside
the pleasures, comforts, and needs of our own lives
in order to give life to others—indeed, abundant life for all.
God, you call us to be a part of your kingdom;
you call us to lead others to it.
So hear us now as we pray for the coming of that kingdom,
in the words Jesus taught us long ago.
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,
forever and ever. Amen.
Opening Song –
Sharing of the Bread
Knowing that he had 24 hours left to live, Jesus chose to have a meal with his friends. A simple meal, really, if you think about it. There was nothing extravagant, no one bothered to break out the good china or set a particular mood. It was simply close friends gathered together to share a meal with each other, to laugh, to tell stories, to do what they most likely had done many times before. As they ate this meal together, Jesus reminded them that they should remember him, but more importantly, they should remember they are doing this as a community, gathered together as friends, and that they should do it like this often.
And on that night, he took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “Take and eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And so tonight, we do the same. We take bread, broken for us, and share it with one another with those sacred words, “The body of Christ given for you.”
Communion Song –
Post-Bread Blessing
Be strengthened this night by the presence of Christ made known to you in the bread and in one another. Amen.
Invitation to Meal
Reading – John 13:1-17, 31b-35
1Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Question
Jesus had supper with his disciples tonight and knew one of them would hand him over and yet, he still washed his feet and gave him communion. How does this show us what love is, and how should we love those around us?
Prayers
Sharing the Cup
When Jesus offered them something to drink, he reminded them again that this is done together and not by ourselves, that we are to include everyone (ALL MEANS ALL – no exceptions) and we are to remember we are a community that is called together, and, more importantly, that we are a family. All of us. Even the one we wish wasn’t – they are still a part of the family because that’s what God has intended from the very beginning.
When supper had ended that night, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me.”
And so tonight, we take the cup of wine, and we drink together, “The blood of Christ shed for you.”
Communion Song
Post-Wine Blessing
All of this is done to remind us that we are enough. We are enough and God loves us, even if the world says otherwise. No one gets to tell us that we don’t matter because God says we do. When you eat this meal, this body and blood of Christ, you are reminded that you are loved and you are enough.
Now that you have tasted the goodness of God in bread and wine, let us be the body of Christ, blessed and broken for the whole world. Amen.
Closing Song –
Blessing and Sending
Holy God,
We are caught in the tension of
light and shadow, death and resurrection.
You spoke the world into being,
you illuminated the universe by your very speech,
then filled the void with life.
Indeed, you have filled the void
of darkness and death,
the empty promises of the abyss,
with new life and new creation.
We look to you in the space between the world and the Kingdom,
longing for the fulfillment of your word
in the work of the Holy Spirit
and the reign of Christ, our Creator and King.
Amen
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