Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, commemorates the Last Supper Christ shared with his disciples. “Maundy” originates from John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you”. More information available here. And here.
Jesus Prays for All Believers. John 17:20-26: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
—
Galatians 6:14: “We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation,
our life and our resurrection; through Him we are saved and made free.”
—
I will not forget the cross the pain that You endured for us
Where You carried brokenness and shame
Never to forget the day Your love broke through to make a way
For hope to rise within my heart again
Overwhelming sacrifice You freely paid the highest price
Suffering You traded blood for me
My heart will sing the deepest praise my lips rejoice, my hands will raise
For the death that brought me into life
All for love my Jesus, You gave all for love
I am standing in the wonder of Your great love
What would I have done if it wasn’t for Your love?
The love that tore the veil inside my heart
What would I have become if it wasn’t for Your blood?
The blood You gave for all on the cross
From the Book of Common Prayer, use according to the Episcopal Church: Tuesday in Holy Week O God, who by the passion of they blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be unto us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—
John 13: 21 – 33, 36 – 38
21
When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
22
The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.
23
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus;
24
so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”
25
So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, “Lord, who is it?”
26
Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27
Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
28
Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.
29
Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast”; or, that he should give something to the poor.
30
So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night.
31
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified;
32
if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
33
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.’
36
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward.”
37
Peter said to him, “Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times.
—
This hymn, written in the 9th century by Kassiani the Nun, tells the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet (see Luke 7:36-50). This hymn is sung in the Eastern Orthodox tradition toward the end of the “Bridegroom” service, held on Tuesday evening of their Holy week. The hymn tells a beautiful story, and paints a picture of forgiveness, where we can all see ourselves in the place of the woman.
“O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, sensing Your Divinity, takes upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer.
With lamentations she brings you myrrh in anticipation of your entombment. “Woe to me!” she cries, “for me night has become a frenzy of licentiousness, a dark and moonless love of sin. Receive the fountain of my tears, O You who gathers into clouds the waters of the sea. Incline unto me, unto the sighings of my heart, O You who bowed the heavens by your ineffable condescension.
I will wash your immaculate feet with kisses and dry them again with the tresses of my hair; those very feet at whose sound Eve hid herself from in fear when she heard You walking in Paradise in the twilight of the day.
As for the multitude of my sins and the depths of Your judgments, who can search them out, O Savior of souls, my Savior? Do not disdain me Your handmaiden, O You who are boundless in mercy.”
—
Thank You for the cross that You have carried
Thank You for Your blood that was shed
You took the weight of sin upon Your shoulders
And Sacrificed Your life so I could live
Now nothing is holding me back from You Redeemer of my soul Now nothing can hold me back from You Your Love will never let me go
Thank You for Your death and resurrection
Thank You for the power of Your blood
I am overwhelmed by Your affection
The Kindness and the Greatness of Your Love
The Kindness and the Greatness of Your Love
Jesus, You make all things new
Thank You that we’re living in Your Kingdom
Jesus You’re the King upon the throne
Thank You for the way You always love me
Now I get to love You in return
Now I get to love You in return
For the next week, I will (hopefully) be daily posting scripture readings, and book or quote excerpts leading up to Easter, on Sunday morning. This time of year is one that resonates deeply in my heart, but part of the journey to Easter morning, with the experience of joy celebrating the risen Christ, is walking through Holy Week, which can often be shadowed by darkness. Jesus Christ endured the cross, and went to the depths of Hell, the rose again in order to save us.
We cannot fully worship the risen Savior until we understand the depth of our humanity and sin. I look forward to the joy of Sunday morning, and worshipping in freedom. I hope these next few days will bring light to your eyes, and turn hearts to Christ, and understanding more his immense love for us.
—–
Ephesians 2:13-16. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
—–
From A Letter of Consolation, by Henri J.M. Nouwen: “During this Holy Week we are confronted with death more than during any other season of the liturgical year. We are called to mediate not just on death in general or on our own death in particular, but on the death of Jesus Christ who is God and Man. We are challenged to look at Him dying on a cross and to find there the meaning of our own life and death. What strikes me most in all that is read and said during these days is that Jesus of Nazareth did not die for himself, but for us, and that in following Him we too are called to make our death a death for others.
What makes you and me Christians is not only our belief that He who was without sin died for our sake on the cross and thus opened for us the way to His heavenly Father, but also that through His death our death is transformed from a totally absurd end of all that gives life its meaning into an event that liberates us and those whom we love.
—–
From In Search of the Beyond by Carlo Coretto: “Jesus became a sacrament for me, the cause of my salvation, he brought my time in hell to an end, and put a stop to my inner disintegration. He washed me patiently in the waters of baptism, he filled me with the exhilarating joy of the Holy Spirit in confirmation, he nourished me with the bread of his word. Above all, he forgave me, he forgot everything, he did not even wish me to remember my past myself.
When, through my tears, I began to tell him something of the years during which I betrayed him, he lovingly placed his hand over my mouth in order to silence me. His one concern was that I should muster courage enough to pick myself up again, to try and carry on walking in spite of my weakness, and to believe in his love in spite of my fears. But there was one thing he did, the value of which cannot be measured, something truly unbelievable, something only God could do.
While I continued to have doubts about my own salvation, to tell him that my sins could not be forgiven, and that justice, too, had its rights, he appeared on the Cross before me one Friday towards midday.
I was at its foot, and found myself bathed with the blood which flowed from the gaping holes made in his flesh by the nails. He remained there for three hours until he expired.
I realized that he had died in order that I might stop turning to him with questions about justice, and believe instead, deep within myself, that the scales had come down overflowing on the side of love, and that even though all….through unbelief or madness, had offended him, he had conquered forever, and drawn all things everlastingly to himself.”
—–
Psalm 31:13-17
For I hear the whispering of many–
terror on every side!–
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hands of my enemies
and from my persecutors!
Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go silently to Sheol.
Here you go, if you haven’t read the eConnect already, or if you care to read:
Staff Corner
Meridith Johnson, Worship Director
Forgiven Much
As we have journeyed through Galatians, it seems the word “legalism” and “legalistic” has been used quite a number of times, but part of understanding our legalistic ways, also comes from understanding the depth of our sin and our depravity. Part of this process involves naming sin for exactly what it is: brokenness and separation from the heart of God.
In Luke 7, there is a familiar story of Jesus eating with the Pharisees, and during the meal, a “certain immoral woman” came with an expensive jar of perfume, and began to anoint and wash his feet. Listen to this account of Luke, verse 38 says, “Then she knelt behind him at his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” The natural response of the Pharisees was something like this, “If he knew who this woman was, and the kinds of sin she has committed, how could he let this woman touch him!?”
There are many lessons in this particular account of Christ, but what Jesus says at the end of this section is something to be taken to heart, “I tell you, her sins- and they are many- have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” One commentary states, “The woman was not forgiven because of her love; rather, she loved because she was forgiven. Her faith brought her salvation…” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 224).
When it comes to legalism in our hearts, how often do we sit back with arms folded and disapproving looks on our faces when someone begins to admit their sin? This week, Greg will share with us about good behavior, our motives behind our good behavior and what it really reveals about our hearts. We have been forgiven of much, so therefore, we should love much. Our love comes from gratitude in our hearts from the simple act of forgiveness.
I love this story, from Luke 7, because each of us can find ourselves in one or both of the parties spoken about, the sinful woman, and the arrogant Pharisee. How can we seek to identify ourselves as sinners, who have been forgiven, and to love much? What are our motives behind our actions? Is it true “love” for Christ? Or simply out of legalistic expectations?
Take a few moments to read through this poetic song, of the story from Luke 7, when our response toward Christ and others is motivated by gratitude and love, our worship becomes authentic, and our love for others is even more genuine.
From glass alabaster she poured out the depths of her soul ,
O foot of Christ would you wait if her harlotries known?
Falls a tear to darken the dirt of humblest offerings to forgive the hurt.
She is strong enough to stand in your love I can hear her say:
I am weak, I am poor, I am broken Lord, but I’m yours […]
Looking forward to worshiping with you all on Sunday,
I chuckle, but also I was stunned as I ran across this tonight. This was a blog I had written in an old notebook, to be posted I guess later that day. It was written in fall 2005, my Junior year of college, 20 years old, and actually reminds me more of what my realities were then, helps me understand where I used to stand on some things.
When you read, you’ll see why, it’s funny, but totally crazy too. Comments to come later.
November 13, 2005 11:22 a.m.
Currently, as I’m composing this blog, I’m sitting at Lisa Popeill’s “Workshop for Singing Non-Classical Styles” or something like that). Al I can say is I’M BORED! If I could, I would start walking back to Redding right now.
It’s all interesting, I completely agree. BUT I just don’t want to be here.
So, my mind is wandering, we’ll see what I feel like writing about. I wish I had a computer in front of me, instead of all these notes.
Anyway, I have been thinking quite a bit about many subjects. I’m thankful that God reveals things to us in his time. For quite a while, I always felt that I wouldn’t get married until I was much older, like 25 or 26 (even though it’s not THAT old). Anyway, but as of late, over this past summer, and this semester, I’ve begun to really pray for the Lord’s will on this subject.
(fast forward some boring things)
One of the reasons I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit has to do with what’s going to happen in my life after I graduate. For a while, I thought about graduate school, and it’s still in the back of my mind. but I really believe God is calling me to be a full-time Worship Pastor.
As a woman, I would be very fearful to enter into the ministry and be single. I mean, yes, I know I COULD do it, but without that support? I know if I had great friends around me, living with me, that would be AMAZING, but the truth is I don’t know where I’ll be going.
I know I could follow someone whether it’s a significant other or closer friend. Churches are everywhere, and always could have needs for Worship Pastors.
All I know is what God is calling me to… and I don’t really know what that’s going to look like. I’m just walking down a road, a path. I don’t know where I’m heading, but I know I’m following CHRIST with all that’s in me.
This weekend is one of those weekends that will forever be etched into my memory; forever tucked away into my heart.
I was practically born in the nursery here at First Baptist Church of Medford, Oregon. My story, as the stories of many others, is weaved into FBC, and our stories make the story of this church. But the beauty of it all is that none of this is about us, it is all about Him.
My calling to ministry came at a young age, and a dream was born in the halls of my middle school as I began being a ministry leader at age 13. This weekend I got a chance to look into the kind, yet more wrinkled eyes of my dear youth pastor from those years, and as I told him, “I think of you guys all the time”, he kindly smiled and said, “Meridith, I pray for you”. Nothing else mattered at that moment. It was humbling, and gave me strength.
This weekend FBC Celebrated 125 years of ministry, and it made me grateful for those who have gone before me, and paved the way, and gave me an even greater understanding of my place and calling here at First Baptist Church.
I had the honor of meeting Dr. Haddon Robinson, a former Associate Pastor of FBC in the 50’s, and he later went on to be a Professor, and author books on the subject and topic of preaching. And let me tell you, he did not disappoint, He knows what he’s doing. At first glance, this elderly man of perhaps 80, or so, gives no spectacular impression. He is someone’s grandfather, some woman’s husband. But as he slowly, step by step climbed the steps on Saturday night, and then again on Sunday morning, the audience was captivated. You could have heard a pin drop in the building, and you couldn’t help but lean in and closely listen to every word he spoke, filled with wisdom of a long life lived serving the Lord.
“Habakkuk 2:4b “But the just shall live by his faith”, and in the faithfulness of God.” He repeated.
Another theme of the evening was a short paragraph read that a woman wrote in the 1920’s, reflecting on where the church had been, and what was to come. It spoke of the fact that things had not been done perfectly, but by God’s grace the church would continue, and that they would perceive even greater opportunities for the future. How timely those words were. There were individuals in that building that night who needed to be reminded: we must forgive.
Many things spoke to me that night, I wish I could tell you about all of them. Even Sunday morning. I confidently walked onto the stage as a prayer was being prayed, and I fully knew that I needed to proceed with the confidence that God has placed me here, at this church, for his purposes. I knew full well as I glanced over the faces of closed eyes, that some of the people in this building had come with preconceived ideas of how our church was in the past, and how it was now, especially in regards to worship and music. I knew that many had doubts in their minds that a woman could be standing on stage, guitar in hand, and be leading this congregation in worship. But, I pushed the doubts and questions aside, and prayed that God would fill me with his Spirit and with the words he wanted me to speak.
I educated those on worship, in an interesting way yesterday. If you were there, you probably had no idea what was running through my mind, but as I began to exercise within my calling and skills, I had no more fear.
I was struck, as I looked at the words of some of the old hymns or songs sung in the 20’s and 30’s, as we had several worship folders from that time, preserved. It is profound thinking that those before us sang the same words and prayers that we sing even today. This was the heart of what I prayed people would see on Sunday. That we can look at the past, honor those who have paved the way for us, but to also function in the current culture, and find a profound humility that our God is unchanging, and we can sing those timeless things to him, even know.
I teared up as I looked out and saw how people sang with their whole hearts. “Oh, praise Him, Oh, praise Him! He is Holy! He is Holy!”, right after singing “Holy, Holy, Holy”. It was beautiful to see voices being lifted up to our God, and hands raised in surrender and agreement with words of truth. In that moment, I knew my job was done. People were worshipping, and they didn’t, by any means, need me to do that. It was beautiful. My heart was touched, and it was reaffirmed in my heart that: this isn’t about me (even though there were a NUMBER of things trying to distract me and cause me to be selfish about MY title, and MY position, God humbled me really quickly about that!).
Here are a few pictures, and a partial video of the song we did. I love the words: “Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say, yes our hearts can say. Never once did we ever walk alone, never once did you leave us on our own, You are faithful, God You are faithful…”
I’m sure there will be more to share about this weekend, but for now, that’s what I got!
YOU hold it in your hands
YOU carefully watch every move
every breath
YOU whisper: words of life
into every heart and soul
breathing in and breathing out
saying YOUR name unaware
grace upon grace
mercy upon mercy you say: you are MINE and I am yours
we spout words of discontent
sentences of our “all knowing humanness”
YOU smile, YOU see, YOU hear
but we cannot see things the way YOU do
we cannot understand the workings of YOUR hand
we can never see all the ways
YOU cover us with your unending grace
the ways we divide and kill
the ways YOU cover us still
blind to YOUR covering grace, we are
YOUR light breaks through the darkness
as i stand facing the light of day
facing the light with the past behind
how could i ever not see YOU
how could i ever forget YOU?
YOU are everywhere and in my every breath
YOU are peace when all around is madness
YOU are joy (and my joy) when i have lost happy
YOU are grace covering every word and every move
This was an article I wrote for our church email newsletter last fall, but I was reading over it as I’ve begun training now for the Bangkok Marathon, and reminded of the discipline in our lives it takes not only for physical things, but also in our expression of worship… (October 15, 2010)
Staff Corner
Meridith Johnson, Director of
Worship Ministry
One step at a time.
Many of you may have heard or knew that I ran the Portland Marathon this past Sunday, and the only way that I was able to accomplish this life-goal of mine, was to run one step at a time. The last few miles of the 26.2 mile race I verbally repeated to myself over and over, “it’s almost over, I’m almost done”. And then, before long, I did finish. I ran the race. I accomplished a goal.
Now you may ask, “I thought this report was about worship?”, and yes, it is, let me get to that. You see, I’ve never been an athletic person, I was a cheerleader in High School, and could hardly run a mile until I was probably 21. But with perseverance, practice, and discipline, I trained for shorter races, and soon the distances I once thought were hard and unbelievably long, became easy and didn’t seem as long as they seemed to be.
Worship is something we will never really understand, or comprehend, but through Scripture, we see that as God’s people, it is an act we are commanded to do. Something happens when as a church, we gather and corporately praise God and verbally sing, say, and pray what we know to be true of our God. Just like the marathon I ran, I had no idea what the experience would be like until I began training, and working at doing something I wasn’t comfortable with. Worship I would say is the same in many respects. When we ascribe that our God is worthy (where we get the word “worship”), sometimes it is uncomfortable and sometimes we don’t feel like worshipping, but the end result and goal is always accomplished when we are willing. God is always lifted high, and his name is glorified.
During my months of training, some mornings I would wake up only to see it was way too early for anyone to do anything on a Saturday, then eventually I would stumble out of bed to run. Sunday mornings, or all mornings our worship may feel the same way to us, like a chore. But when we worship, Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of his people. Other translations for this Hebrew word yashab are “to dwell”, “to remain”, “to sit” or “to abide”. This verb implies God’s action on his part to dwell and be among us when we worship him. There is something uncomfortable about the idea that God dwells with us when we worship, the living God, among us, his people. The experience is indescribable, but worth the effort of our time and attention.
Now, many of you have never run a marathon, and maybe never will, but you can choose to work at your personal worship and as a body our expression of praise corporately as a church. This weekend, may you worship God in every word, activity, and breath, and on Sunday, every Sunday, may our sacrifice of praise be authentic, and change our hearts and lives.
..it must be put to music. Or in the words of another…
You say to us seek Your face
Our hearts reply, Your face we seek
And come teach us Lord, reveal Your ways
Anoint us for the greater things
We have gathered with one thirst and hunger
We’re here to drink of glory and wonder,
Here to cry out
Come and fill this place
Come and fill this place
And our single wish, our sole desire
To gaze upon Your beauty God
We will not rest, nor will we cease
Till with our eyes, Your face we see
We have gathered with one thirst and hunger
We’re here to drink of glory and wonder,
Here to cry out
Come and fill this place, this place
Come and fill this place, this place
We wait for You to come and show Your glory here today…
The God of the poor. God has a special place in his heart for those who are poor, not only that but the poor are part of WHO God actually is, and names he is called by:
Defender of the fatherless and widows (Deut. 10:18; Psalm 10:16-18; 40:17, 68:5; Jeremiah 22:16)
Protector of the poor (Psalm 12:5)
Rescuer of the poor (I Sam 2:8, Psalm 35:10, 72:4, 12-14, Isaiah 19:20, Jeremiah 20:13)
Provider of the poor (Psalm 68:10, 146:7, Isaiah 41:17)
Savior of the poor (Psalm 34:6, 109:31)
Refuge of the poor (Psalm 14:6, Isaiah 25:4).
I’ve been thinking a lot about this. God honors humility and those who see their need for God. Hunger- both physical and spiritual is the starting point for change. Necessity.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3 (MSG) “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more room for God and his rule.”
Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God = for those who are poor.
Matthew 5:6 (ESV) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Thirst and hunger makes me think of desperation. If someone is so empty, they become desperate for anything that will satisfy. If we are searching for righteousness, we will be satisfied.
I’ve thought about this on and off for the past 4 years or so, ever since my trip to India. The poverty was astounding. People dying on the sides of the road, and children begging on every corner you turn around. It’s almost more than you can even imagine, if you’ve never experienced it. I’ve been reading “The Hole in Our Gospel” by World Vision President Richard Stearns, and it’s given me some more perspective. Check out this link to more scripture concerning poverty, and what the Bible says about it. Why is it that we seem to skim over these sections of scripture, instead of actually thinking about it? Have we made poverty something that only exists third world countries? Have we distanced ourselves from this, simply because we don’t see ourselves as “that rich” here in America? Those of us who are “middle class” don’t see ourselves as wealthy?
More to come in future posts. It becomes so easy for us as Americans to sit back, cross our arms and talk all day about poverty. It’s sure easier to do that than sell all our belongings and give to the poor. Talk is talk, and talk is cheap. It’s faith in action that requires more. A lot more. Maybe everything we have.
somehow beautiful 