One of the treasured Holy Week traditions in the congregation I serve is a Maundy Thursday gathering that is both a communal meal and a special worship service. We gather around large round tables in one of our worship spaces that accommodates flexible seating, and we eat a delicious meal together before turning to worship. We worship around those same tables, mingling the experience of table fellowship with the experience of Communion and handwashing that will follow, a ritual embodiment of Jesus's gathering with his disciples in the Upper Room. With the lights dimmed, seated together with friends and neighbors, we hear these words from the gospel of John: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (John 13:1).
These words, written about Jesus in the context of that final meal with his disciples, never fail to fill my eyes with tears. It is true: Jesus loved his dear friends so well, and he loved them to the very end. It is that same fierce love that enfolds each of us, even now, in the care of one who is both Savior and friend. I am reminded of the words we will hear on the Sing For Joy Palm/Passion Sunday program, from the hymn writer Samuel Crossman. It begins, "My song is love unknown, my Savior’s love to me, love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. Oh who am I, that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die?" The final verse moves to praise: "Here might I stay and sing, no story so divine: never was love, dear King, never was grief like thine. This is my friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend." Paired with the music of John Ireland and sung by the Choir of King’s College, these words of praise take on deep meaning during the journey of Holy Week.
Later this month, churches around the world will journey from the joyful procession of Palm Sunday to the Upper Room meal on Maundy Thursday; from the cross on Good Friday to the silence of Holy Saturday; and finally (finally!) we’ll arrive together at the empty tomb on Easter. We will observe the week in many diverse ways, gathering for worship to give thanks for the life of Christ, whose dying and rising offers a pattern for sacrificial love and friendship. I hope that you, Sing For Joy listeners, will find meaningful ways to journey through Holy Week as part of a community this year. The chaos of the world around us invites us to closely follow in the path of Jesus, a path of love and justice, mercy and grace. May we follow faithfully.
Peace to you all,
