Take time to be quiet, perhaps light a candle.
Be still and know that I am God
Let us pray
Loving God, be with us as we join in fellowship in our own homes. Open our hearts to the awesomeness of your love, made real for us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. May we never lose the wonder of the cross. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Hymn verse
Life emptied of all meaning
Drained out in bleak distress, Can share in broken silence Our deepest emptiness.
Words from the cross
“ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
(Mark 15: 34 & Matthew 27:46)
Reflection
Maundy Thursday is the day we remember how Jesus stooped down to wash his disciples’ feet. This act reminds us of our reflection yesterday (our call to serve one another), but it also reminds us how Jesus put himself beneath the poorest of the poor and the lowest of the low.
He was approaching the time when he would descend so deeply into the depths of anguish and despair that he would feel cut off from and abandoned by God. Whatever our distress, whatever our heartache, Christ has suffered before us. He knows what it’s like to feel utter blackness and hopelessness. He offered to put himself into that pit so that, through him, God could show his grace and mercy. When Jesus rose from the dead, that pit could no longer be a place where we are alone and abandoned, because it was now a place into which God had reached and brought about new life.
Think of times when you have felt totally separated from, or abandoned by, God. You might even be in that place now.
Reach out in the darkness of that experience and find that your hand was and is being held. Because Christ was and is there—and he remains with you until a time when you are raised up.
Through Jesus’ sacrifice, there is now no place so dark that God cannot reach and lift us up.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:38) Just as hate is an absence of love, so darkness is an absence of light. Love and light are real and are present. Hate and darkness are merely an absence of these things. Christ is our light and we need his presence most when we are in our darkest times.
Imagine being in the deepest, darkest well. Jesus has lowered himself down on a rope to sit with you and hold you until you can be winched back up to safety. Know he is there.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. (John 1:5)
Action
Think of someone who is struggling with a situation or who is low in mood. Get in touch; let them know that they are not alone. Be prepared to follow Christ’s example and go down to the pit to be with them.
Let us pray
If you have one, light a candle and look at the light it gives out.
Ever-present God, in our times of pain and struggle, help us feel the light of your presence with us. (You may have a particular concern you want to bring to God).
We thank that you are with us all at this difficult and anxious time, staying with us during our darkness fears and bringing the light of hope to our world.
We offer these prayers through Christ our Lord.
Amen