The Supper of the Lord

Preparation

This service evokes the last Passover meal which Jesus ate with his disciples. It is a modification of the Passover traditions in the light of Jesus' life.

Parts identified for Leader 1 would traditionally be led by the mother. Parts identified for Leader 2 would traditionally be led by the father. The words of institution for the Lord's Supper are identified for the Minister. Other parts may be shared in accordance with the gifts of the people gathered.


Sanctification of the day

(Leader 1)

May the festival lights we now kindle
Inspire us to use our power
To heal and not to hurt,
To help and not to hinder,
To bless and not to curse,
To serve you, O God of freedom.

The candles are lit, reminding us to the light of God's truth.
The washbowl and towel are brought out, reminding us that we should approach this meal with both our hands and our hearts clean.


History: the beginnings

We praise you, O God, ruler of the universe.
We praise you, O God,
who creates the lights of fire,
who teaches us to know light from darkness.
We praise you, O God, ruler of the universe,
who creates the fruit of the earth.

God reminds us of our past

The Lord says to us:
[Joshua 24]
Long ago, your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River
and worshipped other Gods.
One of those ancestors was Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor.
Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, and led him
through the whole land of Canaan.
I gave him many descendents. I gave him Isaac
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.
I gave the hill country of Edom to Esau
but your ancestor Jacob went down to Egypt with his children.

Remembering oppression

[Genesis 41]
Joseph, one of Jacob's sons, was 30 years old
when he began to serve the king of Egypt.
When the seven years of famine came, there was food in Egypt.
People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph,
because the famine was severe everywhere.

[Genesis 42]
The sons of Jacob came with others to buy grain,
because there was famine in the land of Canaan.

[Exodus 1]
In the course of time, Joseph, his brothers,
and all the rest of that generation died,
but their descendents had many children.
Then a new king came to power in Egypt,
one who knew nothing about Joseph.
He said to his people,
These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us.
In case of war, they might join our enemies.

So the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites.
They made them work on their building projects and in the fields,
and they had no pity on them.

Each person now takes a piece of green herb and eats it. The greens remind us of life.
The green herb is dipped (twice) in salt water, which reminds us of the tears the Hebrew people shed while they were slaves in Egypt.

[Deuteronomy 26]
The Egyptians treated us harshly and forced us to work as slaves.
Then we cried for help to God, the God of our ancestors.
God heard us and saw our hardship.

Today, also, wherever slavery remains, we remember.

[Exodus 23]
Do not mistreat a foreigner;
you know how it feels to be a foreigner
because we were foreigners in Egypt.
[Leviticus 19]
When strangers settle in your land,
you shall treat them as native-born citizens,
because we were strangers in Egypt.
[Leviticus 24]
Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights.
We will remember that we were slaves in Egypt
and that our God has set us free.

(Minister)

[Galatians 4]
When the right time finally came, God sent his own Son.
Jesus came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,
to redeem those who were under the Law,
so that we might become God's children.
So then, you are no longer slaves but God's own children.

Jesus, we thank you for being our host at this feast.
We remember the Father's saving work in Egypt,
as you remembered with your disciples long ago.
We thank you, too, for transforming this meal.
We reenact the experiences of our ancestors in Egypt.
We also reenact the Passover meal you shared with the first of your disciples.
We remember the saving work you did for us.
Most of all, Lord, we thank you for inviting us to share
in a first taste of the banquet prepared
for all your family in the kingdom of heaven.

[1 Corinthians 11]
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread,
gave thanks to God, broke it, and said,
This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.

The mixture of fruit and nuts reminds us of the mortar used in building the cities of Pithom and Rameses in Egypt.
Each person should eat some of it between pieces of bread, like mortar between bricks.


Four Questions

The questions should be asked by the youngest child or children.

  1. On other days, we eat ordinary food and good salads.
    Why do we eat bitter herbs today?
  2. On other days, we eat many kinds of meat.
    Why do we have lamb today?
  3. On other days, we eat soft, light bread.
    Why do we eat unleavened bread today?
  4. On other days, we eat a simple meal.
    Why are we celebrating today?

(Leader 2)

Remembering salvation

[Deuteronomy 6]
It is because we were slaves under Pharaoh in Egypt
and God brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand,
sending great signs and disasters against the Egyptians
– as we saw ourselves.
But God led us out from there to bring us into the land
promised to our ancestors.
God sent Moses to Pharaoh, to ask for our freedom. But Pharaoh refused.

[Exodus 6]
Moses complained to God: Why, O Lord, have you brought misfortune on this people? And why did you ever send me?

Then God promised deliverance for us, saying:
I will release you from your labor in Egypt.

Let every cup be filled to the top and let everyone take a drink.

Then God said to Moses and his brother Aaron in Egypt:
[Exodus 12]
This month for you is the first of months;
you shall make it the first month of the year.
On the tenth day of this month let each man
take a lamb or a kid for his family, one for each household,
except if a household is too small for one lamb or one kid
they may share with their nearest neighbor.

You must have it in safe keeping until the fourteenth day of this month,
and then all the community of Israel shall kill the victim
between dusk and dark.

They must smear some of the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel
of the door of every house where they eat the lamb.
That night they shall eat the flesh, roast on a fire;
they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
You are not to eat any of it raw or even boiled in water, but roasted:
Head, shins, and entrails.
You shall not leave any of it until morning;
if any is left, it must be burned.

This is the way in which you must eat it:
You shall have your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet,
and your staff in your hand, and you must eat in urgent haste.

It is the Lord's Passover.
On that night, I will pass through Egypt
and kill every first-born of every man and beast.
And as for you, the blood will be a sign on your houses:
when I see the blood I will pass over your house.

[Exodus 6]
God promised deliverance a second time, saying:
I will rescue you from slavery in Egypt.

Let every cup be filled again and let everyone drink
and let everyone take a piece of lamb and eat it.

[Exodus 12]
You shall keep this day as a day of remembrance,
you shall keep it generation after generation as a rule for all time.

For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
On the very first day you shall rid your house of yeast;
from the first day to the last anyone who eats leavened bread
shall be outlawed from Israel.

You shall observe these commandments because this was the very day
on which I brought you out of Egypt in your tribal hosts.
You shall observe this day forever.

You shall eat unleavened bread in the first month
from the evening which begins the fourteenth day
until the evening which begins the twenty-first day.
For seven days no yeast may be found in your houses.
You must eat nothing fermented.

Each person should take a piece of the bread and eat it.

[Exodus 6]
God's third promise for us was this:
I will redeem you with mighty acts.

Let every cup be filled a third time and let everyone drink.

[Exodus 12]
The Israelties did all that God commanded
and by midnight the Lord had struck down every first-born
from the first-born of Pharaoh
to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon,
and the first-born cattle.

Before night was over, Pharaoh rose, and a great cry of anguish went up
because no house in Egypt was spared.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron while it was still dark and said,
Be off! Leave my people, you and your Israelites.

The Egyptians urged them on and hurried them out of the country
or else, they said, we shall all be dead.

The Israelites set out from Rameses by way of Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting dependents.
With them went animals in great numbers, both flocks and herds.

The dough which they had brought with them from Egypt
they baked into unleavened bread, because there was no yeast.
They had been driven out of Egypt and had been allowed no time
even to get food ready for themselves.

The Israelites had been settled in Egypt 430 years.
At the end of 430 years, on this very day,
all the tribes of the Lord came out of Egypt.
This was the night of watching
as the Lord waited to bring them out of Egypt.


Celebration

The Dayenu

Had God brought us out of Egypt
and not divided the sea for us
that would have been enough!
Had God divided the sea for us
and not permitted us to cross on dry land
that would have been enough!
Had God permitted us to cross on dry land
and not sustained us 40 years in the desert
that would have been enough!
Had God sustained us 40 years in the desert
and not ordained the Sabbath
that would have been enough!
Had God ordained the Sabbath
and not brought us to Mount Sinai
that would have been enough!
Had God brought us to Mount Sinai
and not given us the Torah
that would have been enough!
Had God given us the Torah
and not led us into the land of Israel
that would have been enough!
Had God led us into the land of Israel
and not sent us prophets of truth
that would have been enough!
Had God sent us prophets of truth
and not made us a holy people
that would have been enough!

How much more, then, are we to be grateful to God! For

[Psalm 114]
When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of outlandish speech,
The land of Judah became his santuary,
the land of Israel his dominion.
The sea looked, and ran away;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like young sheep.
What was it, sea? Why did you run?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
and you, hills, like young sheep?
Dance, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool of water,
the granite cliff into a fountain.

God promised deliverance for us four times. God said:

And now, when our ancestors had departed from Egypt, God made this promise to us:
[Leviticus 26]
I will walk to and fro among you;
I will become your God, and you will become my people.
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt
and let you be slaves no longer.

(Minister)

[Hebrews 9]
The offerings and sacrifices presented to God
cannot make the worshipper's heart perfect.
But Christ has already come as the High Priest
of the good things that are already here.
When Christ passed through the tent and entered the Most Holy Place,
he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice;
rather, he took his own blood.
For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant,
so that we who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessing
that God has promised.

[1 Corinthians 11]
After the supper Jesus took the cup and said,
This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood.
Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.

This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Let every glass be filled the fourth time, and let everyone drink.

Had God given us the law and the prophets
and not become one of us in Jesus
that would have been enough!
Had God become one of us in Jesus
and not shown us the way of love
that would have been enough!
Had God shown us the way of love
and not died for us
that would have been enough!
Had God died for us
and not risen up again
that would have been enough!
Had God raised Jesus up again
and not sent us his Spirit
that would have been enough!
Had God sent us his Spirit
and not joined us together in the Church
that would have been enough!
Had God joined us together in the Church
and not promised us eternal life
that would have been enough!

How much more, then, are we to be grateful to God! For


The blessing

A hymn may be sung here.

May the One who blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
May the One who blessed Sarah, Rebeccah, and Rachel,
Bless this house, this table, and all assembled here,
and so may all our loved ones share our blessing.
May the One who brings harmony
into the workings of the stars
bring peace to earth for all humanity.
God will give strength to our people.
God will bless all people with peace.


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Sources:

March, 2012
(March, 2016)
Based on earlier Passover liturgies used in
January, 1983, October, 1997, and April, 1999.