MAUNDY THURSDAY

And I Will Be Made Clean - Psalm 51, Isaiah 61:10, 1 John 2:28
Help Us Remember You - Matt 26:26-28, John 6:35, John 6:51, 1 Cor 11:24-25
Not My Will - Luke 22:42, Luke 14:25-33, 1 Peter 1:6-7, John 4:23-24

When I attended Liberty United Methodist’s Good Friday Choir Cantata in 2024, one of the pieces sung that evening caught my attention and sparked new interest for me in the concept of Jesus being the Bread of Life. During that time of worship, I began searching out the various places in scripture where Jesus talked about bread and wine. By the end of the night, I had written most of “Help Us Remember You” sitting in a pew in our Sunset Ave. campus, listening to the choir sing songs inspired by the scenes of Holy Week.

Within a few weeks, we were singing this new song during communion. If memory serves, this was the first week Pastor Arden, as an ordained deacon of the United Methodist Church, was allowed and empowered to serve communion due to a recent change in the United Methodist Church. She emphasized the principle of the “open table” in a way that resonated with me afresh, and as the song was about to end a little pre-maturely, before communion was finished, I was able to write the final verse there on stage, in real time, in worship at Rush Creek.

The scenes that play out in the upper room, which we remember each Maundy Thursday, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, help us remember the cleansing Christ offers, the promises of provision, and the call to lay our own lives down. I’ve been blessed along the way with songs that fit these beats of the story. I make a practice of never sitting down with the intention of writing a song, preferring songs to interrupt my day. That said, the inspiration and empowerment that come from the Holy Spirit do require some level of intentionality on my part. God doesn’t force himself upon me, but calls me to live a life focused on him.

“And I Will Be Made Clean” is a song of repentance inspired by Psalm 51, among other scriptures. “Help Us Remember You” is a meditation on communion, and “Not My Will” is inspired by Jesus’ prayer in the garden. I hope these songs can be useful not only in our worship services, but in our lives, helping us to come to repentance, to rely on God’s moment-by-moment provisions, to remember Jesus’ sacrifice, and to lay down our own dreams, desires and preferences for the sake of embracing what God has for us.

There is work required on our part to practice these things. By God’s grace, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, may we be about that work.