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NEW KILPATRICK PARISH CHURCH
open hearts, open minds, open faith
Gathering
We gather
travellers
questioners
seekers
We gather
hungry
thirsty
looking for a place
We gather
in the story
in the promise
in the word
We gather
as the shadows lengthen
the darkness skulks
the questions hang
We gather
at a table prepared
with bread broken
and wine spilled
We gather
as the words fade
the song spoils
the light shrinks
And in this place
where all the stories become one
and all the paths merge
and all the moments blend
we find ourselves
in the last place we will be
this week
together
with the towel-wrapped,
bread-breaking,
wine-spilling
saviour
It is a holy broken place
let us gather
Prayer
When we find the kingdom
in the most generous of acts
silently arriving
in a cupful of water
may we pause
and recognise where we are
O Saviour
of the basin and towel
When the moment is shaped
in an act of giving
and the kingdom unveils
what it is really about
may we pause
and recognise what is happening
O Saviour
of the basin and towel
When the words have gone
and the doctrine spent
and the act of giving
is all we have
may we pause
and recognise the truth
O Saviour
of the basin and towel
and may we bless the brokenness of heaven
who has fought against the words of religion
that lifts itself up
and gives itself power
and lauds itself over others
that we might pause in this place
where she reveals herself
in the acts that are self-giving
sacrificial
serving the world
and draw breath
in the truth of it all:
a kingdom unlike any other
humbled
forgiving
serving
redeeming
When the darkness shifts
and the truth is revealed
and the moments arrives
and we do not understand
may we pause
and recognise the moment
O Saviour
of the basin and towel
In the Garden
And just as it finished
hardly had the bread fallen to the table
crumbs still tumbled
the air still moved
but Jesus was steeling his way through the twisted olive trees
of the gethsemane garden
followed by some disciples
The betrayer had already left
the dark cloaking him
like some sinister bedfellow
pushing him further into the conspiracy
Jesus
the one of light
shivered among the trees
seeking a prayer place
to calm his nerves
to rest his wild eyes
as they fore-played the coming hours
Sweat already running through Jesus hair
he paced between the branches
expecting his disciples to be watching his back
but finding himself on his own
he turn to find them
and he did
asleep
and, almost spitting with tension
he woke them:
“How can you be asleep,
what lack of compassion do you have
that you can sleep through this night?”
and hardly had his words fallen to the ground
than the shadows crept closer
darker now than they had been
colder now than the night should have allowed
the faces of the guards of darkness were hardly visible
the conspiracy was giving birth
but from the nightmare
a shadow moved closer
and paused
as brief as a breath
but it was long enough
for the betrayer to see deep into the eyes of heaven
and feel still
the love
broken
betrayed
yet still inviting
and as he blinked
to break the spell
on which the world turned tonight
he kissed the saviour
and the light
died.
Maundy Thursday
John 13
Feet Washing
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
It was in the beginning time
when the creator’s imagination
pulled apart the waters of birth
and in the spirit of love
shaped a place
where the word would one day
take on flesh take the shape of flesh
and kneel to serve
those who broke and betrayed
that creation
(pour water)
It was the time of bondage
when the word of freedom
found its way onto the lips of an Egyptian prince
and such was the promise of that word
it tore open the sea
and shaped a gateway to a new world
a new relationship with love
on the other side of the water
(pour)
It was in the middle for he wilderness
held by a wild man
who found in the water
a new way to freedom
and poured it over all who came
and called them through repentance
into new life
a new relationships
a new way or serving creation
(pour)
It was by a foreign well
in the middle of the day
the living water was first tasted
shared between a prophet and a samaritan
in a common meeting place
amid sin and heresy
culture and religion
and as the thirst was great
it was never felt again
(pour)
Reading: John 13:5-9
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
Fraction
At the edge of everything
lies this…
when we cannot understand the world
and the questions it asks us to answer
when we cannot hold onto the world
because it is running out
when we cannot hear what is truth and what is lies
in a cacophony of conflicting doctrine
when we are fed up with control
and a religion of power
that decides who is saved and who is not
when we cannot find the words
that express our faith any longer
within a religion that has lost its meaning
when we can no longer sit comfortably
and feel connected with a polarised world
when we have nothing left to say
and the words don’t make sense anyway
when the story feels like it is coming to an end
and the saviour is living on borrowed time
when the darkness has greater hold than the light
and the rumours of conspiracy continue to grow
when the disciples are confused and do not understand
and the saviour is quiet with a darkness in his eyes
when we feel the crack of a broken heaven
appearing in everything we thought sure
at the edge of everything
lies this…
a table…
bread…
broken…
wine…
waiting…
take…
and eat…