P:Love is not just an idea, it is an action. Jesus invited to the table those who would betray and deny him. This was as it had been throughout his entire ministry. Besides beloveds, he brought to the table those not like him, those who did not agree with him, those who felt threatened by him. At the Last Supper, he knelt and washed the feet of his disciples–an unexpected act for a Teacher with such status. Then Jesus said, “love one another as I have loved you.” His actions had already spoken before his words. Through Christ’s example and the power of the Spirit, we are called and capable of actions of radical and unexpected love, replacing “othering” with “neighboring.”

“Let There Be Peace on Earth” · Sy Miller and Jill Jackson

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be.
With God our creator
We are family,
Let us walk with each other
In perfect harmony.

(Liturgist)

Your responses are in bold…

We come to the table and see that Jesus is with us.

Wherever two or three are gathered, his presence abides.

What we see, as the disciples did, was Jesus serving others.

And he asks us to do the same.

Even, and perhaps especially, in times of distress, Jesus invites us to move toward others, not away.

We are called to see those around us as Jesus sees them.

As neighbors,

As neighbors.

Not “others.”

Not “others.”

Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now;
With every step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.

P:Too often we stay zoomed out at a drone-level view of humanity, and the big picture we see shows problems too large for the few of us to solve. If we stay in that point of view, we fail to see what is really happening on the ground. At any one time in history, there are people who transgressed human-made boundaries to help each other. With a meal. With a kind word. With the sharing of resources. With a listening ear. This is what humanity is also capable of, besides painful acts caused by fear. That is what Jesus demonstrated and talked about at the last meal he shared with his friends.

L:His “famous last words” were not focused on the next strategic step to overthrow the oppressors. It was a “show-and-tell” of how love-in-action is what they would need as they continued his ministry. How love is what God requires, what God inspires, and what can transpire when we embody God’s love in an “us-and-them” world.

P:And so we gather around this table, invited by Jesus to take on and take in his love that will sustain us so we can move into the world to share that love we have experienced here.

The Lord be with you

And also with you

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

L:Vision of Compassion, Giver of Grace, You Who Shares Love like breathing, You Who Restores us to one another, we come to the table today with great thanks that You are our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer. When we pull away from Love, you call us time and again to return.

P:Together with all those who have ever gathered around your table, calling for your help and healing, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy , holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest!

L:You sent your son, Love Embodied, to show us how to be together. His love broke boundaries as he preached good news to the poor, proclaimed release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set at liberty those who are oppressed, and announced that the time had come when You would save us.

P:His love brought healing and wholeness to disciples and strangers alike, treating no one as “an other” outside of love, but all as neighbors and friends within the Kin-dom of God. For this he suffered, died, and rose again, giving new birth to a community of people as the church, delivering us from slavery to sin and death, making with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

L:When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

P:On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he wrapped himself in a towel and knelt as a servant, showing us what love looks like in action. He talked of fear and hard times, grief and the relief of joy.
He took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this the cup of the new covenant, filled to overflowing with forgiveness for all people. As often as you share it, remember me.”

L:And so, in remembrance of your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice, as your love-in-action, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen;

Christ will come again.

Hossana in the highest, Hossana in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest

P:Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us the love of Christ, the Vine, so that we may be for the world the branches of his love. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Hossana in the highest, Hosanna in the highest

Hossana in the highest