Today is Maundy Thursday, aka Holy Thursday, aka Great and Holy Thursday, aka Sheer Thursday (sheer meaning ‘clean’ or ‘bright’)… in simple terms, it is the Thursday before Easter commemorating the Last Supper, the washing of the disciples’ feet, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ.    Before we had Noah, we would go to one of the Episcopal churches in downtown Kansas City for their Maundy Thursday service.   We haven’t done it in Noah’s infant or toddler years, but we hope to renew that tradition next year.  If you haven’t been to a liturgical Maundy Thursday service or Good Friday service, they are so rich (if you can find a good church) and I recommend it.   The typical Maundy Thursday service begins in celebration of the Last Supper and the commandment given by the Lord (Maundy actually means “command”) to “love one another as I have loved you.”   It then usually goes through the breaking of the bread and drinking of the cup at the Last Supper as well as the washing of the feet (some churches even have a footwashing ceremony.)  But the end… oh, the end is my favorite part.  

In a nutshell, there are seven candles lit before the service and one larger candle representing Christ… and at the end, there is a reading for each of the seven candles before they are extinguished one by one:

1) Shadow of Betrayal – Matthew 26:20-25,   2) Shadow of Inner Agony – Luke 22:40-44,   3) Shadow of Loneliness – Matthew 26-40-45,   4)  Shadow of Desertion – Matthew 26:47-50,55,56,   5)  Shadow of Accusation – Matthew 26:59-67,   6) Shadow of Mockery – Mark 15:12-20,  7)  Shadow of Death – Luke 23:33-46

After each passage is read and each candle is extinguished, the reader says, “Lord, have mercy,” and the church responds, “Christ, have mercy.”

Finally there is only one candle lit in the room.  No other lights to be seen but the light of Christ represented by the singular flame.   And these words are spoken:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4 )

The light has come into the world, but people love the shadows rather than the light.

   The Christ candle is extinguished.
      The church is in complete darkness.

And all you hear is a solemn voice say these piercing words from the darkness…
 ”My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”

That is how you leave the service… in the dark.   So powerful.   The first time I ever went to a Maundy Thursday service, I left in tears and wept all the way home.

I love liturgy – there is something so beautiful about it… because it is His Word.   Sometimes, especially around Easter and Christmas when there is SO MUCH to be spoken from the Scriptures, I feel like the church, in all its efforts to be palatable and relevant, has long left the Word behind and traded it for feel-good sentimentalities that feed our flesh and not our souls.  And ironically, that only makes the church less relevant, but that’s another story.

This afternoon I read this post by Angie (Bring the Rain)and cried all the way through it.  (If you have never read her blog before, this link will give context to the significance of April 7th and what the post above is about.  Prepare to cry a lot.)   As I read Angie’s words (I love that she quotes people like Nouwen and Guyon in her posts), I was reminded by all that Jesus had to say in those final days before He went to the Cross.   Think about it… the words, like in John 13-17, are the words GOD in the flesh saved for those last moments with His disciples… the words that would be recorded forever in Scripture before those great and glorious Days that follow and changed history and our lives forever.  All the words of God are vastly relevant and important to our lives, but these words, the ones spoken in His last days and with His very last breaths on the earth before the Cross, how much more weight should we give them?

Anyway, all of this also made me think again about how I want to build traditions for our family especially around Christmas and Easter that serve as a remembrance and celebration of the One we love.  I want Noah to grow up knowing Jesus and loving His appearing more than some imaginary bunny or man in a red suit.   And around that time, I got an email from my “bff” (smile) and they are doing something so cool with Maddie and David this year.  We’re going to steal their idea, which is actually Noel Piper’s idea.   Here are some pictures from Dana (hopefully she won’t care that I’m posting them here):

Jesus is alive! : )

Here’s the basic recipe for doing this (taken from the Desiring God blog), but you can get more specifics at the Desiring God Blog OR in Noel Piper’s book, Treasuring God in our Traditions.

Ingredients for playdough:

• 4 c. of flour
• 1.5 c. salt
• 1.5 c. water
• 1 Tbs. oil

(Increase or decrease depending on how big you want your mountain to be.)

Other items you’ll need:

• several pipe cleaners (Dana used their Bible figures instead, which I like better too)
• 2 twigs
• 1 small aluminum can

Making the Mountain

• Mix playdough ingredients and knead. Add small amounts of water as needed until the texture is right.
• Separate a small lump of dough and form a disc-shaped “stone” to cover the entry to the “tomb.” (The can will be the tomb, so the stone needs to be a little bigger around than the can.)
• Shape the rest of the dough into a mound. Embed the can into one side, open side out, to create a cave.
• Press the cross into the top of the mountain to form a hole deep enough to stand the cross in. Make the hole a bit larger than the stick because the hole will get smaller when the mountain bakes.
• Press a fork randomly around into the hill to make “footholds” for the stick people.
• Bake the “mountain” and the “stone” 4-5 hours at 250 degrees.
• When cooled, color with paint or markers.

Using Your Playdough Mountain

You can play with the figures all week reenacting different scenes of the passion week to build up to Good Friday.  With your kids on Friday, you can reenact the story of Jesus’ death-putting him on the cross, burying him in the cave, and rolling the stone in front of it.  They will feel the waiting, small as it is – it builds in a little heart more than we realize, on Saturday when Jesus is hidden in the mountain and it is set aside.

On Easter, before your little ones are awake, take him out of the tomb and put him somewhere for them to find. First they’ll notice the tomb is empty; then they’ll see that he’s alive.

The simple joy of a child over a plastic figure (or pipe cleaner figure) of Jesus alive is a reminder of where our hearts should be this weekend… because He is a real man and He is God and this is how we know His glory.

Thought all my mommy and daddy friends might enjoy that : ) for this weekend.

Finally, I just have to point this out because I loved it… but you should also check out this video on the Desiring God Blog of an old friend, Matt Chandler, talking about the true Gospel of the Cross.  SO good.  Jesus wants the rose.  Arms wide open, Heart exposed.  We are that rose.