With the forecasted Winter Storm Warning, Maundy Thursday Soup Supper and worship service have been cancelled.
Dear members and friends of St. John’s United Church of Christ,
It is hard to believe that we have another storm coming in tonight through tomorrow. Due to the forecast calling for significant precipitation and a high risk of ice in our area, we have made the decision to cancel tomorrow’s Maundy Thursday worship service and Soup Supper. While we always look forward to gathering together in worship and spending time in fellowship, the safety of everyone in our congregation and community comes first. We want to be sure no one feels they need to travel in difficult or potentially dangerous conditions. We were planning on reading the Passion story in Matthew (26:14-27:66) beginning with the Last Supper which we would have had Communion together. We will have Communion at our Easter Sunday worship service.
Since we won’t be meeting together, I encourage you to read John’s account of the Last Supper (John 13:1–17, 31b–35). John tells us something striking right at the beginning of this passage: “Jesus knew that his hour had come… and having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Everything that happens in this chapter flows from that sentence. Jesus knows. He knows what is coming. Betrayal, denial, suffering, the cross. He knows the hour has arrived. And knowing all of that, he chooses to love. Not in words alone, but in action. He rises from the table. He removes his outer robe. He ties a towel around himself. He pours water into a basin. Every movement is intentional. Every gesture is a revelation. This is not just an act of kindness. It is a window into the very heart of God. That may be one of the hardest things for us. We would often rather serve than be served. Rather give than receive. Rather stay in control than be vulnerable. But Jesus kneels before us and says: Let me love you like this. Let me meet you in your time of need. Let me draw close, even to the parts of your life that feel unworthy or unfinished.
Later Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Not just love in general. Not just love when it’s easy. But love as Jesus loves you. Love that kneels. Love that serves. Love that knows the cost and chooses it anyway. This is Maundy Thursday. The word mandate or command comes from this night. And this is the command: Love one another in the same way you have been loved. We are invited into both sides of that command. To receive the love of Christ and to embody that love for one another. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
As we reflect on this and think ahead to the story of the resurrection, may it be so among us. I pray the weather cooperates so that we may gather on Sunday.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Scott.
St. John's United Church of Christ 
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