24 March 2016 - all who are thirsty

[ Today's Readings ]

LORD, you invite us to come to you and be washed clean.

You humble yourself, taking the likeness of men and the form of a servant (see Philippians 2). You strip off the outer garments of your divinity in order to wash our feet clean from the sins that cling to us.

This gift goes even deeper than we realize. You give your very self into our hands.

the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, 
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This blood is what truly washes us clean. It is this precious blood which sets us free.

But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; 
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, 
no destructive blow will come upon you.

So come, LORD Jesus. We are reluctant at first, just as Peter is, when we see your great humility on display. But this is a gift which you want to give. It is a gift you want us to receive. We have literally nothing to offer in exchange for it. To receive the gift is all you ask of us. It is all we have to offer you.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

As you give yourself to us you show us how to give ourselves to one another. With you within us your love enables us to actually do so.

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, 
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow, 
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.

Let us be washed, LORD Jesus, so that we may wash others. Let us receive all that you have for us so that we might give all that we become through your gift away to others.

O LORD, you have loosed the bonds of sin and death and we shall praise you forever! 

O wash me in your precious blood till I am just a lamb of God..

Dip your heart in the stream of life..

Let them come to the water...