Our Savior Lutheran Church
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Preparation for Holy Week: Maundy Thursday

The first service in the triduum (three days), those special three holy days before the Festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord, is called Maundy Thursday. Sometimes it is simply referred to as Holy Thursday. The name Maundy comes from what Jesus says to his disciples in John 15 as they celebrate the Last Supper with him: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” The Latin word for “command” is mandatum, hence the name Maundy Thursday. Despite its name referring to this command, the main focus of our celebration of Maundy Thursday is on the special meal that Jesus instituted on that night he died: the Lord’s Supper. 

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29) 

We celebrate the wonderful mystery that Jesus has offered, and we receive, his very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. 

One part of the service for Maundy Thursday often practiced in liturgical churches is the stripping of the altar at the end of the service. I’m told this has not been done recently at Our Savior, but it will be a part of the service this year. The altar is solemnly stripped of its fittings at the end of the service accompanied by the singing of Psalm 88. Psalm 88 recounts the abandonment of the Messiah and his call out to God for mercy. The removal of the articles on the altar prepares us for the somberness of Good Friday and reminds us that at the end of the night on Maundy Thursday Jesus was abandoned by his disciples. The congregation leaves in silence to gather again on Friday. 

A question about suicide

Someone asked me recently “Can God forgive someone who commits suicide?” In the history of the church this question has been handled a bit roughly. The traditional argument goes that suicide is the one sin that a person has no chance to repent of before dying, therefore all suicides are condemned. However, that is not always the case. People may commit suicide and quickly regret their actions even before death. The premise of the question is a little bit off as well. You might ask, can God really forgive someone who commits murder? The truth of the Gospel is that Jesus came to pay the price for every sin, no matter how bad. Another question one could is what happens to someone who dies in the middle of committing a sin, perhaps by being killed in a car crash while speeding or even simply while holding a grudge? Is the Christian condemned because he didn’t get the chance to repent? Christians often sin in weakness of faith, not in outright unbelief. 

That is the key point: People are condemned by unbelief. The one unforgivable sin is taught by Jesus in Matthew 12:31,32: “31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” We understand this sin to be the sin of unbelief. The one who says that the Holy Spirit’s work is of the devil is rejecting God’s forgiveness and so stands condemned already. Professor Schuetze in Doctor of Souls (the textbook used at Seminary for Pastoral Theology), points out “…we note that even as we live in a state of grace, we sin daily. Yet when we sin in weakness of faith, we do not fall in and out of grace—one moment a believer and the next an unbeliever. As children of God, we live in a state of being forgiven, even for those sins we commit in weakness of faith every day.”

What is unique about suicide? We must seek the cause of suicide. In the past most Christians would say that all suicide is caused by despair and unbelief. This is certainly one cause of suicide. In Scripture the examples of suicide were people despairing of their own forgiveness. The first example most people might think of is Judas, who hanged himself because he believed that his sins were too great to be forgiven. He rejected Christ and was condemned. Mental illness is also a cause of suicide. People commit suicide when they are not in their right minds in some cases. This is not unlike a person who becomes sick and dies. In either case the root cause of all death is sin which has entered the world through Adam. 

Make no mistake: suicide is a grave sin and a terrible breaking of the fifth commandment. Increasingly our world and culture does not see it this way. Rather it can be something positive and helpful. Canada has made suicide a part of health care called Medical Assistance in Dying. It is prescribed for the depressed, sick, and it’s been suggested as a solution to the homelessness problem. (Jesus told Christians to care for the poor, not kill them!) Some US states are moving toward these types of laws as well. These are great evils, and we must address them to our children because they will live in a world that increasingly is a culture that celebrates death, not life. These are difficult questions and real situations are always going to be uncomfortable. Prepare for conversations with people now about the seriousness of life issues such as suicide, abortion, drug use and so on by asking questions now before things get too crazy. The main point I want to make on this topic is this: Life is God’s good gift to us, he will take us to be with Jesus in heaven on His time, not ours. 

Some stuff I heard…

What Lutherans Really Believe with Rev. Christian Einertson 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUm2BevbBM

Good discussion on the importance of the Lutheran Confessions from two LCMS pastors. (Lots of their other podcasts are also really good!)

RTDB 26: Are we Christian Nationalists?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVbJvXzx-68

Pastor Mike Zarling and Pastor Hagen (WELS pastors) discuss some issues about the relationship between Church and State. I’m intending to read Pastor Zarling’s book Resisting the Dragon’s Beast soon as well. Book reviews may be added to this newsletter!?