Maundy Thursday
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
(Occurs in all three cycles of the lectionary; see Cycle A for an alternative approach; see also Easter 3, Cycle A, for an alternative approach to vv. 1-4 and 12-19.)
This is a thanksgiving psalm. It both celebrates God's answer to the psalmist's prayers for help (vv. 1-2) and declares the psalmist's intention to go to the temple and "return to the Lord" those things the psalmist had promised while praying the prayers (vv. 12-14).
The connection of this psalm with the First Reading (the first Passover) and with Jesus' Passover meal with his disciples on Maundy Thursday is through verse 13: "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord...." In fact, Psalm 116 is often read as one of the sequence of psalms still used in the Passover observance. Obviously, too, the psalm functions just as well for the new meaning Jesus gave the cup at the first Lord's Supper.
In the psalm, the mention of lifting up the cup is given as one answer to the question posed in verse 12: "What shall I return to the Lord for all God's bounty to me?" (The other answer is in 14: "I will pay my vows to the Lord.")
How often do we think of our participation in communion as an act of giving something back to God? More likely, we come conscious of our own needs, and we come expecting to receive. But it is also an act of obedience, and that always is an appropriate gift to God. Obedience is not a popular word in our culture today, but obeying God remains a primary expression of our faith. That's especially critical for those of us not given to emotional responses, those who aren't particularly moved by worship and who don't really get excited by some new idea presented in the sermon. We do not need to worry, for obedience to God alone is a sufficient faith response.
-- S. P.
This is a thanksgiving psalm. It both celebrates God's answer to the psalmist's prayers for help (vv. 1-2) and declares the psalmist's intention to go to the temple and "return to the Lord" those things the psalmist had promised while praying the prayers (vv. 12-14).
The connection of this psalm with the First Reading (the first Passover) and with Jesus' Passover meal with his disciples on Maundy Thursday is through verse 13: "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord...." In fact, Psalm 116 is often read as one of the sequence of psalms still used in the Passover observance. Obviously, too, the psalm functions just as well for the new meaning Jesus gave the cup at the first Lord's Supper.
In the psalm, the mention of lifting up the cup is given as one answer to the question posed in verse 12: "What shall I return to the Lord for all God's bounty to me?" (The other answer is in 14: "I will pay my vows to the Lord.")
How often do we think of our participation in communion as an act of giving something back to God? More likely, we come conscious of our own needs, and we come expecting to receive. But it is also an act of obedience, and that always is an appropriate gift to God. Obedience is not a popular word in our culture today, but obeying God remains a primary expression of our faith. That's especially critical for those of us not given to emotional responses, those who aren't particularly moved by worship and who don't really get excited by some new idea presented in the sermon. We do not need to worry, for obedience to God alone is a sufficient faith response.
-- S. P.
