A Church In Texas - Follow Up

Continuing from the previous post, my fourth example of repentance, confession, and reconciliation, concerns the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper, Communion, the Eucharist; particularly as it relates to its celebration as a pastor. 

Now, because of some fine teaching I received as a rather young Christian, I have long had some measure of understanding that when we partake of the Bread and Wine that we are not only partaking of the Head of the Body, our Lord Jesus Christ, but we are also partaking of all of His Body – that is we are partaking of one another in Him, for we are indeed the Body of Christ. (1 Cor. 10:16 – 17; 11:23 – 32; 12:12). In this light, “discerning the body rightly” (11:29) relates not only to the Head, but to the Body as well, and we ought to be careful in that “if we judged ourselves we would not be judged” (11:31).

 

Since this is a Table and Feast of reconciliation, most especially The Reconciliation, The Atonement, it is a place where conviction of sin finds relief in confession, repentance, cleansing, forgiveness, and grace for obedience. It is a Place where we can find not only reconciliation with God through Christ, but where, through the Grand Reconciliation, we can find reconciliation with one another. In fact, if we have reconciliation with God through Christ, we must, we really must, seek reconciliation with one another.

 

And so while the Eucharist most certainly has its vertical (Jesus Christ and me) dimension, it just as certainly has its horizontal (you and me; “us”) element – for there is no “Jesus and me” without “us,” for we are His Body.

 

To stand before the People of God, in the Presence of God, and to serve the Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, is holy and fearful – it is sacred… while it is celebratory, it is also fearful – for it is a place where eternity and time intersect, where ages past and ages to come meet some 2,000 years and also meet today, in that place, in that moment. To repeat the words of our Lord Jesus, “This is My Body…this is My Blood…” this is holy and sacred.

 

BUT, what to do as a pastor if, looking out over your congregation, you see someone, or a group, to whom you have spoken a sharp word or have otherwise done wrong to? Suppose you see your wife and know that before you left your home that morning that you had been unkind to her? How can you serve at the Lord’s Table with unclean hands? How can you speak words of reconciliation when you need reconciliation with your brother or sister or wife?

 

There is only one course of action, and that is to express your sorrow and ask forgiveness before the People of God, demonstrating to the congregation how we should approach the Communion Table. I have done this more than once, explaining that before I can move forward with the Table that I need to confess and ask forgiveness for something I’ve done within the congregation.

 

(To be clear, I ought not to approach the Table, or the pulpit on any Sunday, without asking the Holy Spirit to search me deeply, revealing sin and disobedience and asking Him to lead me in confession and repentance and obedience.)

 

Frankly, as I think about all of this, it is a bit frightening that so many congregations and, I suppose, pastors, take the Table so lightly – not correctly judging, understanding, and discerning the Lord’s Body. We treat the Table with less thought than we do a fast food drive thru; we are more aware of a hamburger and fries than we are of the Body and Blood of our Lord.

 

In Christ Jesus, we are reconciled and should be always reconciling. We are reconciled to God and should be always reconciling with one another in Christ.

 

Is this the Way I am living?

 

What about you?