One of the central things we learn as we come to this Table is the nature of our triune God, and consequently the nature of the world He created. Many of the disputes between Christians about what happens at this Table is the result of their secret agreement about the rest of the world. The world around us is a humdrum sort of affair, and we then debate whether that changes or not when we come to the Table. Is this a mere memorial, like a post-it note on the fridge, or is it a grand exception to that world of post-it notes?
The whole world is remarkable. Said with appropriate qualifications, the universe is a miracle. This is not because the universe is a violation of natural law (how could that be?) but rather because the whole universe is nothing but sheer, unadulterated gift or grace. God overflows, and He overflows infinitely into the created order. There is no such thing as the mundane.
So this Table is not a spiritual exception to the mundane, and it is not a mundane continuation of the mundane. Rather, this Table instructs us how God is all the time. What is God like in everything?
Everything is remarkable, for those who have eyes to see. And this Table, these means of grace, this bread and wine, is one of God’s appointed means for giving us eyes to see. This bread strengthens your soul to resist temptation. This is odd, but no more odd than how peanut butter helps you get through your morning’s work. This wine, taken in faith, knits you together with Christ, and this is odd too. But no more odd than water falling out of the sky so that your breakfast might grow in a field somewhere.
The universe is always and everywhere a personal place. It is in God that we live and move and have our being. He is a covenant-keeping God, and this aspect of His nature is reflected in everything that He does—and He does everything.