We come to this Supper week after week, and it is tempting for us to start to assume, after a few years of it, that we are doing so as old hands. We know the ropes, we know the words, we know the theology. But one of the things we should know—if we know the theology—is that we always have a tendency to grow in our own wisdom during the week, and God has to humble us and make us simple again. The invitation here is given to the simple.
In the book of Proverbs, note what Lady Wisdom says in her invitation to eat and drink.
“Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding” (Pr 9:4-6).We come to this table simple, and we should leave having forsaken the ways of the foolish. When we do this we are not relying on our own wisdom, but rather the wisdom that has been given to us in a loaf and in a cup. We then grow sophisticated again, and we have to remind ourselves to come again in simplicity.
In this Advent season, let us remember to cultivate a real simplicity of heart—a heart attitude that repents of the wrong kind of simplicity and foolishness, and embraces the right kind, which is a straight-up acceptance of the gospel.