Breaking a bad habit is hard to do, and the difficulty is directly proportional to how long the bad habit was indulged. The Christian church needs to break two bad habits when it comes to the Lord’s Supper. These two habits consist of looking in the wrong place as we meditate.
The first place we look where we ought not is at the wine and bread in their stationary position on the Table, wondering what happens to their material elements. The answer is that nothing happens to their material elements, and the sooner we learn this, the better. The Lord’s Supper never sits uneaten. The Lord’s Supper is always a video in motion, and never a snapshot.
The second place we look where we ought not look is deep within the recesses of our own hearts. We do this to find out if we are worthy to come to the Table. But why we would have to do any examination at all in order to get the answer to that question is a great mystery. Of course we are not worthy. That is the whole point! When we start rummaging around in our hearts, we make two mistakes. The first is that we conclude we are not worthy, and stay away. The second is that we decide (on the basis of having had what we think was a good week) that we are worthy, and we come to the Table for our reward. And truly, we already have our reward.
We should come because we are unworthy and we know it. We come because God uses this means to make us worthy. We do this in concert with all the saints of God everywhere, which is where we ought to set our minds. So look around as we partake. As you look at the motions of the saints as they hold, lift, take, chew, swallow, and you together with them—that is the Lord’s Supper. The company of the unworthy is being made worthy.